Central government departments — HMRC, the Home Office, DWP, the Ministry of Justice and dozens of agencies — recruit through a shared framework. The process is more standardised than most employers, which is good news: once you understand it for one department, you understand it for almost all of them.
Civil Service grades
Roles are graded on a national ladder. From most junior to most senior the common grades are: Administrative Assistant (AA), Administrative Officer (AO), Executive Officer (EO), Higher Executive Officer (HEO), Senior Executive Officer (SEO), Grade 7, Grade 6, and the Senior Civil Service (SCS). Departments use their own internal names too, but adverts map to these.
Success Profiles
Modern Civil Service recruitment uses the "Success Profiles" framework. Instead of judging candidates only on competencies, it assesses a mix of elements, and each advert tells you which ones it will use:
- Behaviours: actions and activities that lead to good performance (for example "Making Effective Decisions", "Communicating and Influencing").
- Strengths: the things you do well and enjoy — usually assessed at interview.
- Experience: knowledge and achievements relevant to the role.
- Technical: specific professional skills, qualifications or accreditation where the job needs them.
- Ability: your aptitude to do something, sometimes tested with an online exercise.
Writing behaviour statements
The application usually asks for a written statement (often 250 words) against each named behaviour. Each statement should be a single, concrete example structured with the STAR method — Situation, Task, Action, Result. Pick examples that genuinely match the behaviour and quantify the result where you can.
Crucially, Civil Service sift panels often score behaviour statements blind and against a defined scale. Make the behaviour you are evidencing obvious — lead with the action you personally took, not the team's, because the grade is awarded for what you did.
Civil Service values and the merit principle
Appointments are made on merit through fair and open competition. The four core Civil Service values — integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality — underpin the job. You will not usually write about them directly, but your examples should be consistent with them.
Finding Civil Service roles
The official home for these vacancies is the Civil Service Jobs portal, with many also appearing on DWP's Find a Job. GovJobs surfaces central-government roles from sanctioned sources and links you back to the official advert to apply. Always submit your application on the official portal named in the advert.