NEW 2020 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:07am

dee75 wrote: »

You're spot on Phoenix Parker.

Results just out!

so true.. delighted that I got through.
good luck to all!

griffid · 16-04-2021 11:08am

Results!!!

griffid · 16-04-2021 11:12am

Didn’t get it. N/A for 2 of them? What does that even mean? I was so crap they couldn’t even score it?

Bo Jack 35 · 16-04-2021 11:20am

Ugh the frustration..I manage a team of 10, I am a fully qualified project manager involved in a pretty significant portfolio of projects with budget management experience. Don’t pass the management phase!!! I had LESS experience 2 years ago and got all the way through to the interview. I’m generally fairly self critical in these situations but I just don’t know what else I can do?

derailed · 16-04-2021 11:21am

griffid wrote: »

Didn’t get it. N/A for 2 of them? What does that even mean? I was so crap they couldn’t even score it?

Sorry to hear that. It usually means that the shortlisting board have looked at the first competency in terms of management and leadership experience and when the qualifying mark is not reached, there is no additional examination of the other competency questions.

derailed · 16-04-2021 11:22am

Got through myself. Scored 60 in all areas. Very happy but etray hurdle lies ahead.

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:22am

lucat wrote: »

Unfortunately I missed the qualifying mark by a few points because I mistimed my answer and got cut off. However 40/100 is still a low score isn't it? How can you get 80-100 if you've only 3 mins to talk?

Really sorry to hear that Lucat. Very bad luck. Well 40/100 is a pass. I suppose if you were in a real situation you would be asked questions which might bring high scorers on the videos down a bit and lower scores up a bit if you get me?
I know the videos were used at a recent internal competition as the prelim interviews and some high video scorers didn't make the panel after real interview. I don't think it's an accurate reflection on how you would do in a real interview.
Sorry you are out.

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:23am

griffid wrote: »

Didn’t get it. N/A for 2 of them? What does that even mean? I was so crap they couldn’t even score it?

I think you should get on to them! what on earth could that mean? it sounds like an error to me.
I hope you get it sorted and it becomes a positive result!

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:25am

Bo Jack 35 wrote: »

Ugh the frustration..I manage a team of 10, I am a fully qualified project manager involved in a pretty significant portfolio of projects with budget management experience. Don’t pass the management phase!!! I had LESS experience 2 years ago and got all the way through to the interview. I’m generally fairly self critical in these situations but I just don’t know what else I can do?

Really sorry to hear that. It's very hard to know what they are looking for.

PhoenixParker · 16-04-2021 11:27am

I think if you fail the management (Q2) they don't score the other two so that's why you have N/A maybe?

Looks like I didn't get through on leadership. Surprised, my example was solid, ticked every sub-competencies and involved some very resistant stakeholders . . . ugh.

I wonder does the change have to be internal. I led a team for project that brought huge change for my client in the private sector, basically moved their paper stuff online. My own team remained the same though.

16-04-2021 11:27am

It can be very difficult for people, especially existing civil servants, to crash out of competitions like this. I would say to these people that the scores you get are reflective of the examples you gave and the interpretation of them, given in very constrained circumstances. They are not reflective of your own worth or experience. If you gave the best examples you have, there is an opportunity to embrace this as a positive and make changes to leave you in a better position for next time.

If you already have good examples from your current role you need to move, so request a transfer. Think of it this way, if you have good examples from your current job, what good is two more years of the same where you probably won't get any better examples?

Smart1982 · 16-04-2021 11:34am

Hi All. Any tips for the E - Tray?

I got 70s in all 3 qustions but never done an e-tray before. I said i would apply to gain expereince at the different stages and i put in a good effort to date - I'm still not overly optimistic but all i can do is try

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:36am

Smart1982 wrote: »

Any tips for the E - Tray?

if you do a search on the thread you will find some excellent tips. I think post 1482 (or around that, it's given as a link for the last lot of Etrayers in Feb) gives some great info.

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:39am

PhoenixParker wrote: »

I think if you fail the management (Q2) they don't score the other two so that's why you have N/A maybe?

Looks like I didn't get through on leadership. Surprised, my example was solid, ticked every sub-competencies and involved some very resistant stakeholders . . . ugh.

I wonder does the change have to be internal. I led a team for project that brought huge change for my client in the private sector, basically moved their paper stuff online. My own team remained the same though.

My example gave a change of leadership (i.e. me) as the change, reputational risk, change of practices too. Scored an ave of 67. Who knows what they are looking for and different boards looking at each probably too?

Bo Jack 35 · 16-04-2021 11:49am

Cheeseplant wrote: »

My example gave a change of leadership (i.e. me) as the change, reputational risk, change of practices too. Scored an ave of 67. Who knows what they are looking for and different boards looking at each probably too?

I have done a fair bit of short listing for Civil Service competitions. You’d be amazed at how subjective they are. These things are one person’s opinion of where you are at. It’s not all luck but it definitely plays a part

AprilMayJune · 16-04-2021 11:52am

Shocked I passed my timing was all over the place for the videos. Got 75-80 in all three.

Cheeseplant · 16-04-2021 11:56am

Bo Jack 35 wrote: »

I have done a fair bit of short listing for Civil Service competitions. You’d be amazed at how subjective they are. These things are one person’s opinion of where you are at. It’s not all luck but it definitely plays a part

You are absolutely right; it's a subjective comparison to the people in your batch being viewed by a particular board. If I had been viewed by a different board then I may not have made the cut.

lucat · 16-04-2021 12:14pm

PhoenixParker wrote: »

I think if you fail the management (Q2) they don't score the other two so that's why you have N/A maybe?

Looks like I didn't get through on leadership. Surprised, my example was solid, ticked every sub-competencies and involved some very resistant stakeholders . . . ugh.

I wonder does the change have to be internal. I led a team for project that brought huge change for my client in the private sector, basically moved their paper stuff online. My own team remained the same though.

I got 36 for that question. I assume I didn't get 40 because I didn't get a chance to talk about the outcome/effect of my change. My example focused on an internal project that brought about change for my Department, which there was some resistance to. However the project was managed overall by another Department so I had to work with them a lot.

If it's your client you're going to face less resistance than you would for an internal project (maybe) so that could be leading to lower marks. I might be wrong, this is just a guess!

Bo Jack 35 · 16-04-2021 12:18pm

Cheeseplant wrote: »

You are absolutely right; it's a subjective comparison to the people in your batch being viewed by a particular board. If I had been viewed by a different board then I may not have made the cut.
Ah look it’s an imperfect process but what can you do. Best of luck to anyone moving onto the etray

lucat · 16-04-2021 12:19pm

Cheeseplant wrote: »

Really sorry to hear that Lucat. Very bad luck. Well 40/100 is a pass. I suppose if you were in a real situation you would be asked questions which might bring high scorers on the videos down a bit and lower scores up a bit if you get me?
I know the videos were used at a recent internal competition as the prelim interviews and some high video scorers didn't make the panel after real interview. I don't think it's an accurate reflection on how you would do in a real interview.
Sorry you are out.

That's interesting. I've found myself wishing I could be in a real interview because the follow-up questions (assuming they're free to ask them) would reveal a lot more than I can give in the initial answer. After all, you have to answer what's asked! And I suppose the reverse is also true, you can do badly in follow-up questions.

rainyday2020 · 16-04-2021 12:36pm

To the people who passed,for question 2 (the question you had to pass) did you give an overview of all your management experience or did you give a very brief overview and provide an example with the STAR technique?

griffid · 16-04-2021 12:48pm

Well done to everyone who passed and best of luck with the rest of the competition.

Condolences to all who didn’t get through this time round. There’ll be more. Onwards

granturismo · 16-04-2021 12:58pm

rainyday2020 wrote: »

To the people who passed,for question 2 (the question you had to pass) did you give an overview of all your management experience or did you give a very brief overview and provide an example with the STAR technique?

I gave a very brief overview of my experience supervising a team, dealing with budgets, used STAR to outline typical projects I work on- I didnt give one specific example just mentioned the type of projects and reporting structures and finished with examples of reports I write which I thought were significant and noted the level of the post holders or agencies that receive them.

I got 70 in all three, and wouldnt have got this without the benefits of helpful posts in this thread. Thanks to all.

Awkwardstroke · 16-04-2021 12:59pm

Hi All,

Even with a “poor” first round score of 104, I just got a message on the next phase (self video part).

I’m preparing for this now yet wondered (if successful) what/how many other stages there are?

Thanks

bph1505 · 16-04-2021 1:13pm

rainyday2020 wrote: »

To the people who passed,for question 2 (the question you had to pass) did you give an overview of all your management experience or did you give a very brief overview and provide an example with the STAR technique?

Went through each positions (7) and stuck to indicating
1. Position and what work needed to be managed
2. Budget ie what your spending or monitoring
3. Staff levels ie reporting to you and not unimportant who you were reporting to.
You will find very little spare time out of three minutes to get into too much detail.
Be factual. They want to know you have experience.

extendormove · 16-04-2021 1:24pm

Awkwardstroke wrote: »

Hi All,

Even with a “poor” first round score of 104, I just got a message on the next phase (self video part).

I’m preparing for this now yet wondered (if successful) what/how many other stages there are?

Thanks

I'm in the same position. Wasn't expecting to hear anymore about this panel so taken by surprise to receive publicjobs email this morning!

I think after this there is a live video interview. Open to correction from those who've already gone through this.

extendormove · 16-04-2021 1:24pm

Can anyone advise if you get to pick your ideal department or are you just allocated and that's it?

extendormove · 16-04-2021 1:28pm

Reading through this thread, can someone explain what etray is? Thank you

CS_longshot · 16-04-2021 1:41pm

"To the people who passed for question 2 (the question you had to pass) did you give an overview of all your management experience or did you give a very brief overview and provide an example with the STAR technique?"

Hello! I've been a lurker for a while. Congrats to those that made it through and thanks for everyones advice so far. This is the first time i've managed to get beyond the first round in various comps since 2013. I am in the private sector, so really out of the loop on CS competition processes.

I scored 70 on Q.2 - I gave a general intro to my mgmt experience (I have x years of mgmt experience - engaging with clients, managing client accounts and deliverables, managing x individuals on client teams, across offices.. etc), then I gave a specific example using STAR and touched on all the aspects they mentioned (budget, people, project decisions, challenges, outcome etc) and then 2-3 lines on lessons learned. Following the advice of an earlier poster I timed the questions to last 2 min 45 secs and practiced them out loud. I did make the mistake of not recording myself and when I played back my video interview on the testing site, it was obvious I was reading off a script.

I hope that helps!

Mbwb · 16-04-2021 1:48pm

CS_longshot wrote: »

"To the people who passed for question 2 (the question you had to pass) did you give an overview of all your management experience or did you give a very brief overview and provide an example with the STAR technique?"

Hello! I've been a lurker for a while. Congrats to those that made it through and thanks for everyones advice so far. This is the first time i've managed to get beyond the first round in various comps since 2013. I am in the private sector, so really out of the loop on CS competition processes.

I scored 70 on Q.2 - I gave a general intro to my mgmt experience (I have x years of mgmt experience - engaging with clients, managing client accounts and deliverables, managing x individuals on client teams, across offices.. etc), then I gave a specific example using STAR and touched on all the aspects they mentioned (budget, people, project decisions, challenges, outcome etc) and then 2-3 lines on lessons learned. Following the advice of an earlier poster I timed the questions to last 2 min 45 secs and practiced them out loud. I did make the mistake of not recording myself and when I played back my video interview on the testing site, it was obvious I was reading off a script.

I hope that helps!

I did the same as you, overview, managing multiple projects concurrently, X teams and specific example using STAR and touching on the sub-competencies for each and lessons learned

NEW 2020 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

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