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Application Guidance
Pre-selection
Our online application system will determine if you are eligible to apply, in accordance with our
eligibility and nationality requirements. In addition, applicants who have failed to fully complete
their application form or provide sufficient information will be automatically disqualified.
Process
You are required to complete our online application form and in most cases you will be asked to
upload your CV.
Short Listing ; during the short-listing process a panel will be assessing your specialist skills,
knowledge and evidence you provide against the behaviours for the role. It is very important for you
to address all of the areas identified in this section on the application form and explain how you
meet the requirements. The evidence you provide is scored and applicants who best meet the
essential criteria for the role and the behavioural indicators for the grade are invited to an
Assessment Centre and/or interview.
Psychometric Testing ; Part of our selection process is the completion of online tests which typically
includes but not limited to verbal and numerical reasoning.
Interview ;If you are selected for interview/assessment centre, you will be required to bring
identification and original academic/professional certificates.
Alternative dates ; It is not always possible for us to offer alternative dates for interview/assessment.
Unsuccessful applicants ; Due to volumes it is not always possible to notify unsuccessful applicants
by phone. Email notifications will be sent to the email address supplied on your application form for
those unsuccessful at sift and interview stages.
Successful applicants ; If you are recommended for an appointment, you will be sent a letter giving
full details of the terms of your appointment including your probationary period . All offers are
conditional and subject to satisfactory pre employment checks. These include references, health
checks and obtaining security clearance - DV (Developed Vetting). An offer of employment may be
withdrawn or employment terminated if information provided is found to be false.
Application form
Completion of the application form is an important part of our assessment process, All behaviours
listed plus job specific skills and experience will be scored, and these scores will determine whether
you are selected to progress to the next stage.
The following information is designed to help you complete your application as effectively as
possible. Please make sure you read all the information about the role, paying particular attention to
the role profile to include the essential criteria section and the Core Behaviour framework. For more
information about FCO Services, visit www.fcoservices.gov.uk
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Please note that you can start an application, save your progress to date and re-visit it. It does not
need to be completed in one sitting but you will need to ensure that log in and submit before the
closing date of the campaign as late applications are typically not accepted.
Your personal details ; It is important that we have contact details so that we may advise you of your
progress at each stage. If your contact details change please keep us informed so as to avoid any
difficulties.
Your educational information ; You should provide details of your secondary and further education
along with any relevant professional qualifications, including membership to any relevant
professional bodies. If you are relying on qualifications obtained in another country please give full
details and proof of their equivalence to UK qualifications. Incomplete details of qualifications may
result in this information being disregarded. Please note that not all examinations or qualifications
may be recognised by FCO Services.
Your career history ; You should start with your current or most recent position and work backwards,
covering your last 10 years (if applicable), including your start and end dates with each company.
You should ensure that it is clear from each job what your main duties and responsibilities were and
at what level you operated. You should include part-time, any unpaid or voluntary work you may
have done. We will also need you to state your reasons for leaving or wanting to leave your current
employer.
Time unaccounted for; It is important that we have an accurate picture of what you have been doing
for the last 10 years. Please use this space to account for any periods of unemployment, career
breaks, extended study leave etc.
Supporting statement ; This allows you the opportunity to demonstrate why you are applying to FCO
Services and why you think we should select you for the role. Consider what is your unique selling
point.
How do you meet our requirements ? ;This is your opportunity to evidence to the panel that you
have the skills, knowledge and experience that they are looking for. You will need to provide
competency based examples and you should complete this section in conjunction with reading the
core behaviour framework document.
Read through the behaviours and think of an example (or two) where you have demonstrated those
skills and/or behaviours. Your examples can come from your work experience in your present or
most recent job or from outside activities, such as voluntary work, hobbies or academic work. Use
your ‘best’ example.
You should assume the panel won’t know anything about the events you are describing, so tell them
about what you are trying to achieve and why. What part you played and don’t fall into the trap of
talking about what ‘we’ did.
Tell the panel whether you were successful at achieving what you were trying to do. Don’t just state
it was a great success. The panel wants to know how you went about achieving the result and, if
there were factors that made the process more challenging than expected, then provide details on
how these were addressed.
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If you are currently unemployed or have been out of paid employment for some time, or have never
been in employment, you may wish to include relevant experience gained in a school/educational
environment or through voluntary work in the community.
Please try to be concise and restrict your response to approximately 300 words per competence.
Hints and Tips about competency based examples
The STAR acronym is useful tool when thinking of competency based examples ;
The Situation - set the scene by explaining the situation in which the example occurred
The Task - Then explain the task that you carried out.
Your Actions - Then explain the actions that you took (these need to be actions by you not others or
shared with others)
The Result of your actions - Finally, explain the result (outcome) of your actions and how successful
you were
What is not behaviour based evidence?
Generalisations - 'I am always courteous to customers'
Job descriptions - 'My role involves'
A process - 'First I input details into the spreadsheet'
An assertion - 'It is very important to deal with complaints promptly'
Theoretical - 'I would deal with the company first by..'
Passive - 'A meeting was called'
Not owned - 'We decided to adopt the last option'
Pen picture - 'She is very loyal and committed'
Paraphrasing the criteria - 'I displayed tact and diplomacy'
Non specific - 'When I receive this I intend to'
Examples describing future situations - specific examples have happened and are in the past
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