Working with clients during 2022 has highlighted the most common areas people need to focus on to improve their public sector job interview preparations.
1. Prepare for the interview
Performing well at a job interview takes preparation. Like any presentation, just turning up and winging it is unlikely to deliver an effective result. Assuming you’ve already completed relevant research, you now need to think about your interview strategy, anticipate potential questions, then prepare and rehearse responses. Thought can also be given to whether the interview is in-person or online, what preparation is needed, including what could go wrong.
For more ideas on interview preparation read:
- Essential job interview preparation: eleven lessons from interview coaching.
- Effective job interview strategy.
- Read the selection criteria to anticipate interview questions.
2. Distinguish ‘we’ from ‘I’ in responses
While it is useful to acknowledge other people involved in any example of work experience you offer, it is also essential that you primarily focus on what your contribution was. This means being aware of how much you use ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ when explaining what you have done.
For other expressions that can weaken responses, read How words weaken government pitches and criteria responses.
3. Use the SAR structure in responses
As with written examples, applicants may not structure their examples well so that panel members can readily follow and understand what they are talking about. This particularly applies to applicants who draw from experience in another jurisdiction, another department, or from another context, such as industry, education or the not-for-profit sector.
The SAR structure is:
S = situation/context, your role, who was involved, what made it complex, what were the challenges, problems you were facing
A = actions, approach taken to the situation
R = results that flowed from actions, flow on outcomes, links back to the challenges in the context to close the story (i.e. a ‘happy’ ending) or lessons learnt.
For more information, read this article on selection criteria response structure.
4. Make the example context clear
If panel members struggle to understand what you are talking about, why it is relevant, and how you used skills and knowledge in a way that is relevant to the role you are applying for, they may decide you lack relevant experience. This means, the ‘S’ part, including context, of any example you give during an interview, becomes critical. It must be explained so that the example is clear, relevant, preferably recent, and of a comparable level of seniority.
This means considering including information such as: purpose, challenges/problems, risks, timeframe, people involved, what your role was.
You may need to draw on transferable skills, explaining how skills used in another context apply to this new context. For further information read this article on understanding transferable skills.
5. Explain actions based on skill-related verbs
Without realising it, job applicants may talk about examples using words that may not reflect the skills sought in the new job. When preparing responses to potential questions, check that you are using the skill language in the role description. When talking about actions taken, the verbs should reflect the skills in the role. For example, if the role talks about influencing and negotiating with stakeholders, then your example needs to say ‘I influenced … and I negotiated with …’
6. Distinguish clients, customers, colleagues, stakeholders
Most role descriptions refer to one or more of these categories of people: clients, customers, colleagues, stakeholders. How they are defined may vary depending on context, jurisdiction, department and agency. Part of your initial research is to clarify how these terms are used. This will then inform your selection of examples so that they closely match the role.
Care is needed when your experience differs from the role. For example, people working in educational contexts need to think about whether students are clients, customers or stakeholders. People working in service contexts, such as retail, need to think about how dealing directly with customers matches how governments deal with customers/clients.
7. Leadership and management questions
Applicants need to consider whether questions about leadership and management are likely to be asked. If the role description mentions either or both, or the role involves supervising staff, then it’s best to be prepared. Applicants for more senior roles certainly need to anticipate these questions.
Leading and managing are not the same, but there is some overlap. An online search on the differences between the two will provide the details. Managing is primarily about tasks – planning, organising, controlling. Leading is more about influencing, motivating, inspiring. While a manager may lead, a leader may not be a manager.
You may wish to read APS leadership material, such as:
- APS SES leadership capabilities
- APS Academy material on leadership and management
- APS Craft material
Questions that could be asked relate to:
- Demonstrating leadership and/or management.
- Leadership or management style.
- Feedback received about leadership or management style.
- Dealing with specific management issues such as coaching, mentoring, under-performance, setting an example, fostering a high performance culture.
For additional reading, see:
8. Prepare for ‘why questions’
Just as your pitch means explaining why you are interested in a role, so too you may need to respond to ‘why questions’ during an interview. Such questions include ‘tell us about why you are interested in this role and why you think you’re a strong candidate’. Such questions need a verbal version of what you wrote in your pitch.
Given you no longer have a word or page limit, it’s worth preparing a verbal version that is more detailed but is still succinct, relevant, and value-laden. Even if these questions are not asked, they can inform your thinking about other questions, and you may have the opportunity to include this material in other responses or as a summary at the end of the interview.
This article on How to pitch your strategic value in job interviews may be of interest.
You may also wish to read: Seven lessons from 2022 about public service job applications.