Read the expectations for your grade
Behaviour expectations differ by grade. Read the behaviours named in your advert, then select the matching grade section in the official guidance. Use our prompts to recall experiences; check the official criteria before choosing one.
Read all grade-specific behaviour expectations
Source: Civil Service behaviours
Nine ways to find an example
These are our practice prompts, not official interview questions. You only need to prepare the behaviours requested for your vacancy.
Seeing the big picture
When did you connect an everyday task to a wider team goal?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Changing and improving
When did you spot a problem and test a better way of working?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Making effective decisions
When did you weigh evidence, options and risks before choosing?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Leadership
When did you take responsibility and help others work towards a shared outcome?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Communicating and influencing
When did you adapt your message to help someone understand or act?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Working together
When did you listen to different perspectives and work towards a shared result?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Developing self and others
When did feedback lead you to learn something or support someone else?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Managing a quality service
When did you identify a customer need and improve the service they received?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Delivering at pace
When did you organise priorities and deliver a good result on time?
Write down your role, the choices you made, who was affected, and what happened.
Structure the story with STAR
Situation
Give enough context to understand the challenge.
Task
Explain your responsibility and intended outcome.
Action
Explain your choices, steps and reasoning. Make your contribution clear.
Result
Describe the outcome and learning. Use figures only when accurate.
Source: National Careers Service STAR method
See an illustrative example: Communicating and influencing
Fictional practice example for reflection. Use your own experience in an application.
Situation: At a community workshop, several visitors were struggling with an online booking form.
Task: I was helping visitors book appointments and needed to make the steps clearer.
Action: I asked visitors which part was confusing. I used their feedback to write a plain-language checklist, showed one step at a time, and asked each person to explain their next step back to me. I offered spoken support to people who preferred it and checked the checklist with the organiser before sharing it.
Result: Visitors I supported completed their bookings. The organiser kept the checklist for later sessions. I learnt to check understanding instead of assuming an explanation was clear.
Reflect: Which actions show audience awareness? What evidence would strengthen the outcome? How would your own example meet the advertised grade?
Make skills and knowledge visible
Beyond the behaviour story, explain the tools or methods you used and why. For knowledge, connect an idea to a practical decision. If the role requires technical expertise or a qualification, use the relevant professional framework and the advert.
- Skill: “I used spreadsheet filters to identify duplicate records, then checked the original entries before making changes.”
- Knowledge: “I knew the organisation’s escalation procedure, so I referred the issue to the right person rather than guessing.”
- Reflection: “I can explain what I would repeat, what I would change, and what I still need to learn.”