Civil Service Competencies

by Monkey Flow on 21 October 2016 01:39

Has anyone else on here applied for Civil service jobs and had to fill out the competency statements, and can give me some advice. I've applied for two in the last 2 months, on both I passed the initial sift test with flying colours (it's a maths and English test, and a test on how you would react in certain situations at work), but failed on the competencies. I'm particularly gutted at the last one as it was a really good job. I've followed all the guidelines given on how to write the competencies, but obviously am doing something wrong, the only feedback they've given me is that I only got 2/7 on the main competency. As far as I understood, I could use any example of when I'd used that competency, even if it wasn't related to a job, or even to a similar type of circumstance. For example, I used an example of when I'd put together (initiated and organised) a concert with a friend for when I had demonstrated leadership skills and teamwork. I did this as it was a good example but wasn't work related as it was a better example than any work related one I could think of. I would really value any advice from someone who has at least got to the interview stage of the kind of thing they are looking for, as I'm stumped as to what I'm doing wrong. I've followed all the guidelines such as -STAR situation task action result- and making sure I mention each bullet point of what they are expecting such as for example, bullet point -communication clearly to colleages - "I explained my strategy to my team mates using a variety of resources such as a powerpoint presentation and gave time for questions, and made myself available to answer any concerns " etc... Something I read online somewhere said you should focus on the result most of all more than the actual thing you did, but I just don't know. Anyone?