Competency questions on the application form

The Competencies

Below are the usual competencies tested along with the usual probing
questions. Below that is an example answer for Service Delivery written using
STAR to structure the answer. Below that is the same example using the
application form questions to structure the answer.
PROFESSIONALISM

Q1 please describe a specific occasion when you have intervened to take control of a situation

Why was it necessary to intervene in the situation?

What did you do to take control of the situation?

What did you consider when intervening in the situation?

What was particularly good or effective about how you intervened to take control of the situation?

What difficulties did you experience and how did you overcome them?

WORKING WITH OTHERS

Q2 please describe a specific occasion when you have encouraged a person to view an issue more
positively?

why was it necessary to encourage the person to view the issue more positively?

how did you encourage the person to view the issue more positively?

what did you consider when encouraging the person to view the issue more positively?

what was particularly good or effective about how you encouraged the person to view the issue
more positively?

what difficulties did you experience and how did you overcome them?

DECISION MAKING

Q3 please describe a specific occasion when you have considered a number of options before
making a decision?

why was it necessary to consider a number of options before making the decision?

what did you consider when identifying the options?

what did you consider when making the decision?

what was particularly good or effective about how you identified the options and made the
decision?

what difficulties did you experience and how did you overcome them?

Q4 Service Delivery

Please describe a specific occasion when you have had to manage your time effectively in order to
complete a task.
Why did you have to manage your time effectively in order to complete the task?

How did you manage your time effectively in order to complete the task?

What did you consider to make sure you completed the task?

What was particularly good or effective about how you managed your time?

What difficulties did you experience and how did you overcome them?

Example Answer Service Delivery using STAR

Set Scene

Whilst working on my graduate scheme with Network Rail a staff member who was
responsible for organising and designing some corporate team building events went sick. I
volunteered to take on the task as I had previous experience of delivering training in a
previous job. I understood that it was a key company priority to ensure that all staff were
effectively trained. The team building events had been scheduled into the company training
programme and to cancel the training day would have had a knock on effect for other
planned training. There were 4 training days planed one each week for a month. The first
event was in 2 weeks. At this time I also had University assignments that needed to be
completed on time.

Task

It was a big job, my task was to manage my time effectively to complete my normal job tasks
, design the team building event and continue working on my University assignments. I
needed to complete all these tasks on time and to a high standard.

Action

I realised that I needed to take a structured approach to planning my various tasks in order
to be able to complete them quickly and to a high standard. I had some previous experience
of Project Management but I felt it would be useful to get some advice so I spoke to some of
the project management experts who I worked with. Using the guidance I received I used a
structured project management approach. I prioritised tasks in their order of importance to
the Project and how essential it was that they were completed by a set date. I also used a
logical chronological approach to identify which tasks needed to be completed first. One of
the tasks I identified that needed completing first was to research team building events. This
needed to be done first as logically I couldn’t formulate a detailed plan without knowing
exactly what would be involved in the team building exercises. Having identified exactly what
would be involved in the team building day I identified specific actions and time frames for
completion of tasks. I built sufficient time in the plan for me to carry out my essential
functions in my normal job. There were some tasks in my normal role that did not require
completing in the next 4 weeks, so I scheduled these tasks to be completed at a later date. I
discussed my work with my line manager to ensure that she was aware of my plans and to
check that there were no issues in my normal role that were being neglected. It was
important for the organisation that essential tasks in my normal job were not adversely
affected. I also set a study plan for my university work which was mainly based around
evening and weekend study. My degree was a management degree and I identified that
further into my studies some of the Project work I used in developing the team building
exercises would be useful for my degree.

RESULT

All four Team building exercises took place on time. The feedback from the participants was
extremely positive. I received a memo from a regional manager thanking me for taking on
the additional task on behalf of the Organisation. As I had planned ahead I was able to
complete tasks from my normal role that I had rescheduled in an efficient manner at a later
date. I managed to keep on top of my University work and again through planning ahead I
used work I did for the team building exercise towards my degree which was an effective use
of my time.

Application form style Service Delivery

Please describe a specific occasion when you have had to manage your time effectively in order to
complete a task.
Why did you have to manage your time effectively in order to complete the task?

Whilst working on my graduate scheme with Network Rail a staff member who was
responsible for organising a corporate team building event went sick. I volunteered to take
on the task. This was a key company priority to ensure that all staff were effectively trained.
At this time I was also working on University assignments to complete my degree. The team
building event was a big task and had a 4 week deadline for completion so I had to manage
my time effectively to complete my normal job, my university assignments and these extra
tasks on time.
How did you manage your time effectively in order to complete the task?

I prioritised tasks in their order of importance to the Project and how essential it was that
they were completed by a set date. I also used a logical chronological approach to identify
which tasks needed to be completed first. One of the tasks I identified that needed
completing first was to research team building events. This needed to be done first as
logically I couldn’t formulate a detailed plan without knowing exactly what would be involved
in the team building exercises. Having identified exactly what would be involved in the team
building day I identified specific actions and time frames for completion of tasks. I built
sufficient time in the plan for me to carry out my essential functions in my normal job.

What did you consider to make sure you completed the task?

I realised that I needed to take a structured approach to planning my various tasks in order
to be able to complete them quickly and to a high standard. I had some previous experience
of Project Management but I felt it would be useful to get some advice so I spoke to some of
the project management experts who I worked with. Using the guidance I received I used a
structured project management approach. I also considered the impact on my University
studies so I set a study plan for my university work which was mainly based around evening
and weekend study. My degree was a management degree and I identified that further into
my studies some of the Project work I used in developing the team building exercises would
be useful for my degree.

What was particularly good or effective about how you managed your time?

As a result of me planning ahead all four Team building exercises took place on time. The
feedback from the participants was extremely positive. I received a memo from a regional
manager thanking me for taking on the additional task on behalf of the Organisation. As I
had planned ahead I was able to complete tasks from my normal role that I had rescheduled
in an efficient manner at a later date. I managed to keep on top of my University work and
again through planning ahead I used work I did for the team building exercise towards my
degree which was an effective use of my time.

What difficulties did you experience and how did you overcome them?

The main difficulty was the 4 week deadline for the team building event. The amount of work
involved meant I did not have as much time to spend on my core role. I realised it was
important to the company that my core role was not adversely affected. To address this
difficulty I identified that there were some tasks in my normal role that did not require
completing in the next 4 weeks, so I scheduled these tasks to be completed at a later date.

I discussed my work with my line manager to ensure that she was aware of my plans and to
check that there were no issues in my normal role that were being neglected.