I applied online. I interviewed at Civil Service United Kingdom
Positive experience
Average interview
Application
I applied online. I interviewed at Civil Service United Kingdom in Oct 2025
Interview
Behavioural questions with lots of follow up on the examples given. Also questions on strengths, lasted one hour with three interviewers over teams. Results of application given after one week.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
An example of where you’ve influenced policy decisions and development.
Step 1: Submit an online application form on their website. Be sure to read the full role description and use ALL the advice/links included in the description.
- These roles have a lot of additional resources to help you tailor your responses to the job description (make sure to use ALL these resources)
- This also includes "candidate support sessions": DEFINITELY make sure to attend one of these before lodging an application and doing an interview
Step 2: Interview: One 45-minute interview. This is the only interview you will do. You will be given a choice of different interview slots. These fill up quickly so make sure to pick a suitable slot as early as possible
- You will be sent a question in advance of the interview. You will be given 5 minutes to answer this question verbally only (i.e. no slides)
- After this you will be asked to do a bevaioural and strengths based interview based specifically on the job description
Advice for the question to be answered orally:
- It is a virtual interview so you can have your notes at hand, second screen etc.
- Make sure you really take the time to understand what you are being asked, read ALL relevant information on the civil service website & structure your response carefully in an organised way
Advice for the strengths & behavioral portion of the interview:
- Behaviours for the role are clearly outlined in the job description
- Make sure you have prepared a response for each behaviour, so you can easily answer in the interview
- The strengths based portion tests your ability to "think on your feet". You don't need a specific example on hand and do not need to use the "STAR" method
They essentially want to test your ability to answer a question without preparation in advance.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Questions based on the "behaviours" in the job description
- The question that you have to answer orally, will be given to you before your interview
I interviewed at Civil Service United Kingdom (London, England)
Interview
Experience and strength questions based on the essential criteria. There was one question on each essential criteria.
Follow up questions can be included in the experience part, however there are no follow up questions in the strengths section. Interview lasted around 45 minutes.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give us an example of when you communicated effectively.