Civil Service - How To Write Your Cover Letter/Supporting Statement (3 Tips)
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- Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
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1.This video is not official guidance.
In this video I share my personal opinion and experiences on 3 tips to improve you Civil Service cover letter/supporting statement stand out.
00:00 - Intro
00:16 - Hit the essential criteria
01:30 - Be specific
03:15 - Use simple & clear language
04:15 - Ask for feedback
I have helped numerous people with this and have picked up on some common mistakes. I hope this quick video can help you at the application stage of the Civil Service.
1. I recommend copy and pasting the essential person criteria into a word document and then think of examples for each point. Give examples that demonstrating you hitting this criteria and be specific. There's no need to STAR at this stage.
2. Be specific and avoid using empty sentences that don't explain how you hit the essential criteria. Hold-off sharing reasons for applying until the interview, unless you can do it in only a few words. It's more important to give experience and examples. You can then have a conversation at interview about what attracted you to the role.
3. Ensure your language is clear for the person reading your application. Avoid acronyms and any potential confusing terms.
Bonus tip: Get someone to read your application and check it makes sense and reads well.
If you have any questions please let me know in the comments down below :)
🎬Check out my FREE 36-video online class on how to get a job in the Civil Service - skl.sh/3IaQR0t
Just wanted to say thanks for these guides. It helped me get my AO role and will help while I go for EO level. Cheers!
Love it, congrats!
Really enjoying your videos and very helpful. Interviewing soon for another HEO role. 3rd civil service interview in 2 months. Ended up second overall on the last 2 and onto reserve lists so hopefully 3rd times a charm.
Honestly thankyou for this! Really helpful as I was stuck on where to begin! Keep posting the videos ☺️
You’re welcome! More coming 😀
Hi Jac, I'm currently applying for an EO promotion, so your civil service videos are proving very helpful.
Thank you for taking your time to do this. I haven't watched the video YET but the fact you took time out of your day to do this is highly appreciated 💕
Thanks very much!
Thank you so much Jac. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Glad it was helpful!
Very well-explained with great tips for what to avoid (acronyms). Thank you!
I've been in the civil service for 17 years and STILL struggle with all of this! Thank you for your help :)
You are so welcome!
@@JacWilliamsVideo can you use 2 examples in a statement?
@@Endlesslove29 Yes
This video is really good Jac! Thank you
Glad you liked it :)
Thank you so much Jac...!!
Great video! Thank you
Thanks Lloyd, glad it was helpful :)
Hey Jac, thanks for this and your other vids, I find them really informative! If you get a chance, please can you do another with advice on how to complete the previous skills and experience section of CS applications?
Hi, did you work out how to fill the previous skills and experience section and how not to duplicate the experience from employment history section? thank you
Thank you for your job, Jac. Your videos are really helpful. i think that would be a good idea if you could give some of the critera or even better all of them and give examples how to write about them. The topic seems so complecated to me. Are the criteria and the Behaviours the same ? Which of those discribe in the statement letter? Many thanks
Hi Jac, can you do a video on how to answer the 'Technical Skills' questions on an application. They are usually formatted like a normal question e.g.: Experience of adapting communication styles for difference audiences. - Do i answer this as it is or using the star approach ?
Thanks for your other videos they've been informative !
Shame I didn’t find this page before. Had my interview and had to did a statement of experience. If I don’t get in this time, I have these videos to help👍
Hope it went well :)
thanks for these videos Jac I have found them very helpful. Would you be willing to review a personal statement I am currently writing for a role in the Civil Service (750 words)
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, could you address the "Skills and Experience" section of the application. This is usually on the same page as the Emplyment History. It is not clear what you should include or how to lay out the answer. What would you expect to see in this section and how would you advise us to present it i.e. using STAR, or bullet points etc. Any help would be hugely appreciated thank you!
Hi Nadia, I agree - I've been confused with this part. However, what I've done in the past is use bullet points of my skills and any additional courses/qualifications/achievements I've completed. For me this would be skills in various pieces of software, courses that I've completed, maybe additional qualifications besides degree etc. Essentially anything extra that isn't included in the main CV section. Again, I could be wrong but this is how I've done it in the past. Hope it helps.
I've just found your channel and im currently watching through your videos! They are so helpful, thank you! I'm looking to apply for a HEO role, I don't currently work in the Civil Service and my previous attempts have all been unsuccessful, but I'm still determined.
Please may I ask if you have any tips on how to pass the Civil Service verbal and numerical tests? Many thanks
I struggle with these too! but I would recommend doing as many practise tests online that you can.
This is the only part I find relatively easy. My advice would be read each question at least three times. Some are made to sound complex, but are actually quite simple, some are the opposite. Take your sweet time.
Hi Jack, great channel, thank you. I am applying for a job in civil serivce. The first page (CV) has two secitons/ boxes: namely - 'Employment History' and 'Previous Skills and Experience'. The 'next' page is 'personal statement' max 750 words. There is no word count mentioned for the first page but advert suggests max 2x A4 pages. I have a couple of questions please. 1. Do I give references in Employment History box which is the first box on page 1 (CV)? 2. The 'Employment History' does not take same amount of space as the 'Previous Skills and Experience', is it okay to have first box (or should I say first A4 page) much smaller than the second box, Does employment history only include where worked, as what and for how long; or should it also include what I did. I am confused becasue what I did should be for the second box of previous skills and experience. Looking forward to your response.
Hi, I'm about to begin my first CS application. For the personal statement do I just go straight in with the lead criteria or have a little introductory paragraph first?
Man!! Been stressed over this for past 2 days wat a massive help this video is Thank you!! Only bit I can't get my head around now is there are 2 sections previous skills nd experience and personal statement 🤦🏾♂️ how do I approach them
Write skills like u would in cv
How would you structure a personal statement with not CV option?
Love these videos. Great content.
One question I have specifically on civil service jobs is around not sharing identifiable information in your application that might bias the panel before you are selected for interview. In theory I really approve of this but in practice I find it totally mind boggling how to do it but also explain a project well. For example, if I say 'I worked for company X on a project evaluating Y' and they google that, it will be my name and face because X and Y are specific and niche and it will only be me who's done that. There are other examples where I can give broader example and it would be harder to identify me as it's been a large company or project but in some cases it will literally only be me. Then again, if I talk in vague terms about 'a project on which I evaluated or tested [insert vague description of product' it will read like I'm making it up.
I appreciate this is potentially quite a niche question but it trips me up every time not least because some of the projects I've worked on have also been for the government departments in question and then do I name them in applications to them or not? I've never had feedback on my cover letters, some succeed, some don't so I never know whether it's this issue or another that's been the error in the ones that aren't successful. All thoughts welcome.
I have applied for a post on my own team. The people doing the sifting know all the internal candidates, as they are the team senior managers. The examples I've given they have direct experience of. So they will 100% recognise me from the evidence I have given. There is no way around that. This can be a plus and a negative.
To answer your question about government departments - you should give the details in your CV. The sifters do not have the time (or ability) to contact the other departments. It is important to give the specific details of what you have done.
Hi Jac - your videos are really insightful and have helped me a lot when it came to applications.
I was wondering if you could kindly take a look at some of my answers for competency based questions for a HEO role and provide me some feedback?
Hey! If you give me a message on Linkedin I'll try and have a read through and give some quick feedback. I can't go through and edit unfortunately as I just don't have the time. Thanks
Hi Jac, your videos are really good and there's a lot information that I can't anywhere else unless I'm planning to fall asleep by boredom.
I got a question about the personal statement because I'm applying to this apprenticeship in Cov. The personal statement has a word count of 1200 and because there's no previous financial experience needed and the essential criteria is like 5 short bullet points, it's making me worried about how I'm going to fill up the statement to near 1200 word. Your video says that personal statements has like 500-800 word count so not to use STAR method but should I use it and in this case and should I put more examples for each of the essential criteria.
Thanks for the help
Hi. Don’t fill it with 1200 words for the sake of it. If you think you can hit the 5 bullet points in less then go for it.
This is really helpful as I was wondering whether to use STAR or not for a 500 word personal statement for an AO role! For the examples, how specific do they have to be? I’m struggling to think of really specific examples e.g. a specific thing I did one time that led to a specific result, as I don’t have much experience. Thanks :)
I think briefer examples are fine for the cover letter. Just outline how they hit the essential criteria :)
@@JacWilliamsVideo great thank you! :)
Hey Jac - I'm sure you've heard this many times already but thanks a lot for this! It's so helpful. I just had one question please - I'm looking to apply for a HEO role, in the CV which has a 500 word limit would you suggest that I have one example for each bullet point under the Essential Criteria? There are 7 bullet points under this and a further 2 under Desirable Criteria. Thanks in advance :)
Thanks :) The CV part is for your past work experience. The cover letter is where I suggest you outline how you hit all of the essential criteria.
@@JacWilliamsVideo Thanks for your speedy reply! It mentioned CV and personal statement no cover letter - so does that mean that I mention and evidence the essential criteria in the personal statement?
What if the job description does not contain essential criteria?
Hi,
Can anyone tell me what is online statistical test in the civil service? I applied in Higher Executive Officer (HEO) post and have been invited for an interview. But, before the interview, I have to do a statistical test. Does anyone know about it? This post is about policy and casework officer.
Hi Jac. Thanks for these videos. Please keep them coming. I have a question though. I want to apply for some jobs in the CS but a bit confused. There are two jobs I’m interested in, basically the same job but different grades. AO and EO. Can I make these two applications at the same time or they will both be withdrawn? Thank you.
I'm pretty sure you can apply for different roles at the same time, yes.
Thank you Jac.
Hi Jac, this is the second job advert that has no essential criteria listed. It does have an extensive Job Description and a shorter Person Specification. Would I be correct in assuming the essential criteria would be the person specification section do you think? Thank you for any help and for the videos.
Correct
Hi Jac, your videos are really helpful!
I am writing a cover letter at the moment and have found that 500 words in size 11 font in the correct letter format does not even fit onto one page, so should the word count not be more like 400 words?
Usually you copy and paste the cover letter into the box on the application form so it shouldn't matter.
@@JacWilliamsVideo The civil service application I'm doing right now requires just a cover letter and cv to be emailed to the recruiter. 3 behaviours are listed as essential skills so would you suggest addressing just these in the cover letter? Or should I focus on more technical aspects as it is a policy role?
@@mattchat1102 I would probably address the behaviours in the cover letter, yes.
I have just stumbled across your channel and am I glad! I’m currently applying for a CS job where it only requires a personal statement of 750 words against the essential criteria. Can I just ask, what is the best way to approach this, 1 example to cover all the points or separate ones for each? Or maybe 2 examples covering them? I don’t know where to start 🙈
I would list multiple examples that demonstrate the criteria. As many as you need to hit all of the points :)
@@JacWilliamsVideo thank you so much!
I am in the process of doing the write up, thank you for the tip😊
@@FM-pm5iy currently doing this too! How did it go? X
@@7002164 I didn’t get the job but sure did get an interview.
@@FM-pm5iy oh that’s great! Something to learn from for sure. How was the interview? Tell me everything lol 😂 I’m sat completing my 750 personal statement and stuck on providing examples for behaviours 🙈 this is gunna be a long journey ahead! Would you try to apply again? X
Let me know any more suggestions for videos 👇🏻
Hi Jac, these videos are extremely helpful and precise! A video I would be tuning in for would be around the topic of 'Presenting yourself' on Interview Day.
Thank you :D
@@tejvirsingh7282 Interesting! As in a virtual setting over video?
@@JacWilliamsVideo Yes, exactly.
Hi Jac, could you please do a video on the Making Effective Decisions behaviour?
@@BETZ5000 Yes! Will think of some ideas
So if you don't hit all the essential criteria it's not worth applying for the job?
Is the covering letter the same as the personal statement?
Yes
@@JacWilliamsVideo Hi Jac, I sent you a message on LinkedIn. Could you take a look and let me know if you are interested, Many thanks.
Please make sure you use your hole world limit