writing my supporting statement at the moment and finding it really hard to not repeat myself all the time because they ask the same thing in a lightly different way in each section

always the bloomin same, almost makes me want to go to the private sector

If its any consolation, the ones I have filled in improved over the years. They used to ask all sorts of stuff that was frankly none of thier business and irrelevant to doing the work.

Not repeating yourself is difficult, but the way the forms are scored means it can have advantages. Originality is not always appreciated in the government sector.

I spoke with many interviewers at my last public place. If the specification says
“We want experience in managing ducks, bananas and coal mines”
saying you have wide ranging management skills and quoting a specific successful project cuts less ice than mindlessly saying “I have a long history of successful management, most of it in the duck sector, but also extensively in bananas and coal mines” because they allocate a score (rather like an exam) to every phrase or subject that specifically matches the specification for the job. You could write a really good application but it if does not repeat the specific terms or something very close it could end up at the bottom of the pile. As a result, applications that get anywhere can be almost a paraphrasing of the job spec rather than showing all that much originality.

Yes, they are utterly tedious to write. But better than reading 200+ of them to do the scoring.

Good luck.

Because most of it is outsourced to people like Capita who just turn it into a robotic box ticking exercise as none of the people assessing you have ever done the job in question and none of them will have to work with you so they have precisely zero investment in what they’re doing.

Spent 3 years trying to get into the Civil service which involved regular, protracted dealings with these people, they really do seem hell-bent on expunging all traces of lateral thinking or creativeness from applicants.

The department I tried to get into have it’s staff cut by 50% after the credit crunch so these days I tend to chalk my failure to get past these drones up as a lucky escape.

finding it really hard to not repeat myself all the time because they ask the same thing in a lightly different way in each section

So write the same thing in a slightly different way!

that’s actually cheered me up, thanks midnighthour 😀

I’m in the university sector (professional services) so don’t come up against capita very often. I did when i went for a Local Govt job once and it was pathetic exercise which resulted in no one getting recruited for the post.

On the whole i just wish they’d ask for you to say how you meet x,y & z criteria rather than asking for x.1, x.2, x.3, x.4, x.5, y.1, y.2, etc.

The managers at my current place look suicidal whenever they have to disappear for four hours to read through applications

It’s to get you used to mind numbing and pointless paperwork that makes you look busy but achieves nothing for the end user. Think of it as an early sift process….

*still here 8 years after a 13 page application*

Thats ok. I was Local Gov then University sector too.

One of the reasons they take such a pendantic route is actually to try to be as fair and unbiased in selecting candidates as possible.

In the far distant past I have talked to a recruiter who refused to interview any men (1 male employee had mental health issues, so condemned all men) and another who pressed for a candidate to be given a job on the grounds they hoped to sleep with them. The government processes though dull and tedious are intended to circumvent this sort of distasteful recruiter as much as possible. As no one can mind read the idiocy of some recruiters, the dull application forms are the nearest official bodies can can get to fair and decent employment practice. So on the bright side, you may be getting a fairer chance than you might otherwise get – given peoples prejudices.
🙂

As Midnighthour said it’s important to directly address the specific criteria with examples. It’s a product if legislation that all public sector jobs have to be under open and fair competition – a good thing as it makes it more difficult for people to just give jobs to their mates – but also a bad thing because organisations are so afraid of falling foul of the regulations that they include criteria on the application for absolutely everything that the job could possibly entail.

It doesn’t have to be like that – when I worked in the public sector I’d ask for maybe 4 or 5 broad criteria + and essential technical stuff (eg qualified accountant, economist etc) + a CV. I found this plenty to make a judgment to sift for interview.

Unfortunately, looking at some recent job packs it seems that a ridiculous number of criteria is the norm.

You do have an advantage if you know that you have to address every criteria they ask for though – its a ballache to do but at least you maximise your chance of getting an interview.

It’s to prepare you for the wince-inducing levels of needless bureaucracy that you’ll have to deal with on a daily basis if you actually get the job. I love the public sector and will fight to the death for its maintenance but when it comes to ‘getting sh*t done’ the leaders of our services routinely takes the most ludicrously convoluted ways of doing it. The cuts are a prime example where my employers will happily waste several thousand ‘soft’ pounds in order to save fifty ‘hard’ pounds. I speak from vast amounts of experience, mostly with my palm of my hand planted in my face.

It’s to prepare you for the wince-inducing levels of needless bureaucracy that you’ll have to deal with on a daily basis if you actually get the job

currently going through this process at the moment and the above is what I am most worried about…

“address every criteria they ask for” This. Even the obscure seemingly trivial points should be mentioned by you positively.
All more points on the scoring chart for you.

Bit of a thread resurrection to says thanks for the advice and support above – I start the job on Monday

Not sure if you should be congratulated – your now going to work for an organisation that does recruitment badly……………. !

Hopefully you will spend your earnings on riding a bike, which should make up for it 🙂

Not sure if you should be congratulated – your now going to work for an organisation that does recruitment badly……………. !

Dunno about that, they hired the right man for the job 😉

Hopefully you will spend your earnings on riding a bike, which should make up for it

Damn Straight! First thing I did was buy myself new wheels as a present

It’s to prepare you for the wince-inducing levels of needless bureaucracy that you’ll have to deal with on a daily basis if you actually get the job. I love the public sector and will fight to the death for its maintenance but when it comes to ‘getting sh*t done’ the leaders of our services routinely takes the most ludicrously convoluted ways of doing it.

Not sure that’s universal across the public sector: I’m consistently impressed with how proactive my department is and how quick it is to respond to emergencies. Avian flu being a good recent example. And my last job was with a FTSE 100 company, so it’s not like I’m stuck in a public sector bubble.

So, congrats on the job spawnofyorkshire, and enjoy life in the public sector. I think it’s an exciting, rewarding place to work 8)

We’re a public sector with delusions of being a proper business which usually means a worst of both worlds, but I have to say our HR stuff is not bad. Incredibly slow to get a new post authorised- I was a short term contractor for 18 months before they managed to get my post made permanent, and that was pretty good going- but the actual recruitment process is pretty quick and efficient.

(OTOH it somehow always catches them out when someone goes on maternity leave, and we end up recruiting for the cover the week they leave)

Public sector … hmmm … must keep them at a manageable size otherwise they suck the life out of everyone.

Spent! Spent! Spent! That is their motto.

Respect the authority!

🙄

Personnel became Human Resources. Then…

Is that what HR stands for – I was told it was human remains.

teamhurtmore – Member

Is that what HR stands for – I was told it was human remains.

I though it was Heartless Regiment … 😯

Scottish Exec has just released its next round of voluntary leavers scheme 🙄
MrsT may be tempted.
She is also being tempted by another job which she may be seconded to ….

That does not sound fun. Good luck getting ‘house’ on the lingo bingo.

Aside from some necessary formalities, folks make the private sector experiences I’ve had in assessing recruits sound straightforward. I’m now really looking forward to finishing off a draft of a job description/ad to recruit a new colleague.

THM/chewkw, our hr are now called “workforce development”. There is no ‘hollow laugh’ emoticon available to reflect the massive (negative) difference in what development looks like today compared to 15 years ago when they were just called ‘personnel’. (Edit) tbf though their department is almost exactly half the size it was 15 or even 5 years ago for almost the same size workforce.

Also i see the collective despondency about the application forms. At the other end it is not always much fun either.

there is something about the nhs jobs website and appications process that also means that as the shortlister i typically experience a 50% ‘spam’ rate. These are real people i have no doubt who really want *a* job, but just paste the same personal statement into every application with (in the case of my fairly specialist niche-of-a-niche service) without any thought to the job description or in many cases even the minimum mandatory professional qualifications required for the post let alone relevant experience or post-reg/postgrad qualifications
….and yet i have to go through a longer process to not shortlist the spammy or just not-quite-good-enough appications than i do for the ones we actually want to interview. 😕