Managing a Quality Service – How to Showcase your Service Management Abilities During a Job Application

Managing a Quality Service is part of the Civil Service ‘Success Profiles’ framework. It is one of 9 core behaviours that can be tested. Most commonly it will be tested within customer or stakeholder facing roles.

As it is a core behaviour it can be assessed in a number of ways and, just as importantly, it can be assessed at any stage of the recruitment process. This includes (but is not limited to):

• Your CV
• Your application answers
• During the interview
• As a standalone exercise
• During a presentation
• At an assessment centre

What I am getting at is that if the job advert says that you will be assessed on your ability to manage a service you need to make sure you convey your abilities whenever the opportunity arises.

That is why in this article I am going to explain exactly what Managing a Quality Service means. I am going to look at what it is your assessor/interviewer is expecting of you in the application and interview stages PLUS what might occur in an assessment centre should you be invited to one. Then finally I will attempt to answer some of the common questions that arise when discussing this particular behaviour. (if you have any questions do not hesitate to leave a comment)

• 1 What is Managing a Quality Service
• 2 How Will Managing a Quality Service Be Assessed
  • 2.1 On your CV
  • 2.2 During the Application Process
  • 2.3 Managing a Quality Service 250 Word Statement Example
  • 2.4 How to complete you own Managing a Quality Service 250 word statement
  • 2.5 During the Interview Stage
  • 2.6 Managing a Quality Service Interview Questions
  • 2.7 In the Assessment Centre

  What is Managing a Quality Service

  We can’t show off our abilities if we don’t understand what it is we are being assessed on.

  Fundamentally ‘Managing a Quality Service’ is looking at your ability to provide the best service possible given the resources at your disposal. This involves understanding your stakeholders (customers, clients, other departments etc.) needs and satisfying these needs as best as possible. For more senior roles this will also include looking at how you return value for money in your endeavours and how you instill this and other ideals into the teams/departments within your purview.

  

  Managing a quality service in the context of applying for jobs at the Civil Service refers to the ability to ensure that the services provided by the Civil Service are of a consistently high standard and meet the needs of the public.

  As a Civil Service employee, you would be responsible for managing a quality service by identifying and analyzing customer needs, developing strategies to improve service delivery, implementing quality control processes, and monitoring performance to ensure that service standards are met.

  This may involve working collaboratively with colleagues, stakeholders, and other agencies to develop and implement policies and procedures that promote quality service provision, as well as communicating effectively with customers to understand their needs and provide timely and effective responses.

  Overall, managing a quality service is a critical aspect of Civil Service work, as it ensures that the public receives the highest quality services possible, and that the government operates in an effective and efficient manner.

  How Will Managing a Quality Service Be Assessed

  I said before that the core behaviours can be tested at any stage of the application process. The vast majority of the time you will be made aware of when you are being assessed as you will be told by your interviewers (either on the application or in the assessment centre or interview stage). Let’s look at the occasions where you will most likely be assessed on this behaviour:

  On your CV

  Now those of you who have applied to the Civil Service in the past will be aware that a lot of the advertised roles do not allow you to upload your CV direct. Instead they ask for you to copy and paste relevant sections into the the boxes on their form. Make sure you follow the instructions and remove any identifiable content as this will result in your application being automatically rejected (many many people learn that the hard way!)

  Even though you don’t need a traditional CV when applying at the Civil Service I still recommend that you keep an up-to-date copy available as I find that some jobs do ask for them and often some jobs will ask for them prior to the interview stage. Plus they come in handy for you to copy and paste the relevant sections into the form!

  If you need help with your CV send it over to us using the form below and we will let you know how it stacks up:

  Submit Your CV For Review

  During the Application Process

  During the application process you will be asked to spend up to 250 words describing your skills and experience as it pertains to each behaviour that is being tested.

  That means you will have 250 words to show the assessor that you:

  

  Notice how the answer flows through the S.T.A.R approach.

  How to complete you own Managing a Quality Service 250 word statement

  There are many ways you can structure your 250 word statement. The one we find creates the best and most consistent statements is the B-STAR method. Check out the below video to see how to use this method when creating your statements;

  

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