Civil Service Delivering At PACE Behaviour Interview Questions & Answers (Applicants Experience)

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

🎬 Check out my FREE 36-video online class on how to get a job in the Civil Service - skl.sh/3IaQR0t

[@Nikki-th3no]

Thank you - I used this while preparing for my first ever Civil Service interview and found it extremely helpful and relevant to the questions that came up - and I got a call yesterday with an offer :-)

[@amanzeannie4351]

This is my testimony in Jesus name, Amen

[@abbeychalokwu2607]

i have an interview tomorrow any tips

[@anu07ify]

​@@abbeychalokwu2607how was interview? Any tips

[@habbymushtaq1408]

My advice would be please read the job spec. I work in HMRC and I'm a Business Support Officer. I also been offered an apprenticeship with the Insolvency Service. Before I was working in the NHS so I know how you feel I used to be like you. I was so nervous now I'm not. Please do a mock interview and as I said before prepare, prepare and prepare.

[@Koka_kola_11]

Working to deadline means I can prioritise my day and focus on a task. I work well under pressure so it allows me to hone in on my organisation skills. I first take time to plan my time and make sure I am being efficient. I make sure to keep the senior aware of my progress. My delegate some urgent tasks which can be done to another colleague. Where over work comes available I make sure to let colleagues know I cannot prioritise their work and give them a realistic timeline. Get a colleague to quality assure my work, to spell check and check for grammar.

[@Hercules003]

👍

[@hannahvaughan4470]

Hi Jac! Just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU for your very helpful videos. I had my first interview in 7 years about 2 months ago, completely messed it up so unsurprisingly didn't get it. I had another interview a few weeks ago and having taken notes from your videos I felt like my interview went SO much better. I was offered the job today! I have never worked for HMP before but I am very excited to start a new career all thanks to you! 😁

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Congratulations Hannah - chuffed for you!

[@jbelly2559]

I got the job 🙌 there were 30 positions going and I got the result around 5 weeks after my interview

[@deeron1554]

I had the priviledge of hearing you speak at one of our training sessions, and subscribed immediately. I liked the idea of pausing the video, as it gave me the opportunity to think about I had done in the past - ended up writing it down in a word document. Thanks for the useful tips.

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Thanks for the kind words Dani :)

[@ArtAnimeEmerly]

Your channel is perfectly timed for me. I just barely scraped through applications and have been invited to interview. Luckily I tend to do well in interviews but I've never done a civil service one before so I've subscribed and am binging your videos for advice xD

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Thank you! All the best for the interview let me know how it goes :)

[@cecilmarke9049]

Thank you so much, Jac. I reviewed several interview tips from your channel and I must admit that they are very important. I used some of the techniques highlighted during my civil service interview and I got the job. Once again thank you so much.

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Fantastic!

[@euphemiastavropoulou7078]

Excellent video and very informative, love the interactive aspect of it too! Thanks, Jac!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Thanks Emmy :)

[@andrewwilson3034]

I started a job recently and tried to use all my previous Administration experience to fulfil the job role. The employer really did not like the idea of me creating a document which gave logical information on the various models of machines the company sold. So in three days I was suppose to just memorise the entire inventory how every machine worked all of the spare parts etc then be able to answer questions of the top of my head with no reference to any other information. Needless to say I failed at that. I was more than happy to leave. Don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed by unrealistic demands. Delivering at Pace just means you cannot do everything that is expected by others and being able to except that will keep you sane.

[@abdifatahabdulle7357]

Thanks mate, found your videos helpful. Today I got my result and I got really good scores 6 and 7s..

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

That's awesome! great scores

[@joeblogs7453]

wow that's an amazing score, would you have any advice about how you went about getting those ?

[@scaz83]

These videos are so helpful.

[@raginijoshi1108]

Thankyou, having interview today and it really helped build up to it. Wonderful advice and guidance

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Awesome :)

[@juliemartin7554]

Thank you, this was extremely helpful to me. Keep them coming

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Thanks Julie - will do

[@kemi1uk1]

I find this video very helpful, thumbs up and I subscribed too.

[@1107861214ali]

Just watched your video and it’s been really helpful and has inspired me with lots of ideas for my competency thank you so much

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

I'm so glad!

[@amy98766]

Hi Jac, thanks for your videos. Previously youve said to use STAR method answering strength questions and not for situational questions In this video you say not to (3:50). When should you give STAR answers and when shouldn't you? Thanks so much!!!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Must of been my mistake - I never recommend STAR for strength questions. STAR for past evidence only.

[@emmariley8855]

Thanks so much, Jac! This is very helpful. I had a webinar with the ONS recently (and I just thought I say for others seeing this comment) that we were told that strengths questions would not be asked via video interviewing. They said this was because body language etc, could not be identified. Please could you do a video on working together?

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

I guess that makes sense actually! Yes I will :) Any other ideas for CS videos other than the behaviours? I'm going to do Communicating & Influencing, WOrking together and Changing & Improving soon

[@abdifatahabdulle7357]

I had pre-recorded interview recently and they did ask strength question..

[@emmariley8855]

@@abdifatahabdulle7357 I wasn’t referring to pre-recorded interviews...

[@emillythomas9161]

Well done @Jac - 1k subscribers!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Yay!! Thanks Em 😁

[@LanaChante]

So helpful! Thank you

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

You’re welcome 😊

[@aninhasix]

Amazing video. I wish you could post a video about Managing a quality service and Communicating and Influencing for my interview today : ) Anyway keep doing this kind of videos because is really helpful specially for people that English isn’t the first language. See you

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

I hope it went well? :)

[@aninhasix]

@@JacWilliamsVideo actually I don’t think so, but I’ll keep trying. Thank you so much for the message : )

[@aninhasix]

@@JacWilliamsVideo Guess what? I’ve passed! And thanks to you and this video my best score was about delivering at pace. I have no words to say how grateful I am to you at this moment. Keep in mind you’re a bright star 🌟 and change my life for better forever! I am so so happy that I am speechless Thank you so much again. You’re are the best!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

@@aninhasix What an amazing message for me to wake up to today! Congratulations, well done :D

[@smilted]

Thanks Jac that's really helpful!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

You're welcome, glad it helped :)

[@katemilligan5511]

Excellent tips and ideas thank you!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

You're welcome :)

[@louism.4980]

Thank you so much for this, Jac! :)

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

:)

[@kasiapetruk6730]

Thanks Jac, very helpful. During interview do they ask ALL of those types of questions for any given behaviour like strenghts, situational and competency (examples) questions or maybe just some of them?

[@manyscissors]

Hi Jac, thank you for the brilliant videos, they are helping me a lot in my attempts to understand the CS application process! I have a question: how do you know when you should or should not give a STAR response? It seems that you should for competency based questions and not for strength based questions - is that correct? If so, how can you tell whether you are being asked a competency based question? Thanks so much again for your help!

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

@@manyscissors that’s correct. Sometimes they will tell you “I’m going to ask a strength/example type question” or you can identify competency questions with the start “tell me about a time…” or “give me an example of…”. Strength questions are more open ended and shorter. Hope that helps!

[@universalshadow]

Very helpful video 👍🏾

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rossperry1253]

Hi Jac. Thank you for posting all of these videos, they are very insightful and helpful. I have an interview to become an editor in the civil service in a week. Long story short, I have an undergraduate degree and will soon finish a masters, and with this I have 6 years part time experience working in customer facing industries. I was just wondering, when it comes to using experience based examples, do interviewing panels usually prefer those from employment experience or is it equally fine to use some from study/research? Thank you in advance :)

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Hi Ross, I think using a mixture of both would be good. The panel will appreciate the fact you have more experience outside of studying :)

[@rossperry1253]

@@JacWilliamsVideo I suppose I depends on what is being asked. I did have one more query if you have time to answer it. When a panel asks something like "can you tell me one example of when..." , is it best to give them exactly what they ask for (one example) or can you give a combination if they're equally relevant. Like for example, if I was asked about communicating, I would say that I am experienced in delivering presentations to audiences of varying sizes, both online and in person and have experience with writing different formats such as essays, reports, blogs, policy papers etc etc. But in addition to this, customer facing roles have helped me to be confident in communicating with both internal and external stakeholders, no matter the query or nature of conversation. Hope that query makes sense and again, many thanks for your videos and guidance

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

I usually give one example that’s detailed using STAR. However, maybe after you’ve done that you could briefly talk about other times but generally I would do that in the strength questions

[@hughyleydon7106]

I’ve previously worked at McDonalds (summer job etc) and I feel I can link to the criteria e.g, working together, developing myself and others, managing quality service and delivering at pace… But it’s not exactly statistical + plus it’s probably a job that’s little bit looked down upon. Is it worth writing about or should I write about something more academic?

[@lordbiscuitthetossable5352]

Hello! It might be a bit late now, but I would definitely use it as an example in combination with other career paths. The intention shows that, both in the business world and academically, you are well-travelled.

[@HXNZ99]

How long do they normally take to reply to your initial application form? Seems like it takes forever.

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Honestly, it varies. I've had anything from the next day to 2/3 weeks.

[@hayls1203]

Hi I’m wondering if you can help me. I have a delivering at pace behaviour question to answer on my application but it’s given me it in a situational style “in this job role how would you ensure you manage a large workload with competing priorities” and prompts to answer but it’s asking me to do it in STAR format? Is this different to past questions I’ve done using my own experiences or do I have to create a hypothetical scenario now on this job role? It’s written completely different to the “ name a time when you…” questions which I’m very confident in answering so not sure what they’re after

[@nigelsmith3197]

Hi bud, loving the videos. I have a questions if it can be answered. I have an interview soon and its 45 minutes long. The behaviours are managing a quality service and delivering at pace. Your vids have been great. But I'm wondering a question of each would be approx half the interview. What could I be asked the other half?

[@UK_1487]

I'm gonna have same tomorrow for HMRC ,please can you share your experience how it went and what kind of questions they asked you? Mine 3 minutes for each question and they informed me questions covering only these two criterias managing a quality service and delivery at pace.

[@elizabethylazaca9092]

Excellent video. The only thing is that interviews now are only for 120 seconds )

[@TokyoKazama]

What?

[@shirleyasare4114]

Thank you for your video, it was really helpful! Your clear and concise advice has really helped me formulate my response to this competency; I look forward to watching more videos. What grade would you say your responses cater for e.g. HEO/SEO/G7 etc?

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Thanks very much! I'm an SEO so my answers are based on my experiences of being SEO and below HEO etc.

[@Lucky45676]

Any advice for handling communicating and influencing behaviour questions

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Going to do a video on this one soon

[@lydiasemakula2951]

Thanks Jac. I am having a technical assessment and behavioral interview for an analyst job with the CS. Can you please help walk me through what to expect from a technical assessment. I have never been to one before. I am familiar with the behavior ones though.

[@MissChanelli]

Hi Lydia, I want to check what the technical assessment was like? Would you mind sharing your expeirence?

[@lydiasemakula2951]

@@MissChanelli Hi. Well they send you a report a few days prior for you to assess and analyze. On the interview they will ask what you think about it and what you would have done. Mine was about road cameras. Unfortunately I didn’t get through due to my honest opinion🤣 which they found as being biased.

[@louism.4980]

Thanks Jac, how much time do you suggest I take to think and prepare an answer before responding to the interviewer? I hate awkward silences, but this is probably something I have to deal with because I would rather respond with a fleshed-out answer rather than one that is rushed and lacks structure and detail.

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

I don't have a time recommendation per say. However, take as long as you need. As I think even if it's 15/20 seconds, for you it may feel a long time, but for the panel it won't.

[@louism.4980]

@@JacWilliamsVideo Thank you 🙂

[@inaam2009]

Do they start with strength questions??

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

From my experience, yes.

[@inaam2009]

@@JacWilliamsVideo cheers mate

[@steveh5635]

Can I use these for executive officer position

[@MissChanelli]

How many questions do they ask within each category? For example is it 1 strength question, 1 situational and 1 behavioural? Are you able to provide more examples of what you were asked if there was more

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Varies depending on how many behaviours you are being asked. However, usually one strength, one situational and one past-evidence per behaviour is a good starting point.

[@pamk380]

I am looking on Glassdoor, specifically at the Admin Officer role for the MoJ. People have posted of their experience and it dates back from 2016/2017. Would the interview process have changed from this time?

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

I think that was the time the Success Profiles stuff was brought in but I could be wrong so can't be sure, sorry.

[@pamk380]

@@JacWilliamsVideo no worries :) one question... If the interview lasts earlier than expected, is this a bad sign?

[@amirunnessa2034]

In an interview or application when they say tell us about a time you sacrificed quality to speed a project what do they mean???

[@alawianasredeen7133]

That the brilliant service for me because I am in jable marra oreginally .infusiatic for education

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Awesome!

[@Sam69919]

Hi Jac, from your experience, how long after the closing date of the application do the civil service recruitment team get back you ?

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Hey, I think it varies depending on department unfortunately. I've had 2 weeks later and also found out the next day for one!

[@isaacfoster2820]

Hi bro. My prerecorded interview is 3 minutes. How long should I aim to use? 2 minutes or full 3 minutes??

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

probably 3 mins

[@fahimrahman1865]

You refer to ‘stakeholders’ - who are they? I don’t get this term in context of a job environment.

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Anyone who has a vested interest in the work/project that you are doing. For instance it could be external customers or internal senior management.

[@fahimrahman1865]

@@JacWilliamsVideo Thank you :)

[@oosaro]

Has anyone done a civil service interview for Cyber Policy and Standards Lead? Please help

[@ahmadillo4959]

Do you think it would be appropriate to ask before the interview whether they will ask you a situational-style question or a competency-style question?

[@JacWilliamsVideo]

Probably not

[@Ian_Beale_Eastenders]

I work in UCR in the DWP. This week we had had 4 people off from our team. Because of this the remaining 5 of us had their work divided up between us. The way I got this extra work completed was coming in the office at 7am, taking a 15 minute lunch and staying till 6PM. Deadlines have to be met every time