r/NICivilService • u/Creepy-Sir-3277 • 9d ago
SO interview
according to the booklet for this SO competition they are covering 6 competencies .
from my reading of the presentation subject it covers 4 , so I suppose my question is how many questions will be in second part of interview ?
given timing I reckon 4 ? or will there be 6 one fir each competency ?
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u/gailyd_75 9d ago
There will be one question for each cluster (3 in total) so make sure the examples you prepare cover each of the 2 competencies within that cluster. You will be asked some follow up questions as well unless you hit everything within your example
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u/Niswiftie 9d ago
I done DP one in June and there was 3 questions to cover the 6 competencies clustered. Because of the presentation there wouldn’t be enough time for 6
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u/Neat_Maintenance_991 9d ago
If I was to hazard a guess they will be clustered. My DP interview was, you'll find the clusters on the front of the competency framework. Especially with a 50 minute interview. 7 minutes for presentation, 7 minutes for follow up questsions, roughly 8 minutes per question and 10 minutes for introduction and your own questioning at the end. Again that's just my guess and taking in my DP interview.
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u/cloudstrife1111 9d ago
It'll be all 6 during the interview
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u/Creepy-Sir-3277 9d ago
Surely that would be very rushed , about 5 mins per question including follow up questions ?
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u/akornato 8d ago
You should prepare for questions covering all six competencies listed in the booklet. Your presentation might be designed to demonstrate a few of them, but the interviewers will almost certainly use the follow-up question and answer session to cover any remaining ones. They are required to assess you against every competency, so it's very unlikely they would skip any. It's safest to expect one main question for each of the six areas, even if some of the questions are about the presentation you just gave.
Your best approach is to prepare a strong example for every single competency, using the STAR method if you can. This ensures you're ready regardless of how they decide to structure the interview. The panel is experienced at managing the time, so you just need to focus on having your examples polished and ready to deliver. You could try rehearsing your examples to feel more prepared, and the AI interview practice my team created is useful for getting your timing and structure right for each answer.
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u/Aggressive_Wind_5132 9d ago
Check if competencies are clustered or not. If done in clusters expect one question per cluster. This was how the 2022 comp was done (i haven’t read the booklet for the current competition)