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Hi Tom, Do you use AI at some point

Hi Jac, thank you for the brilliant videos, they are helping me a lot in my attempts to understand the CS application process! I have a question: how do you know when you should or should not give a STAR response? It seems that you should for competency based questions and not for strength based questions - is that correct? If so, how can you tell whether you are being asked a competency based question? Thanks so much again for your help!

Did you use STAR for the situational question?

I joined the US Army when I was 18 years-old and got out when I was 20 years-old. When I was 20 years-old I went to community college and got an Associate Degree. I transferred to the University of California Santa Barbara(UCSB) when I was 22 years-old. I went to UCSB and partied in Isla Vista for 2 years. I'm thankful I did because I left college in 2005 and life was pretty crappy from 2006-2016 because of the financial crash and working low wage jobs. Those few years in my early 20's I spent at UCSB were some of the most important in my life.

Can you give some examples of Strength Questions for Seeing the Big Picture? Thanks!

Don't try funny examples. I did. Was down graded for it. They have no sense of humour.

The tool looks really good. 👏👏👏

I really like your book stand at the back.. you did not talk about it?

Great videos - got an interview coming soon and hope to get it! Nice les Paul in the background too

I’m applying for one of the civil service job and the job description has 2 grammatical errors 🫠. Life is unfair.

Fantastic video Jac, I was wondering how much time/space should be dedicated to the "Desirable Criteria". E.g if a job has 3 Essential criteria and 2 desirable, is it wise to spend an equal amount of time on each ofthe 5 criteria? or should i spend more time on the essential? Thanks in advance, I really love your channel

I wanted to say thank you for your very helpful videos on passing a civil service interview, they were great and I started my new CS job this week 😊

I'm doing my last months in the master's program, all I have left is my thesis... I have gone through so many moments where I wanted to drop out (in spite of being a great student) and the only thought that kept me from doing so was that I'd have to pay for 1,5 years worth of studies (I have all of it financed in case of a successful graduation). And you know what? I'm gonna graduate, no matter what. I don't want to feel like I've wasted thousands of euros while being a good student, it just wouldn't sit right with me, because I know I am more than capable. However, I can see why some people would choose to do that and I completely support their decision.

I am Jack's useless CV

Hi Jac, this is quite urgent as my interview is in a couple days, here is my question: You have been asked to explain the largest shocks to the UK Labour market over the past 20 years and more broadly the most significant changes. You need to explain this to your manager, who is unfamiliar with the topic, in a 5 minute verbal presentation. You should consider the following: Employment, Unemployment and Economic Inactivity What do you think have been the largest shocks and most interesting changes e.g. gender, age, regional, reason for being inactive etc. What external factors and events do you think may have caused the shocks and led to the changes we have seen in the Labour Market I think the behaviour in question is "communicating and influencing" they didn't explicitly say that, but it looks like it is. what should I be mindful of in terms of my structure, delivery etc?

Honestly, I wish I hadn't done my MBA 8 years ago. I did it because I neared graduation without knowing what to do with my life or having a job lined up.

Something similar happened to me... I didn't wanna work so I tried an MBA course after returning to my hometown but the course was too hard for me with lots of maths so I dropped out, didn't feel like I was in the right course for me. It's weird I dropped out at the end literally (in my masters, after 1 semester) whereas everyone else dropped out after 1st year uni. Thought i was the only one too but I was going through some health and emotional problems and just wanted a break. After dropping out I did a career break instead and luckily then covid happened a year later and the world locked down. I did feel lost as well after finishing my bachelors and didn't know how to continue my life. I was so depressed and burned out.

Do you have advice for me?! Here is my situation! My mom is homeless and lives out of her van and I don’t have other family so I put myself through school with federal loans and working full time. I just graduated and I just got my student loan bill for the first payment. They want me to pay 630$ a month 🥲 on top of rent and my other bills and the debt I have from my credit card I would have to give up my apartment and live in my car to make those payments or get a job that I would be making atleast 3000 a month right now I’m working a job making about 2300 with benefits but it’s just retail. I’m panicking inside and considering joining the military.

The interview process is really off-putting and it's affecting my opinion of myself and my capabilites. I've always been pretty intelligent and adaptable and able to organise and reorganise on a whim but no matter the examples and instances I use (and I have plenty), I get feedback that I've not successfully demonstrated the behaviours or strengths, with no pointers as to where I went wrong. Also, I regularly get "99% better than others" results on the verbal, maths, and reasoning tests. Surely this should put me in consideration for an interview? As with every job, I can adapt and learn in the role and during the training period, so why is the process so harsh and - as I've heard from many folk I know in the civil service - unnecessary?

Watching this just a month before starting an Engineering Master's. I'm passionate about my industry and want to really Master my work/craft. Thank you for this information.

Hi Jac, do you have any video for Managing a Quality Service behaviour please? Really good content, it really helps me prepare for my CS interview! Thank you!

Hi,I have an interview coming up. Do you get asked can we meet you question? Should I prepare for that

this is how I know the academic world isnt for me. i dont learn by reading endless amount of chapters and expect to retain all that information. i learn by watching informative videos like this one and taking notes. and ALL schools abide by reading reading & more reading in order to learn. so yes, fuck that. i quit grad school effective immediately 🙂‍↕️

Hey Jac, just had my civil service interview. Don’t know the outcome 😅

I have yesterday received the news of the need to withdraw my MSc application from university of Bristol in STEM. It was not easy at all, specially studying two semesters in my 30's. I hope that it will get easier with time digesting this shock. Part of me is relief, and the other part is eating me. The feeling of returning to your hometown as a failure isn't easy at all.. the disappointments from yourself, family, and close friends.. I hope it gets easier with time.

Hi Jac, I wanted to thank you for this tool and all your videos around civil service interviews. They helped me immensely to understand the interview process and prepare my answers. I attended my very first civil service interview and got the job! The money spent on your Excel sheet was well worth it! Thanks so much!

Completed all my classes, only thing left is just finishing my thesis and defending it. I had somewhat of an interest in my first semester, but I lost my enthusiasm over the next ones, until I lost all my interest in academy and a good chunk of my field. I'm burnt out. I don't want to read papers, I have started with an overambitious thesis subject which ate up my energy early on and I think now I'd just rather focus on my job and hobbies instead of stressing myself with this misery. I realised the moment I finished my first semester that I'm not a scholar and I have zero interest in being one. I don't know. It's nice to see other people that were/are in the same ship as I am.

Your video never helped , I use them in many interviews and fair in all of them if you want to help put some some live examples otherwise is just not helping at all

Many thanks for your videos, Jac and for putting the tool together. Will be using it this week to practice for my interview next week. A quick question for you on that. What is the dress code for Civil Service job interviews these days? Is it formal still or more smart now, i.e. can I drop the jacket and tie? My CS interview is for a Product Management role and I haven't had to take an interview in over 8 years.

Just hear to say that this video helped me to score a 6 at EO grade for the making effective decisions behaviour and get the job! Thank you Jack 🎉❤

Hey Jack, I had a Civil Service job interview, used your videos to revise, and got the job! Thank you for your knowledge I really appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos. Take care dude.

Hi Jac, I am a Maths teacher with a degree in Maths and Business Management. I am looking for a Strategy advisor role, which will be a career transition for me, do you have any advice for me?

Great video! I just did a CS interview for a heo/seo economist role and they asked me about how I chose between two different datasets for a piece of analytical work. this is specific to an economist role but sharing here incase you're applying for smth similar

Regarding the trap of comparing yourself to others, there is no value to be had from comparing your insides (how you feel) to other people's outsides (which is all you can see because you have no way of seeing into anyone else's head).

Hi jack, do you have any videos on the leadership behaviour? I have an interview coming up and leadership is one of the behaviours I will be assessed on and I'm finding it the most difficult. Thank you. Your videos are very helpful btw :)

Could you organise a tutorial about online civil service work strenghs test ?

Thanks for these videos. How about something that covers Government Statistical Services (GSS)?

thank you x

It will be great if you could amalgamate all your civil service personal statement resource, competency resources, etc into one place. Will happily purchase that

I have an Internal Auditor role interview for Scottish Government on 11th June. Any advice regarding would be useful.

QQ do you think nepotism goes on in the cs?

People spend too long on situation and task because star is a silly model that has two set ups, for no reason. Situation and task are the same damn thing and people get muddled twisting their mind into splitting it into two. What is the situation anyway? "at work", there, done. "I had to" task done. PAR makes more sense, problem, action, result. You're instantly into the meat

Hi guys I have an interview for a product manager role in the civil service. Has anyone had a similar experience and are there any tips you could give please.

they still do strength questions

Useful, thank you but couldn't watcha all through - the background "music" feels like toothache

Will the interviewer say they are asking a strength or behavior question?

Thank you so helpful

Its better to have a degree, than to have no degree at all, thats the way i looked at it. I did not enjoy my Bsc politcal science degree, i was on the wrong course, and others i knew had dropped out, however i was resilient and knew the reward would pay off in the future, given its a very comepetitve world out there, i had no choice to keep going, and didnt want to disappoint my family. Well done me for seeing the bigger picture!!

Hi. Just found you through a recommendation on Facebook. I'm a teacher with years of experience in numerous schools - should i include them all on the CV? Also, I've been asked to use the CARL method. Do I just use one example? I have a lot of stories! Ta

Hi Jac, I really relate to what you said about imposter syndrome. As someone who is a similar age to you, I think what you have done, from your videos to the question bank, is really impressive. I used your videos and question bank a lot when preparing for a policy advisor role last month and managed to make it onto the reserve list. Thank you so much for everything you do and, as others have said, keep doing what you're doing!