EVH - had to copy/paste this from the document, but it's a CS document about how to complete answers for the shift test. Might be on some help on what they need. I used this for my internal CS promotion and scored 5/6 across my competencies 1 being poor - 6 being very good.
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Hints and Tips Guide to Completing your Competency Statements
What are competencies?
Competencies are the skills, knowledge and behaviours that lead to successful performance.
Our competency framework sets out how we want people in the Civil Service to work. It puts the Civil Service values of honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity at the heart of everything we do and is aligned to the three leadership behaviours that every Civil Servant needs to model: Set Direction, Engage People and Deliver Results.
Civil servants work in a range of jobs across the country and overseas. Their common thread is that they serve to support the elected government, providing advice to help shape its policies and ensuring seamless and practical implementation in line with those policies.
Competency-based selection is based on the idea that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. Accordingly, during the sifting of your application our goal is to obtain specific examples of when and how you demonstrated particular behaviours.
Why are Competency statements so important?
• You will be asked to demonstrate the selected competencies in your application form and if shortlisted, during your interview. Applicants who best demonstrate and evidence the indicators for the competencies will progress.
• Please note, we will only select applicants to progress to the next stage based on the competency statements provided, arguably they are the most important part of your application.
• You will be asked to provide up to 250 word examples in your application form that best demonstrate the indicators of the competency.
• If you are shortlisted to attend a face-to-face interview, you will be asked to provide verbal examples of how you demonstrate the competencies.
What are the competencies for this role?
The specific competencies for this role are detailed in the advertisement and are relevant to the grade level. The competencies are based on the Civil Service Competency Framework (please see the link to the framework in the advertisement). Please take your time to understand the competency framework and prepare your examples for your application form. This provides you with an overview of the competencies and further information on the positive and negative behavioural indicators that are designed to give a greater understanding and consistency about what is expected from individuals in the Civil Service.
Preparing your application and interview examples
Remember to choose real life examples which best demonstrate the indicators (behaviours, skills and knowledge) and your experience of this competency.
When deciding which examples to use, keep referring back to the key accountabilities of this post that are described in the advert.
Another approach that may help you is the STAR approach, detailed below, which helps provide a structure and focus to your examples and evidence.
STAR - Situation, Task, Action, Result.
Preparing your examples
• Keep the situation and task elements brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful, describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time.
• You will not be allowed to enter more than 250 words in the online application form.
• Make sure you include how you overcame any problems or obstacles.
• Keep looking back at the competency indicators and cover the key points.
• Describe your thoughts, actions and feelings rather than just describing what happened.
• Don’t forget to include results and show why your actions were effective and / or how you could have improved on what you did.
• Use ‘I’ not ‘we.’ This is about your role in the task and how you affected the outcome.
• Use short statements that show the value you added and use your own words.
• Choose your most powerful examples – situations that have lots of substance.
• Look at the key responsibilities for this role when considering your examples.
• Expect that at your face-to-face interview you will have around five minutes to provide an example of when you have demonstrated the indicators (behaviours, skills and knowledge) for these competencies.
Don’t get caught up in telling a story in your example. Just give enough to show:
• how you went about the task
• why you did it the way you did
• any obstacles you encountered.
