How to draft winning Skills & Experience and Work History Civil Service application Sections
Civil Service Coaching Series:
Applications.
STEP BY STEP:
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE AND WORK HISTORY SECTIONS
Within most Civil Service job ads, the ‘Things you need to know’ section sets out what you need to submit at the application stage.
Often a CV is required, and this is not a pdf upload, but a simple cut and paste into a text box which doesn’t allow for design / photos etc.
Sometimes however, the single CV text box is substituted by two text boxes:
1. Skills and Experience & 2. Work History.
Clients regularly call to ask about the requirements, the approach and content for each section, so I thought it would be helpful to provide a brief explanation.
1. SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
In this box you will provide a concise summary of your achievements which demonstrate and satisfy the Essential and Desirable criteria which generally appear under the person specification section in the advert.
The rationale for this section is that it makes it easy for the sift reader to quickly identify your specific achievements that are relevant to the role – in short, it avoids the reader having to trawl through your CV to find them. It also helps you, because you must think carefully about how your achievements fit with the role – so nobody is wasting their time!
This is how to approach it:
Pull up the job description, locate the Essential and Desirable Criteria section. You will see a bulleted list of skills, knowledge and experience for the role, I have copied a list from a typical recent job advert:
· Experience of working in partnership, engaging and building trust with internal and external stakeholders in an operational environment.
· Extensive experience of working in a fast paced and complex operational environment, evidencing the ability to manage multiple, complex, fast moving priorities effectively. (for ability read skill)
· Good organisational skills and the ability to grasp and retain information quickly whilst supporting multiple work streams and work autonomously to deadlines with minimum supervision.
· Experience of managing incidents within an operational setting, updating line management and working with partners to debrief post incident.
· Experience in contract management and/or willingness to complete foundation contract management training promptly.
Using each of these bullet points as a header, list below each one or two clear demonstrations by setting out in brief what you achieved – not what your responsibility was. Keep it brief. You need to provide just enough information about the situation and your achievement to demonstrate that you have gained experience in that area or have mastered the skill.
Let’s take the first bullet as an example and pen an answer:
· Experience of working in partnership, engaging and building trust with internal and external stakeholders in an operational environment.
Example answer: Built trusted relationships with over 10 internal and external stakeholders [Name key ones], to coordinate delivery of a high-profile operational programme [Name], reducing case-processing times by 15% and improving customer satisfaction scores by 10%.
To provide context, it’s always useful to re-read the role responsibilities because this is what you will be doing in the role and so you can select achievements which demonstrate the essential criteria in question whilst also evidencing the responsibilities.
At this point you are probably thinking the content here is duplicated in what you have in your work history and possibly statement, however you must approach each section with a view that the readers task is to review this section only, hence they will only be able to score it on what you tell them, duplication is not only fine, it’s essential.
2. WORK HISTORY
This means your CV. However, it’s not simply a cut and paste from your formal CV. The reader mainly wants to know where you were working and when, what you were responsible but more than this, what you actually achieved.
The timeline must be continuous i.e. no unexplained gaps. Even if you took time out to travel, study, raise a family, looked after a loved one, you need to state this. Where an unexplained gap exists, where were you? what were you doing?
Here is an example of how you should set out each role starting with the most recent / current:
Your Company month 20xx - present
One line explaining who they are / what they do – saves them researching if
not obvious.
Tasked with … [Set out in just a few lines what you were tasked with doing]
e.g. Leading the Duty of Care Operational Desk, overseeing delivery of a high-volume operation comprising 40 staff per shift. Acted as the primary management contact for customers, resolving complex issues and disputes to maintain service continuity and customer satisfaction.
Key Achievements:
For example:
· Designed and implemented an innovative rostering system for two operational duty desks to ensure 365 coverage whilst allowing for staff holidays, absenteeism, and periods of high demand resulting in 97% of calls answers within 60 seconds.
· Supported the implementation of a new telephone system, delivering coaching and support to the direct team and across the department. This system enabled a full integration with the CMS system allowing immediate access to operational files for front line staff, speeding up decision making.
For an achievement to be an achievement it must have a measurable outcome. Always therefore ask yourself ‘So what did that achievement actually deliver? How did it make a difference and to whom?
Generally, there is not a word count limit, but think of the reader and the more concise and hard hitting you can make it the more power your narrative will command! – which translates into marks.
If there isn’t a separate ‘box’ for your education and qualifications include these after your work history.
Matt Eastlake : Founder and Coach at interviewperformance.co.uk
Visit our site and book a free, no obligation consultation and I will call you to hear where you are at with your applications and discuss what needs to happen and how I can help.
