Careers at Civil Service
Graduate Schemes in Civil Service are among one of the most sought after, due to a high profile and prestigious job careers they offer. Every year more than ten thousand people are applying for about 1000 available vacancies. As soon as they got in, they embark on a journey, that is both demanding and rewarding.
One of Civil Service prominent graduate entry schemes is called Civil Service Fast Stream, that offers a wide range of roles within services such as Finance, Diplomacy, Health, Science, and Technology.
If you want to be one of the few who will know how to address the complex issues that we face as a nation, look at the short descriptions of the scheme below. While preparing your strategy, please bear in mind that The Application Process for each position will vary and not all of the steps will apply for the job position you are applying for.
Civil Service application steps
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Online Tests
- E-tray Exercise
- Video Interview
- Situational Judgement Tests
- Personality Tests
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Assessment Centre
- Written Exercise
- Presentation
- Interview
- Group Exercise
- Leadership Exercise
- Final Assessment Centre
Civil Service test guides
Psychometric tests are a key component of Civil Service ’s Application Process. Depending on the Graduate Program route the candidates are taking, they might be required to sit Numerical Reasoning Tests, Situational Judgement Tests, E-tray Exercises, Personality Tests, and Verbal Reasoning Test. Details on Civil Service psychometric tests can be found below.
While preparing, it’s worth remembering that during the Civil Service Online Application you can only proceed to the next test, if you have successfully completed the previous one.
Before you skip this section, we have to clarify - it’s not just the ‘e-mail skills’, so you might want to consider preparing for this exercise as well. In fact, rather than checking your e-mail literacy Civil Service E-Tray Exercise is a simulated work task measuring your probable performance in the public service sector.The exercise will correspond with your future day- to- day responsibilities, as it is tailored both to the wider civil service framework and to the very specific role you are applying for.
One of the possible scenarios might be a situation when you receive a bunch of e-mails which you are expected to read and respond to while proving ability to prioritise and process information. Bur rather than just checking if you can get hold of your inbox, it is your multitasking skills and ability to be organised under pressure that is being verified. This has to be done in a manner as if you have been an employed already. Since you pictured yourself joining the Civil Service, this shouldn’t be too complicated, however, to get that confidence you might want to consider practising a little bit before. Here’s the link how to do it.
If you are invited to the Civil Service Video Interview you will be provided with an access to a platform that will record your responses.
Stating the obvious, you will need a PC equipped with a front-facing webcam, microphone, and good Internet connection. Although it might be tempting to wear casual clothes, stick to the formal dress code you would wear for a normal interview. Be professional - consider choosing a quiet environment to avoid any background noise and in a brightly lit room, so the interviewers could recognise you.
If you are intimidated by the camera, you can always practice your answers beforehand. It will be a classical evaluative interview aimed at detecting your skills and strengths necessary for the role you have chosen to follow.
The Civil Service Situational Judgement Test is a set of questions assessing how you might react to hypothetical events and situations that might be encountered while performing your job as a civil servant. Based on your answers to these questions, it will be verified how aligned you are with values and behaviours respected and desired in the Civil Service. As a future civil servant, you will be accountable to the public, so you have to make sure you are familiar with the standards of the sector.
Whilst Situational Judgement Tests vary in form, usually, you will be presented with a number of descriptions to which you are obliged to provide an appropriate response from a multiple choice list. So, try to be as sensible as you can and use the full capacity of your emotional intelligence.
These tests concentrate on your ‘ people skills’ so, good communication and networking abilities should earn you a few points. However, the quite straightforward and simplistic formula of these tests can be misleading. In any Situational Judgement Test, there is a catch in the high probability of any of the presented answers. So although it is recommended to think in accordance with the promoted values outlined on the Civil Service’s profile, in order to really ace your performance you might want to work on your situational- judgement muscles while taking the mocking Civil Service Situational Judgement Tests.
As you probably aware, there are core values and standards of behaviour expected from all civil servants to uphold, regardless the sector’s path they are taking. The Civil Service Personality Test, therefore, aims at validating your dedication, commitment and most importantly ability to recognise these values and how probable is that you would likely to follow them.
The Civil Service Personality Test is a set of questions like any other Personality Tests, so there are no right or wrong answers, however, you are expected to demonstrate certain behaviours that would help you to achieve you the outlined tasks and will enable you to comply with the Civil Service Competency Framework.
If you are successful with the initial online stages, you will be invited to the half-day Civil Service Assessment Centre in one of the assessment centres in either London or Newcastle. However, for some of you, this is not the end of the journey just yet. Depending on the specific role you are applying for, you might be further asked to attend the Final Assessment Centre. But let’s see what you need to pass this stage.
a) Written Assignment - you will be given a plethora of reading related to the specific domain of the Graduate Scheme you are applying for. This could be for example a voluminous report on National Insurance Health Funding on which you will have to write a short brief. So it’s a time pressure tasks, that assesses not only your verbal reasoning, and analytical skills but also ability to keep your head while in a stressful situation.
b) Presentation - This stage could take two forms. You might be given a topic to research and prepare your presentation beforehand, or you will be supplied with materials during the actual assessment centre and have limited time to prepare. Anyhow, it is important that you practice your presentation skills. If you are not a born speaker and feel like you could use a little bit more advice, you can check the Assessment Centre Guide, for more useful tips.
c) Interview - Civil Service Interviews are usually standard competency based, panel interviews during which you will have to chat with more than one interviewer. You might also expect questions that will be related to the above-mentioned Civil Service Competency Framework. So thorough research on the desired values and behaviours at is absolutely compulsory if you want to outshine other candidates at this stage.
d) Group Exercise - As a civil servant, you would need to know how to make your own voice heard in a non- overbearing manner. These exercises will vary, but the general skills that the assessors are looking for is a good balance between teamwork and leadership skills. You might want everyone in the room to see your great leadership skills, but approach the group exercise rather as a test of your collaborative and teamwork abilities than a show of a directorship. One of the most probable ways of verifying these skills is through a group discussion on a divisive topic or a collaboration on a draft of a project.
e) Leadership Exercise and Role Play - You have might already be asked to give an example when you have demonstrated leadership skills, however, this probably was just a prelude to the Civil Service Leadership Exercise. Finally - it’s the time when everyone is interested in how you approach and solve the problem while at the same time delegating different tasks to your colleagues. These will be usually assessed through a role play relating to a type of situation that you would face as a civil servant in your department.
Unlike the regular Civil Service Assessment, this one will be more structured to your actual application profile as well as the part of the programme. All the information needed will be delivered to you before the actual meeting. Although it may sound like a ‘black box’ full of surprises, we are sure that if you have managed to get to this stage, everything should be fine now!
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