These guides explain how to prepare an application. The original vacancy and its recruitment authority decide eligibility, required documents, selection stages and deadlines. Role suggestions use published job titles and simple matching rules; choose another guide when a title is ambiguous.
Your application, step by step
Build a requirements table
For each essential criterion, record the evidence you can supply: a qualification, dated work example or certificate. Separate formal admission requirements from experience that the employer describes as desirable.
Show the work you did
Choose examples of handling a case, improving a service, researching an issue or coordinating competing requests. Explain your own action and the result, including scale, deadlines and the people affected.
Complete the prescribed application
Use the employer’s form and answer every competency question within its limit. A CV is an attachment when requested; it does not replace mandatory boxes or declarations. Use the exact vacancy reference.
Submit and keep the record
Check the local closing time and submission status. Save the vacancy pack, your submitted answers and the receipt. Watch the channel named in the notice for tests, interviews and requests for evidence.
Prepare for selection
- Practise a short briefing with the issue, evidence, options and a recommendation. Explain how your proposal affects service users.
- Prepare an example of a difficult request that you handled fairly, an error you corrected and a deadline you met.
- If the notice announces a written exercise, practise its format and time limit using public information about the institution.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Listing duties without explaining your personal contribution or result.
- Assuming that an internal promotion, talent pool and an external vacancy accept the same applicants.
Official guidance
Check the current instructions from the recruiting organisation before submitting.