Preparing for a public sector interview

This guide is intended for professionals in the built environment industry who are navigating a recruitment process in the public sector.

If successful in your application, you will be invited to interview. This may be the only assessment required to secure the role or be part of a multistage recruitment process. Whether this is your first public sector interview or your hundredth, below are some general tips that may support and better prepare you for your meeting. It's worth noting that each organisation may have a slightly different approach to recruiting staff, so this guide is meant to provide general guidance rather than specific advice.

Unlike other interviews you may have experienced, public sector interviews are generally very structured and quite formal. Assessors will often be working from a script or pre-agreed list of questions. There might be limited conversation between your answers, and you might see assessors taking lots of notes while you speak.

Although some Authorities may ask you to provide or share some work samples, this often only happens for a few design-specific jobs. In most cases, your performance at the interview will be purely based on how best you verbally answer their questions.

Competency-based interviews

Many public sector recruitment processes follow a competency-based interview approach. This structured format is designed to assess a candidate's suitability for a particular role based on specific skills, abilities, and behaviours rather than solely on their qualifications or past experiences. In this type of interview, the questions assess the candidate’s ability to demonstrate where they have met relevant competencies. 

Ahead of the interview, the interviewer will identify key competencies required for the role, such as communication, problem-solving etc. They will then design questions tailored to the selected competencies, which will begin with something like “Tell me about a time when…”. During or after the interview, the interviewer will score the candidate's responses based on pre-determined criteria for each evaluated competency. This allows for a more objective evaluation of the candidate's performance and helps to determine who will be selected to process through the recruitment process.

Capability-Based Interviews

A capability-based interview is a structured approach that evaluates a candidate's potential to develop and grow within a role or organisation rather than just assessing their current skills and experiences. In this type of interview, the emphasis is placed on the candidate's underlying qualities, such as their ability to learn, adapt, innovate, and collaborate effectively. 

These interviews may include scenario-based questions, where the candidate is presented with a hypothetical challenge relevant to the role and asked how they would approach it. There may also be questions around potential for growth, such as your willingness to learn or alignment with the company's values and ways of working.

Research the organisation

Look up the public sector organisation's governance structures. For example, if you are applying to work in local government, understand if one political party has overall control of the council. Familiarise yourself with recent projects, initiatives or local place-based issues. Look for the status of the local plan, policies and council plans. Review the job description to understand how this role fits the organisation's broader ambitions and projects.

Collate your evidence

Highlight key responsibilities, essential skills and any competencies listed in the role description - then prepare a relevant and recent example of where you have demonstrated each of these responsibilities, skills or competencies. Try to think of different examples so the interviewer can see the breadth of your experience, and in each of your examples, talk about what YOU did, not what your team or company did; it is you who is being interviewed.

Use the STAR method to help you structure a clear answer and explain the situation, task, action and result. And be quantifiable with your results where you can!

Draft your own questions

Depending on the interview stage you are at, it may be the right time to come prepared for negotiations, which may be around salary or days in the office. Make sure to familiarise yourself with local government pay and public sector organisations' pay policy. Prepare to ask informed questions about the organisation's approach, priorities, policies and challenges. Ask about what happens next so you are informed about the following stages.

Practice

Practice your answers! You can do a mock interview with yourself in the mirror, or record yourself on a computer/phone or with a friend or family member. If recording, watch it back. If with a friend, ask for feedback

Make sure to answer the question you are being asked. Using the examples about yourself that you’ve already prepared, try to select the best example for the question asked. But take your time, and don’t hesitate to pause before answering.

You may receive a question you’re not expecting. Take a moment to consider your best answer; don't just jump into a prepared example that isn't relevant to the question. It may highlight your skills well, but you won't score high if it is not specific to the question.