Department for

Communities and Local

Government
EO Recruitment Candidate
Pack
February 2015

About the Department

Our job is to create great places to live and work, and give more
power to local people to shape what happens in their area. Our
work is focused on four main areas:

Helping people to have a home of their own

Supporting businesses to grow and create jobs
Better local services for people
Supporting stronger communities where people feel they
belong
What we do matters

Our Reputation and Results:

We have a reputation for being the department that gets things done.
We achieve our results through strong and effective leadership and staff who are
known for their:
-

Knowledge;
Expertise;
Professionalism;
Focus;
Resilience;
Self-reliance;
Drive for change;
Commitment to continually improve
Most of all, we work collaboratively as a single team with a common aim

Our Core Aims:

Creating great places to live and work, and giving more

power to local people to share what happens in their area.
We are:
Working with councils to ensure money is spent wisely making
it easier for everyone to see how councils are spending their
money;
Cutting the cost of living by supporting councils to freeze Council
Tax bills;
Changing the way services are run so that people get a service
suited to them, and so are not passed around between different
organisations;
Offering new powers for people to make decisions about their
local area for example to save local shops and pubs and to
veto big Council Tax rises;
Turning around the lives of families with long-standing complex
problems costing the taxpayer billions every year4 cutting
crime, getting children back into school and helping people into

Our Core Aims:

Helping people to have a home of their own. Everyone

needs the security and stability of a decent, affordable
home. And more people who aspire to own their own
home should have the opportunity to do so.
We are:
Getting Britain building again and investing in new homes;
Fixing the broken housing market;
Helping hard-working people get the home they want.

Our Core Aims:

Supporting businesses to grow and create jobs. We need

thriving businesses for people and places to prosper.
We are:
Cutting red tape for businesses, especially in the planning
system;
Keeping business rates down for all businesses and offering
discounts to small businesses to help them grow;
Working with town centres, cities and local areas to attract
new businesses and create jobs.

Our Core Aims:

Supporting strong communities where people feel they

belong. Everyone has the right to feel safe and at ease in
the place where they live.
We are:
Promoting opportunities to learn the English language;
Marking important national occasions which are part of our
common heritage;
Supporting shared activities which bring people together for
example through music, food or local community events;
Tackling extremism wherever it occurs.
And across all of these areas, we help local communities to deal
with emergencies such as flooding, and ensure that people and
places have the support they need to get back on their feet.
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Better Department:

DCLGs Better Department programme is enabling us to

become the organisation we want to be, putting us in a
position where we can deliver our business priorities in
the right way. The vision for the Department is set out in
our blueprint and values.

Our Blueprint for Change:

DCLG Values:

We are enthusiastic, energetic and creative

We act professionally, work across boundaries and
deliver for the Government of the day
We continually strive to be better and to improve
We choose to work here and want to be part of one DCLG

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Civil Service Values

Civil Service Values:

-

Honesty
Integrity
Impartiality and
Objectivity

Civil servants must be, and be seen to be, honest and impartial
in the exercise of their duties. They must not allow their
judgement or integrity to be compromised in fact or by
reasonable implication.
Civil Service Management Code June 2011

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Our Leadership Team

Applying for a
DCLG Vacancy

Civil Service Competency Framework

The Competency Framework sets out how we want

people in the Civil Service to work. It puts the
Civil Service values
of
honesty,
integrity,
impartiality and objectivity at the heart of
everything we do and it aligns to the three leadership
behaviours that every Civil Servant needs to model.
The framework outlines ten competencies which are grouped under the three
leadership behaviours. These headings will be used in our vacancies to indicate
essential and desirable candidate requirements. Candidates must use the selection
process to demonstrate that they have, at the very least, all the essential
requirements and, if possible some or all of the desirable ones.
The full framework is available online at the following link: http://
www.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Civil-Service-Competency-Fra
mework-July-2012.pdf
.
Competencies are used to establish suitability for a post because
14 if you have
done something well in the past then its expected that you can do it again in
the future.

Competencies for the Posts:

There are six essential competencies for the posts. These are:
Seeing the Big Picture, including:

Focus on the overall goal and intent of what they are trying to achieve, not just the task
Take an active interest in expanding the knowledge of areas related to own role

Making Effective Decisions, including:

Demonstrate accountability and make unbiased decisions

Examine complex information and obtain further information to make accurate decisions
Explaini clearly, verbally and in writing, how a decision has been reached
Monitor the storage of critical data and customer information to support decision making and
conduct regular reviews to ensure it is stored accurately, confidentially and responsibly

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Competencies for the Post (contd)

Collaborating and Partnering, including:

Change own ways of working to facilitate collaboration for the benefit of the teams work
Readily identify opportunities to share knowledge, information and learn and make progress by
working with colleagues
Proactively seek information, resources and support from others outside own immediate team in
order to help achieve results
Leading and Communicating, including:
Express ideas effectively, both orally and in writing, and with sensitivity and respect for others
Confidently handle challenging conversations or interviews

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Competencies for the Post (contd)

Delivering Value for Money, including:

Manage information and financial data so that it is accurate, easily located and reusable
Monitor resources against plans and budgets, identify and flag up variances
Managing a Quality Service, including:
Ensure that levels of service are maintained flag up risks or concerns in order to meet customer
requirements
Promote adherence to relevant policies, procedures, regulations and legislation, including equality
and diversity and health and safety

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Preparing an application:
You must show, through the application, assessment and interview process, that you
have the appropriate level of knowledge and breadth of experience for the post.
You are asked to submit an application that sets out why you are suitable for the post.
It is suggested that you use the essential competency headings as your guide.
Under each competence heading you should produce a short and snappy statement
that describes one relevant example of your best achievement using 1st person singular
(I not we).
You are advised to use the STAR model:
-

Situation (what was the setting and conditions, and what was your role)
Task (what specifically needed to be done when, why, etc.)
Action (what did you do in terms of your own contribution and ensuring the
contribution of others, How you did it and why)
Result (What the outcome was and how you contributed to it what difference did
you make)
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Your Application - Key Points:

The application form is your first opportunity to say why youd be the best person for the
job.
It is a competition so you really need to ensure that you give your best and strongest
competency-based examples to reflect what is required.
Your examples dont need to be employment-based. They could be taken from
college/university experiences or from activities you have been or are currently involved
in such as voluntary work or work experience.
Make it as easy as possible for the sift panel to assess your suitability for the job. This
means thinking about the relevance of your examples and how you set them out in your
application form.
Failure to provide good evidence will not get you through a sift or an interview

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Preparing an Application - Your Checklist:

Have you given yourself enough time to put together a well thought out application
form?
Have you reviewed the vacancy information carefully so you have a clear
understanding of the roles?
Have you got a copy of the competency framework handy whilst you are putting your
examples together?
Have you chosen your most powerful and relevant examples?
Have you included the result and described your contribution/impact in each
example?
Did you draft first then refine?
Have you avoided jargon (assume that the sift panel will have no knowledge of the
situation you are referring to)?
Have you checked for spelling and typos?
Have you used the past tense, I and not we and active language such as: I
organised, I accomplished, I calculated, etc.
Have you put yourself in the Vacancy Managers shoes and read your application
through from their perspective before submitting?
If the answer to each of these question is yes Well Done
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The Assessment:

If you have achieved the required mark set by the sift panel you will be invited to attend
the next stage of the selection process which is the assessment exercise.
The assessment, which will take place on the same day as the interview, is an exercise
designed to test some of the essential competencies for the grade and the roles.
Candidates invited to the assessment will be asked to undertake a written test using
information provided on the day and using a DCLG provided laptop.
The actual assessment will take up to an hour (60 minutes will be given) but an additional
half hour will be available to cover an introduction to the assessment and time at the end
to save work and be escorted to the interview.
There is no preparation required for this exercise ahead of the day.
Candidates requiring particular assistance (reasonable adjustment) must give advance
notice
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The Interview:
Following the assessment exercise candidates will be required to undertake a competency
based interview.
The purpose of the interview is to test suitability for the requirements of the role and grade. It
gives all candidates an opportunity to express their views and present their evidence
You need to prepare well for a good interview Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
The interview will be based on the competencies that were defined in the vacancy
advertisement and will last approximately 45 minutes.
Dont be put off by the panel making notes. Its important that they make a record of your
answers so that they are able to score you at the end of the interview and provide feedback
at the end of the process. This feedback will be provided via the Civil Service Jobsite.
The interview, combined with the assessment exercise, will inform the panel which candidate
is right for the job based on their merit. The job will be offered to the person who would do it
best.
Candidates requiring particular assistance (reasonable adjustment) must give advance
notice
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Feedback:

DCLG uses the on-line Civil Service Job Site to advertise vacancies across the civil
service and externally and manage the recruitment process.
Feedback will not be provided following the sift. However, candidates will receive
feedback on their assessment and interview performance via the on-line system.
This information can be used to support future applications.

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Preparing for an Interview - Your Checklist

Read through your application form to refresh your memory of the evidence you
provided
Think about how you might expand on the examples for the interview
Think about other strong examples you could use
Arrange a practice interview with people your trust (friends, colleagues, current
manager, etc) - practice makes perfect
Research the business
Make sure you know where the interview is taking place and how to get there
Arrive 15 minutes early
Make sure you take along all requested ID documents
Think about what to wear, your posture and your non-verbal behaviour
Remember, its not about being good enough for the job, its being the best
candidate for the job interviews are competitions
Remember that pretty much everyone feels the same about interviews they
make you nervous; know what works best for you in terms of calming your nerves.

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Security Clearance
All new recruits to the department must meet certain security standards. All offers of employment
are conditional on successful completion of security clearance.
The following conditions will affect your security clearance and therefore may affect your eligibility
for our vacancies

Criminal record: If you have criminal records

Nationality and Immigration status: Particularly relevant if there are specific nationality and
residency requirements for the advertised role.
Address History: If you have lived at numerous addresses in the UK in the last 5 years.
Lived outside UK: You should have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years
and for 5 years or more for higher security roles.
Employment History: If you have had multiple employers in the last 5 years.
Credit Reference Check: If there are any financial concerns that could lead to potential
vulnerability. The credit reference check is made to assess the financial state of the individual
being vetted.
Others factors: Associated with, or have or lived in areas associated with organisations
seeking to disrupt the government or have family who have associated with, organisations
and/or individuals known to security services e.g. Northern Ireland.

Please double-click the embedded document on the right - DCLG

notes on security clearance for more information.

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Micros oft Word

Document

Additional Advice
If you are unsure about any part of the process you should, in the first instance, contact
one of the named people on the vacancy advertisement (Angie Gobin at
Angie.Gobin@communities.gsi.gov.uk and Kate Abbott at
kate.abbott@communities.gsi.gov.uk). However, you can also direct questions to the
DCLG Human Resources Shared Service at HRSharedservices@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has
been:

A procedural irregularity
An infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy
Exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might
have affected performance on the day

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision.
In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the DCLG Human Resources
Recruitment Team at recruitment@communities.gsi.gov.uk.
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Additional Advice

Guarantee Interview Scheme:

DCLG operates the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) which sees all GIS
applicants meeting the minimum standard at sift being invited to interview.
If applicants who consider themselves as having a disability meet the minimum
criteria for the post, they secure an interview automatically.

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Good Luck!

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