The interviewers asked questions based on the civil service competencies, which I expected, but they said I could refer to my answers to the competency questions on my application form if I wanted or choose new examples. However, the application form I completed had requested a personal statement, there had been no competency questions. So that threw me a bit. It was clear that the interviewers had not seen my actual application form. Also I had received an email beforehand requesting I prepare a presentation. So I had prepared a presentation, but when I got there I was asked to complete a different task, so the presentation I had spent time on was not actually needed. The interview therefore seemed very disjointed to me, and to 've honest I was annoyed I had bothered to prepare the presentation at all, as in my prep beforehand that was what I really focused on, but actually it would have been better to just focus on the competencies!

The process consisted of: - online application based on several competencies (e.g. collaborating and partnering, delivering at pace, etc.) - online test - a lot of questions on advanced statistics such as chi square test - face-to-face assessment (case study) - face-to-face interview The whole process was protracted and lasted several months (around 6 months). The face-to-face assessment and interview were done on the same day. The assessment was quite difficult - I was given around 10-15 pages with different evidence to review and prepare a presentation answering 5 questions in 50 mins. I found the material quite difficult and the time insufficient. The topic was about measures for young offenders but although it was supposed to be a study independent of prior knowledge, I found that some prior knowledge was necessary and I was not familiar with the topic. Overall, the case study was not designed very well. The panel consisted of 3 persons from different governmental departments. They were not very encouraging and just stared blankly when I answered questions. I found also some of the questions challenges around political considerations, etc. Also there was no introductory question, so that I could introduce briefly myself but rather straight to the questions. Overall, the experience of the process and the interview panel was not very positive.