The I Feel Down Topic.

[Jonathan]

What on earth? Never known an attrition rate quite like that...

 

[DiogoJ42]

Well, Murphy (probably) had a stroke, had to make the call. Jalad passed from old age. Now Bishop had that horrible eye injury / infection, and just kept getting worse... had to make the call again.

Am now left with Calculon (crazy affectionate squeaky nutter), Hudzen (violent psyco who likes the taste of blood), and newbies Curzon and Melllvar (don't like being handled yet).

 

[Jonathan]

On the plus side, it sounds like you gave the perfect name for Hudzen...

 

[DiogoJ42]

There's a reason we like to spend a couple of days getting to know them before naming them.

 

[Matt N]

Can someone stop me spiralling?

I’ve got an interview on Thursday, and a mock interview on Monday. I’m coming up with STAR examples ahead of these… but I’m just doubting everything. In some cases, I know what I want to say, but when I open my mouth to say the words, I can’t seem to say it in a way that doesn’t sound scripted or without tripping over my words. And in other cases, I think I have really good examples, but they seem thinner than I’d anticipated when I try and flesh them out. I’ve got a lead example for each Behaviour, but I’m struggling with backup examples. I just think everything sounds rubbish when I try and flesh it out.

It’s just making me doubt everything… I’ve been thinking about it for hours, but nothing seems to make sense.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Can someone stop me spiralling?

I’ve got an interview on Thursday, and a mock interview on Monday. I’m coming up with STAR examples ahead of these… but I’m just doubting everything. In some cases, I know what I want to say, but when I open my mouth to say the words, I can’t seem to say it in a way that doesn’t sound scripted or without tripping over my words. And in other cases, I think I have really good examples, but they seem thinner than I’d anticipated when I try and flesh them out. I’ve got a lead example for each Behaviour, but I’m struggling with backup examples. I just think everything sounds rubbish when I try and flesh it out.

It’s just making me doubt everything… I’ve been thinking about it for hours, but nothing seems to make sense.

Matt. Stop. Breathe.

Very long inspirational goose speech incoming, let me just type it out first. TLDR will be you've got this and we've got you.

You're spiralling because you are treating this like a memory test for a script, rather than a conversation about things you have actually done.

The STAR method is a framework, not a straight jacket. The reason you feel "scripted" and are tripping over your words is likely because you're trying to remember specific sentences you have written down, rather than remembering the event itself.

If I asked you to tell me about the time you went to PortAventura, you wouldn't need a script. You would just tell me the story. You know what happened because you were there. Treat your examples the same way. You don't need to memorise the lines. You just need to remember the plot points.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking an example needs to be about saving the world or restructuring a global conglomerate to be valid.

Interviewers (especially for CS roles) are not looking for complexity; they're looking for competence.

A "thin" example where you clearly explain exactly what you did, why you did it, and what the result was, is infinitely better than a complex, "thick" example where you get lost in the details of the project and forget to mention your own contribution.

Focus heavily on the Action part of STAR. That is the only bit they care about. They don't care about the Context (Situation) other than to set the scene. They care about the decisions you made.

You have a First Class degree. You have an MSc. You have successfully navigated university. You are articulate and thoughtful (as evidenced by your posts here). You have already passed the application sift, which means they already think you are capable of doing the job. Crucially, you already are doing the sodding job. The interview is just to confirm that you are a human being they can work with. (That's me out of the equation)

Put the notes down for the rest of the evening. Go and watch something mindless on TV. Spend some hours twiddling on Planet Coaster. Your brain needs to rest, not rehearse.

You've got this.

 

[rob666]

Can someone stop me spiralling?

I’ve got an interview on Thursday, and a mock interview on Monday. I’m coming up with STAR examples ahead of these… but I’m just doubting everything. In some cases, I know what I want to say, but when I open my mouth to say the words, I can’t seem to say it in a way that doesn’t sound scripted or without tripping over my words. And in other cases, I think I have really good examples, but they seem thinner than I’d anticipated when I try and flesh them out. I’ve got a lead example for each Behaviour, but I’m struggling with backup examples. I just think everything sounds rubbish when I try and flesh it out.

It’s just making me doubt everything… I’ve been thinking about it for hours, but nothing seems to make sense.

Go do something else for a few hours mate...
Nice night walk, silly comedy, or a dodgy kebab.

You have nothing to gain by stressing, job interviews are always difficult.

But you are in house, and have experience and references.
And a weird hobby.

...then read the goosey follow up.

 

[BarryZola]

I wish that I could advise you. Unfortunately, though, I've never worked in the public sector. But yeah, I get the impression that Goose knows very well what he's on about. Listen to him.

If all else fails after that, we're all just passing time on this planet until we die. You'll eventually find that the most important and beautiful thing on this earth is spending time with those that you love. As long as you're safe, have good food and have a good roof over your head, it's all good.

 

[owenstreet7]

I think our feathered friend has hit the nail on the head 🪿

Relax, you are already doing the job and interviewing for a permanent position so it's a formality that you're being interviewed. Knock your socks off and show them that you should be kept on permanently, you've got a head start.

Overstressing will cause you to get nervous and overthink so focus on something to get your mind off things If you can write analytical essays for TowersStreet, then you'll absolutely smash the interview

Let us know how you get on here or on the TowersStreet discord and we'll send you a drink to your table when you're at spoons if you'd like to celebrate

 

[Matt N]

Thanks all for the encouragement.

I think part of my issue is that the Civil Service interviews are incredibly structured and expect you to hit very specific bullet point indicators in your answers.

If I say so myself, I don’t seem to do too badly at interviews where the format is more of a bright and breezy conversation about technical skills and experiences. I did two private sector interviews that were of this format over the summer, as well as my interview for the contract job, and I got taken forward to whatever the next stage was in all 3 cases. For one job, I even got through to a final stage practical interview, where although I didn’t get the job, I was given roundly positive feedback with some polite areas of improvement and told that I was strong and that they enjoyed meeting me.

But when you are being marked against such specific (yet simultaneously incredibly vague and hand-wavey) bullet point behavioural indicators, I find it difficult not to fall into the trap of trying to remember specific sentences. I seem to do dreadfully at the STAR-style behavioural questions; I remember hating them when applying for graduate schemes with the video interview questions (although I don’t think having to talk into the ether in front of a camera helped there…), and I just seem to fall into a bit of a wooden mess trying to deliver them. Although with that said, I thought that about the last time I did a presentation and was told I came across well, so who knows?

I’m keen to prepare and don’t want to enter the room on Monday or Thursday unprepared, but I am starting to wonder if over preparation might be my enemy. My issue is that I’m not a naturally calm person about things like this and like to be prepared for every potential outcome. I overthink, I catastrophise, and I also take everything very literally. The stakes also feel a lot higher for this interview than previous ones I’ve done; whereas failing previous applications or interviews could be brushed off as part of the process to an extent while I was still in uni, failing this interview would mean I’ll very likely lose a job I really like at the end of March.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Thanks all for the encouragement.

I think part of my issue is that the Civil Service interviews are incredibly structured and expect you to hit very specific bullet point indicators in your answers.

If I say so myself, I don’t seem to do too badly at interviews where the format is more of a bright and breezy conversation about technical skills and experiences. I did two private sector interviews that were of this format over the summer, as well as my interview for the contract job, and I got taken forward to whatever the next stage was in all 3 cases. For one job, I even got through to a final stage practical interview, where although I didn’t get the job, I was given roundly positive feedback with some polite areas of improvement and told that I was strong and that they enjoyed meeting me.

But when you are being marked against such specific (yet simultaneously incredibly vague and hand-wavey) bullet point behavioural indicators, I find it difficult not to fall into the trap of trying to remember specific sentences. I seem to do dreadfully at the STAR-style behavioural questions; I remember hating them when applying for graduate schemes with the video interview questions (although I don’t think having to talk into the ether in front of a camera helped there…), and I just seem to fall into a bit of a wooden mess trying to deliver them. Although with that said, I thought that about the last time I did a presentation and was told I came across well, so who knows?

I’m keen to prepare and don’t want to enter the room on Monday or Thursday unprepared, but I am starting to wonder if over preparation might be my enemy. My issue is that I’m not a naturally calm person about things like this and like to be prepared for every potential outcome. I overthink, I catastrophise, and I also take everything very literally. The stakes also feel a lot higher for this interview than previous ones I’ve done; whereas failing previous applications or interviews could be brushed off as part of the process to an extent while I was still in uni, failing this interview would mean I’ll very likely lose a job I really like at the end of March.

Matt, I'm going to ask you to stop for a moment and look at the logic of the situation, because your anxiety is currently driving you insane.

I think you need to fundamentally reframe the stakes here.

You are not interviewing to save your job. Your current contract ends in March. That's a fixed point in time. That job is ending regardless of what happens on Thursday.

You're interviewing for a new, permanent position doing a job you already know you can do, in a department that clearly likes you enough to encourage you to apply, with a line manager who is actively supporting you.

You are the incumbent. That's the single biggest advantage a candidate can have.

When the panel asks a question about "Managing a Quality Service" or "Delivering at Pace", every other candidate has to reach back into their memory of a university group project or a part time job at Tesco and try to mold that experience to fit the Civil Service language.

You just have to describe what you did last Tuesday.

Civil Service interviews are wooden. They aren't conversations, they're evidence gathering exercises. The interviewers are literally ticking boxes on a score sheet. Being "very literal" is actually a superpower here. They don't want a meandering, charismatic story about your philosophy on data. They just want to know specifically what you did.

You feel like you are tripping over words because you're trying to memorise a script. Throw the script away. You know the STAR headings. You know the story of what you did. Just tell them the story.

"I needed to fix X."

"I decided to use Y method because Z."

"I encountered this problem, so I did this."

"The result was it worked."

"I learned this as a result, I might consider doing that next time."

That’s it. That’s the answer.

We all catastrophise. It's just your brain trying to run a risk assessment on a future event to protect you. It's a survival mechanism, but in this instance, it's giving you false data.

Be kinder to yourself. You are incredibly qualified, you have industry experience, and you are already doing the job. You are the strongest candidate in the room before you even sit down.