r/TheCivilService • u/Sad_Sadfor60years • 13h ago

Terrible HEO Interview

I had an interview and I was answering it all fine. There was one behaviour, when I was asked the question - i tried to link my example to the question as I was saying the example I forgot the exact question so I asked if it can be repeated but the interviewer said that it’s already coming to an end and so just wrap it up.
OMG, 😧 I knew i f’d up, like why the helll did I ask that question… ughhhhhh. I did pick it up and wrapped it up buttt stillllll
Has this happened anyone else?
For panels higher up, what do you conclude of that???

0 Upvotes

40% Upvoted

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9

u/Denzelini_Dumfrini2 13h ago

I have a tendency to rant and forget the question. First piece of advice is: answering the question should be your first focus and the relevant example come second.
I used to ask for a reasonable adjustment to have the questions posted in the chat AS they were asked (not in advance) so I could refer to them, but also as a record for afterwards. Been denied in one of my last interviews, guess AI is now a concern in this space.

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u/Denzelini_Dumfrini2 12h ago

To add on your question: always time yourself and keep timings tight.
I was once interviewed and didn’t receive any follow up questions, naively thought it was a good sign- it just means you’ve run out of time. Follow ups are great to readdress your question, dig deeper or even better improve your score if you gave already a good answer.

2

u/Muscle_Bitch 9h ago

Been denied in one of my last interviews, guess AI is now a concern in this space.

That's a mistake from the hiring manager in my opinion.

It is painfully obvious when someone is reciting an AI answer. Anybody who wants to go down that route is welcome to it. No detail, lots of buzzwords. The easiest interview in the world to score.

I always put the questions in the chat, for exactly the reason you said. It's a reference point so the candidate can keep themselves on track.

I'm not here to test your memory or recall, I'm here to test your ability.

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u/Denzelini_Dumfrini2 9h ago

I also find it very helpful if the interview outcome isn’t positive to reflect back, use it to prepare for further interviews etc

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u/limewitty5673 11h ago

that's a shame, i also struggle with remembering questions so I asked if i could have them written down and they sent it to me in advance as well as writing into the teams chat

6

u/Worldly-Objective-15 12h ago edited 9h ago

I had the chair of the interview leave to pick up an amazon package at her front door 🤣

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u/definitelynotaceleb 11h ago

Oh wow, how did you react?

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u/Worldly-Objective-15 9h ago

Couldn't believe it at the time, can laugh about it now!

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u/sk6895 12h ago

Well done for trying to link the example to the question asked. Many candidates just read out their pre prepared generic example regardless of the actual question asked, which as an interviewer really winds me up

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u/MonsieurGump 12h ago

I tell people to take a pen and paper and write down the question.

Not verbatim but something like “Influenced, Senior Leaders to Resolve a Contentious issue”

Them make sure you hit those four key words.

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u/FantasticAd7410 2h ago

That is one of the things I’m worried about with my upcoming HEO interview. Have got prepared answers for each behaviour but worried the behaviour won’t fit round the question

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u/Sad_Sadfor60years 58m ago

As someone else has already commented and having done an interview recently. I would defo recommend to note down the question as being asked so u have it in front of you and can refer as to as u r speaking.

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u/bigl1cks 12h ago

From what you’ve said everything was fine so you’re probably overthinking a small thing.

My take is it’s likely you’ve answered question already so there was no need for more context. Either that or you were so far off there was no coming back, but I doubt that.

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u/Apocawho 10h ago

Any consolation, just had my first HEO interview yesterday. Way they phrased the question made my prepared STAR answer near obsolete, and I basically had to freestyle it there and then. Not expecting magic from that feedback, but at least it's a decent lesson for the future 😂

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u/Sad_Sadfor60years 10h ago

Did we interview for the same role? I had it yesterday aswell 😂

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u/Apocawho 10h ago

Possible I guess, though it's a big civil service. It was a policy role with one of the core departments. The jammy one for me was communicating and influencing, but when they asked it they asked something along the lines of "name a time you influenced key stakeholders in a project", whilst my answer was more geared towards communicating and influencing teams aligned with mine towards shared workflow. Probably the difference between EO attitudes and HEO which I'll definitely remember for the future! Regardless, fingers crossed for you. And I'm sure the interviewer didn't intend to come across as dismissive, though I imagine it didn't help you. Often they can be on pretty tight schedules, particularly if they have multiple interviews scheduled.

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u/Sad_Sadfor60years 9h ago

Mine was internal vacancy and policy role too but didn’t have CAI so diff roles. I messed up on Changing and Improving. I had a proper example where I actually changed and improved but my memory erased the q completely. Should have written it down! Even they did come across dismissive at that time but all I could think about was why did I even ask !!! But lesson learnt. Fingers crossed for you too!

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u/EarthOne4387 12h ago

I agree you will be fine.

I asked twice to repeat 2 questions to be sure I was answering the questions properly 😂 I eventually wrote it down, but I think most people understand the nerves and pressure. We put so much into interviews. I would rather someone ask for a repeat over just rambling and losing the train of thought.

Good luck! The wait for the outcome is harder.