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Interviews and assessments

Last updated on April 8, 2024

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Working for the BC Public Service

How to prepare

Read the job profile to understand the role:

  • If you need more information about the position, send your questions in an email to the contact person listed in the posting
  • Look at the ministry website, press releases and other information
  • Research the position and the organization to prepare for an interview
  • Assessment methods will vary depending on the job duties
    • Some examples include a written component or test, providing samples of your work, preparing a presentation, an oral interview that may have situational and/or behavioural questions and past work performance (reference) checks

The interview can be conducted by a panel, in a round robin format, by phone, in person, or virtually (Skype or MS Teams).

Hiring Tips: Preparing for the Interview

Interview questions

There are 4 types of interview questions:

  • Knowledge: testing knowledge of procedure, legislation, policy, computer applications
  • Situational: what action would be taken in a hypothetical situation?
  • Behavioural: what action was taken in a particular situation?
  • Role and organizational alignment: what do you understand about the position?

Behavioural interview preparation

  • Review behavioural competencies in the job profile
  • Find examples from your past experiences that illustrate your competencies and successes
  • Prepare your best examples of how you have demonstrated the competency
  • Choose an example which best demonstrates the competency or knowledge being assessed
  • You may be asked for a reference for your examples
  • You may or may not be able to bring notes into the interview
  • Use the STAR technique

Hiring Tips: What to Expect at the Interview

STAR technique

The STAR technique works to develop your competency examples.

Situation

Describe the situation:

  • Be brief, but give enough detail so the interviewer understands the problem you faced in your role
  • Include when and where the situation occurred and who was involved
    • You may need to provide more background if context is critical in explaining your example

Task

Describe the specific task involved:

  • What was the task that needed to be accomplished?
  • What was your specific role in the situation?
  • Why were you involved? What were you expected/expecting to achieve?

Action

Actions should be the focus of your example:

  • Logically take the interviewer through the steps you took to handle the situation or resolve the problem
  • What were your actions? Use 'I' not 'we'

Give enough detail so that the panel understands all of your actions and why you took them:

  • What did you do or say?
  • Why did you take this particular approach?
  • What did you think or feel?
  • Who did you consult or interact with and why?
  • What challenges did you face and how did you resolve them?
    • This may include the behaviour of others as it directly relates to your actions

Keep your answer clear and concise. Talk about what you did, not what you might do.

The panel may ask you questions to clarify information.

Result

The results should link back to the task:

  • What were the results of your actions?
  • Describe the results or outcome of your actions and the event
  • Describe what happened, what you accomplished and what you learned
    • This may include how you felt about the outcome and why
 

Interview tips

  • Research the job and the organization before you arrive to the interview
  • Always arrive early for your interview
  • You may or may not be able to take notes with you
    • If you're allowed to take notes, you should make your notes brief and in bullet form for quick reference and to ensure you have not missed key points
    • You may be asked to leave your notes behind when the interview is over
  • The interviewers may ask you follow-up questions to elicit additional information or to better understand your responses
    • Listen carefully to the questions and answer them clearly and concisely
  • Do not make any assumptions in your interview responses
    • Describe your interview responses as if you were talking to someone who knows nothing about what you do, the situation, or your role
    • If you do not provide the verbal information, you may lose marks
  • Consider including any follow-up to the situation and if there was any learning for you
    • Learning can be something that worked well or something that in hindsight you would do differently
  • Monitor your interview time based on the number of questions asked by the interviewers
    • For example, if the interview is one hour and has 4 questions, your responses should be approximately 10-15 minutes each

Hiring Tips: Sharing Your Experiences

Behavioural competencies

Behavioural competencies describe the behaviours, attributes, traits and motives that you demonstrate when doing your job.

Find out more about competency interviews and in the BC Public Service Competencies List (PDF, 146KB).

Continuous service

Continuous service is a factor of merit that's considered and may be assessed depending on whether the position is covered by the BCGEU, PEA, UPN or BCNU Collective Agreements, or is excluded.

Closing the interview

If there’s time remaining at the end of the interview, feel free to ask if you can revisit any answers you provided.

The following is recommended:

  • Ask questions
    • This is your chance to find out more about the position, the team or the organization
  • Ask about the next steps to clarify timelines and expectations
  • No matter the result, all candidates will be notified of the outcome

Hiring Tips: Closing the Interview