Guidance

Success Profiles: Experience

Updated 9 October 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles/success-profiles-experience

The Civil Service recruits using Success Profiles. They help give us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job. For each role we advertise, we consider what you will need to demonstrate to be successful.

Our Success Profiles are made of five elements:

  1. Ability - the aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard
  2. Technical - the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job
  3. Behaviours - the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job
  4. Strengths - the things we do regularly, do well and that motivate us
  5. Experience - the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it

Not all elements are relevant to every role. The makeup of the Success Profile should be different for different types of job. This helps us to improve the chances of getting the best person for the job.

Experience

Experience is the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject by involvement in or exposure to it.

In the Civil Service experience is most often needed when we recruit to:

Why we assess experience

When looking at your experience, we are looking for:

  • previous examples of things you have achieved
  • your knowledge in a particular field which is relevant to the job role
  • How you performed in a particular field - not how long you served

Sometimes experience from outside work can be transferable from a non-work context. Skills gained through voluntary work or a hobby can show the experience you may need for a role. For example, teamwork or communication.

How we assess experience

We will look at your experience, career history and achievements, relevant to the job role.

Some of the assessment methods we may use to understand your experience include:

  • application form
  • CV
  • interview

Consider using the STAR method which allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome.

We may assess your experience along with other elements of the Success Profile. This is to get a more rounded picture of your suitability for the role.

The job advert will describe the elements you need for a role and the selection method(s) that we will use.

Reasonable adjustments

The Civil Service is a diverse and inclusive workplace. We want to help you show your full potential whatever type of assessment we use.

Examples of adjustments can include:

  • providing documents in large print or braille
  • allowing more time for a test or interview or
  • providing assistance at an assessment centre

If you need any reasonable adjustments, tell us when you submit your application that you need an adjustment and how it will help.

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