Competency Based Application Forms?

I guess I shouldn't include "failed to complete competency based application with ease"

this sounds excruciating

"equanimous affability"
"remorseless scrutiny of detail"
"enormous penis"

I tend to write a kind of personal statement, based loosely on the structure of the person specification, but you may well find it easier to just do bullet points based on the person spec if you can match every single one (on the other hand, the essay structure makes it less obvious if you have less to say about one thing they are looking for)

What's the application for? - the way you present could be relevant to the job, e.g. if it's a journalism, you want to present clear and concise well-written sentences, if it's marketing, you might want to demonstrate your ability to condense information into a short easily-readable format etc etc.

(xpost, or that would work too)

"a journlism" ? - oh, and PROOFREAD!!!

Yes, they are fucking awful and don't work for anyone that uses them because there will be SOME OTHER STUPID FUCKING BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TREND just around the corner, and before you know it there'll be compulsory Tai Chi in the morning before you start work.

it's sort of a journalism, with your UK PRISONS!

a writing/communicating job anyway. the application is incredibly convoluted and confusing. especially the part that seems more bureaucratic/routine. at one point it gave you about 5 lines to list every job/college or school course/voluntary position you've done for the last 10 years! I'm assuming that's meant to serve as a sort of background check.

I also had to sign to say I wasn't a member of a racist organisation.

I think it may actually provide me with a list of competencies and then I argue my case as such. I just have to dig around for the list which they probably haven't sent me either.

OK, serious answer.

Read the competence list they have given you. The example(s) you give against them should be easily translatable to the competence they are trying to get you to display. (I'm guessing their list has key competences on it, these are the ones you should be concentrating on.) Don't be afraid to claim ownership for something that you didn't actually do on your own, or to overplay your own importance in getting something done, but be careful not to take it too far. Also, and this is quite important, don't use the same example against any more than two competences, no matter how good it is. Try and make them job-related rather than personal, if you can.

Then you get the joys of competency-based interviewing...

I also had to sign to say I wasn't a member of a racist organisation.

Is that like the bit on the visa waiver thing you sign on the plane on the way into the states where you are asked if you are travelling to America to blow shit up and NO-ONE has ever ever ticked "YES I IS A TERRORIST YOU GOT ME BANG TO RIGHTS, GUV"

xpost
Then a happy future career of competency based annual appraisals.

they are fucking awful and don't work for anyone that uses them
^^this = otm ^^^

What pisses me off is when they ask for 152 key competences then give you 500 words to list examples of how you meet them.

Start every example with "this one time, at band camp..."

it sounds totally doable but really annoying.

Then a happy future career of competency based annual appraisals

How do these work then? Do they read out the list and you say 'yep - still competent in that' to each one?

No, but seriously, how do they work?

The list of things you have to tick on an A2 visa application is worse than that. (xposting back to ailsa)

38. IMPORTANT: ALL APPLICANTS MUST READ AND CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX FOR EACH ITEM.
A visa may not be issued to persons who are within specific categories defined by law as inadmissible to the United States (except when a waiver is obtained in advance). Is any of the following applicable to you?
Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty or other similar legal action? Have you ever unlawfully distributed or sold a controlled substance(drug), or been a prostitute or procurer for prostitutes?
Yes No
Have you ever been refused admission to the U.S., or been the subject of a deportation hearing or sought to obtain or assist others to obtain a visa, entry into the U.S., or any other U.S. immigration benefit by fraud or willful misrepresentation or other unlawful means? Have you attended a U.S. public elementary school on student (F) status or a public secondary school after November 30, 1996 without reimbursing the school?
Yes No
Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide?
Yes No
Have you ever violated the terms of a U.S. visa, or been unlawfully present in, or deported from, the United States?
Yes No
Have you ever withheld custody of a U.S. citizen child outside the United States from a person granted legal custody by a U.S. court, voted in the United States in violation of any law or regulation, or renounced U.S. citizenship for the purpose of avoiding taxation?
Yes No
Have you ever been afflicted with a communicable disease of public health significance or a dangerous physical or mental disorder, or ever been a drug abuser or addict?
Yes No
While a YES answer does not automatically signify ineligibility for a visa, if you answered YES you may be required to personally appear before a consular officer.

I guess so!

Aldo, they list core competencies, like 4 of them.

Then there are 4 pages or so that say "Performance Indicators" then "Oral" or "Written" then a few bullet points, then a gap and a few more bullet points. I can't tell if these are competencies too as it's unclear if competencies end here.

x-post to Onimo, the whole thing is a bit like that, there are 4 core competencies and then, without knowing if that's the end of those, there are 4 pages of random bullet points ranging from "communicates well with others" to "challenges negative behaviour without bitterness" to "runs through forests without breaking sticks"

Dr C - they don't. It's a fucking nightmare.

(basically, it works a bit like you're applying for your own job every year)

I've stopped being appraised really. I fill the forms in if I can be arsed, but nothing seems to happen. The last few that I can remember used to go like this :

Them : (looking at form) "I didn't know you did all this stuff"
Me : Oh
Them : Can you explain this project?
Me : (explains it)
Them : Oh great, that sounds really good. Now - what about goals for the next 6 months? I thought you might like to do (project A) and (project B).
Me : I don't really want to do them.
Them : Oh. Can you suggest some alternatives?
Me : Yes, I've listed what I want to work on on the form.
Them : OK. Do those then. Whatever you like.

OK Ronan, it sounds like they're using a cut-down version of the Single Skills Framework, which will list a core value - Working Together is the one that generally turns up - and a level of indicators of what that should mean at the grade they're expecting you to work at. So yours might look something like this:

Be polite, open & honest in dealing with others. Give others the opportunity to voice their views / opinions and listen. Don’t interrupt whilst others are speaking.
Look for opportunities to build team working into daily activities e.g. by working on projects together, team members get the opportunity to share ideas, skills and experiences. This could range from work based opportunities to arranging social events e.g. Christmas Party.
Encourage and allow all team members to make a contribution. Ask for suggestions "How could we…?"
Get to know your team. What skills do they use outside of the workplace? Can any of their skills be utilised in the work place?
Hold regular team briefings / meetings:
To share information and knowledge with team members.
To encourage staff to update the team on their own area of work.
Encourage staff to take on an official "role" e.g. Health & Safety Representative; Branch Security Officer etc.
Recognise and utilise skills of all team members. Use the knowledge, skills and experience of your team to improve planning.
Brainstorm obstacles and setbacks with own team / other teams / stakeholders and customers.
Outsource for skills, can people in other teams help complete urgent projects?
Share information with colleagues (both internal and external) as appropriate – this will not only help your colleagues but help to increase your network.
Conduct a process mapping exercise to assess how information and data is used within your team or department. Identify areas for improvement.
Make briefing your line manager a regular part of your working day or week as appropriate.

Against this you might give an example that goes something like:

When I worked at x a potentially disastrous problem arose with y. Having informed my manager, I then pooled resources from elsewhere in the team to utilise the widest skillset available in tackling the problem. This was further complicated by the need to negotiate with their managers to release them for this task. We then held an open forum to discuss between us the best way to tackle the issue, ending up with a novel solution that would not otherwise have been considered. I co-ordinated the team so that it pulled together as a unit to solve the issue.

So each of those are competencies? Should I try and hit the core competencies first and then broaden out my answer into each subsequent one and try and match those performance indicators? A lot of the stuff is writing/communication so I feel pretty well qualified.

^ old hand at this bullshitting lark ^

xpost again

aldo's been reading my bonus assessments.

aldo's been reading writing my bonus assessments.

Fixed.

Ronan,

No, that's a single core competence, the Working Together one. Those are the indicators of how you might be expected to display it at work. You should read through the indicators, try and think of an example that hits as many of them as possible, then write some shite like what I did there.

Yeah that's what I meant, I think. I mean, each entry where it lists eg "motivation and commitment" and all these bullet points below like youur example, counts as one competency? so yeah, try and show an example for each that is best. Quite a long essay! time to roll up the sleeves.

Shouldn't be long - you should be aiming for paragraphs about the length of mine, probably slightly longer but not much, for the competence.

When I worked at x a potentially disastrous problem arose with y. Having informed my manager, I then pooled resources from elsewhere in the team to utilise the widest skillset available in tackling the problem. This was further complicated by the need to negotiate with their managers to release them for this task. We then held an open forum to discuss between us the best way to tackle the issue, ending up with a novel solution that would not otherwise have been considered. I co-ordinated the team so that it pulled together as a unit to solve the issue.

-- aldo, Wednesday, 26 September 2007 10:39

dude i am TOTALLY stealing that for my next appraisal!

(luckily i work with x's and y's)

I wrote some shit like that on my application form for my current job and reiterated the scenario in my interview and my boss was all "I hope you aren't going to baffle your clients by talking like that to them because I don't know what you mean by that, and they won't either" - I think I should have known then that this maybe wasn't going to be the company for me :-/

Last time I rewrote my CV I did something along these lines - a list of achievements (rather than competencies) rather than the usual chronology, which would have displayed a lack of recent experience. It worked rather well as I got the first job I applied for.

When I was made redundo I got some job application training and one of the first things they did was give us a list of skills and attributes and we had to find an example of a situation when we had displayed each one. The first half dozen were a bastard to think of something, but after that you kind of get on a bragging role. Sitting down with a list and bashing through it really helps.

role roll

one other part I don't get is, should I just pick the very best example I can find for each competency? in some cases I could give a couple of examples? eg "communicating clearly"? this seems like the main part of the job.

or I could divide into "oral", "written", perhaps as it is (very sloppily) on their list?

sorry for the random questions, it's a very unusual application.

i think you should also mention "anal"

maybe after your mention of your very large penis

actually ronan i think you could definitely list two examples as long as you keep them succinct - don't divide into oral or written though, i would think that's unnecessarily complicated

Yeah, by all means list several examples, but be careful not to write too much (not least because you should always keep something back for the interview).

I just completed a competency based application for an internal promotion and it was sheer hell: three days work, and half a dozen drafts. "We'd like you to brag about your so-called career in a rigorously formalised manner." It REALLY helps if you have a friend or colleague to work with on this, and a model example to work from. Aldo's advice is solid - I think he works in the third Kafkaesque bureaucracy along from mine.

I have actually put off applying for promotion in the past because I just couldn't face the competency process. I'm glad I've got it done now, but I doubt anybody finds it easy.

Does anyone familiar with this you think I should give really minute and specific examples "eg, one day a co-worker threw a kettle at me" or more general ones.

I mean, there is a section on "teamwork/networking" and I was going to say "was assistant manager in busy retail outlet xmas 2005, and hit the target set for us" as I feel I can say it was a close knit team and I learned to communicate with staff and customers and the manager etc.

it is a bit vague tho maybe. i mean i could give an example of a conflict or something but it seems harder to say "I WAZ GRATE" then.

I was advised to steer clear of negative/conflict stories in the application, but have something in reserve for the interview, as how you have dealt with conflict is a common question.

The teamworking example you suggest sounds great, but expand it to explain what you did to help ensure the team hit the target, and phrase it as close to the terms of the competency as possible.

MANAGING AND SUPPORTING PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS

"Essential: Contributes to the development of business requirements, business cases and programme or project plans"

wtf does this mean in human speak? I have filled out a zillion competency based application forms in the last year but the above seems kinda insane.

that could be anything to throws a few ideas into a meeting all the way up to writing the whole things whilst someone else takes the credit.

for competency-based portions of job applications/interviews, you can get away with lying your ass off -- they don't ask professional references about these things unless it's a really big-deal job.

dear future employers: i have never lied my ass off.

man...a competency based form with about 20 fields for this one job i'm going for.