Developing Self and Others at interview

At interview, panels probe Developing Self and Others with questions about feedback you have acted on, skills you have built and people you have helped grow. Prepare two or three STAR stories you can adapt, and expect follow-ups that test whether the story is really yours.

How this behaviour is assessed at interview

Behaviour questions at Civil Service interviews usually start with 'Tell us about a time when…' and are scored against the same level descriptors as the sift. The panel listens for evidence against the positive indicators: seeking feedback, acting on it, developing yourself and — at HEO and above — developing others.

Some interviews add a presentation or a scenario exercise. For this behaviour, a presentation might ask how you would build skills in a new team. Treat it like a spoken statement: name the needs, describe your actions, and close with how you would measure success.

Likely questions

• Tell us about a time you acted on feedback you did not initially agree with.
• Describe a skill you developed in the last year. How did you go about it?
• Tell us about a time you helped a colleague improve their performance.
• Give an example of when you identified a skills gap in your team. What did you do?
• Tell us about a mistake you made and what you learned from it.
• How have you supported someone through a formal development programme or apprenticeship?

Notice that every question has two halves: what you did, and how you did it. Prepare answers that cover both — the actions and the reasoning behind them.

Follow-up questions to expect

Panels use follow-ups to test depth and honesty. Common probes for this behaviour include: 'What specifically did the feedback say?', 'What would you do differently?', 'How did the other person respond?', and 'What happened after you stepped back?'

Structure your answers with STAR

Speak your answers in STAR order — Situation, Task, Action, Result — and keep the same proportions as a written statement: a short set-up, the bulk on your actions, a measured result. Aim for two to three minutes per answer, and say 'I' rather than 'we' so the panel can score your contribution.

For example, asked about helping a colleague improve, a strong HEO answer spends twenty seconds on the new starter's struggle, two minutes on the four-week mentoring plan you built and adapted, and twenty seconds on the outcome: full case output in week four and a mentor guide the team still uses.

At senior grades, extend the Action to cover diagnosis and systems: how you identified needs across teams, what you put in place, who you influenced, and what the organisational numbers showed afterwards.

Presentation angles that work

If you are asked to present on learning or development, anchor the talk in a real example rather than theory. Open with the need you found, walk through what you did, and finish with results and what you would scale. Panels reward practical, measurable thinking over frameworks recited from memory.