South Wales Police Interview Guidance
What to expect from your interview
South Wales Police use a competency and skills-based method of assessment for their interview process.
Interview details will be sent to you via email, and you will be asked to book your interview slot for one of the available times. The email will outline any additional assessments that may take place before or during the interview.
For us, interviewing has the benefit of:
- Meeting an individual face to face
- Asking targeted questions related to the job
- Asking multiple people, the same questions in a similar environment.
The interview panel will usually consist of 3 members, including the hiring manager, a subject matter expert and an independent panel member.
Principles for consideration
Relevance
All questions have been developed to reflect the tasks you may be required to undertake in the role.
Scoring
You will be scored on a scale of 1-5 based around the answers you provide to each question.
Consistency
All candidates will receive the same questions and interview structure. All assessors have undertaken training to participate on the interview to ensure fairness and consistency.
Competency based questions
Here at South Wales Police, we use a competency and skills-based method of assessment for our interview process.
A competency-based interview is designed to assess your suitability to the role you have applied for and to understand how well you will fit within the organisation.
Competency based questions provide the interviewer with the insight on how a candidate has previously handled situations and the behaviours they would demonstrate in different scenarios. You will be asked to provide real life work examples and evidence.
Review the role profile prior to your interview to understand the competencies you will be assessed against and start to think of examples of when you have evidenced these.
A competency-based question usually begins with ‘Give us an example of...” or ‘Tell me about a time when...”.
Competency Value Framework
- Our interview questions are designed around our Competency Value Framework (CVF).
- The CVF provides clear expectations for everyone working in policing.
- It describes the behaviours required by you, as a member of staff, to be effective in your role. It plays a significant role in the recruitment, assessment, and development of officers and staff at every level.
- The CVF is made up of 3 key values and 6 competencies.
- You can find more information here:Competency and values framework (CVF) | College of Policing
How to structure your answers
You may already use a structure that you are comfortable with, but if you do not, the below could be a useful one to consider when providing an answer:
STAR is a way of structuring evidence when providing an answer to a question.
Situation
Task
Action
Results
The S stands for Situation – Describe the event or situation you were in. This situation can be drawn from a work experience, education, a volunteer position, or any other relevant event. Be as specific as possible.
The T stands for Task – Explain the specific task you had to complete.
The A stands for Action – Describe the actions you took to complete the task.
The R stands for Result – close with the results or outcome of your actions and the conclusion.
Code of Ethics
Prior to your interview, we suggest you familiarise yourself with our Code of Ethics.
The Code of Ethics is inclusive and supports everyone in our policing family.
It has two parts:
- Ethical policing principles
We will use the ethical policing principles to help us make and reflect on our professional decisions.
- Guidance for ethical and professional behaviour in policing
This describes how policing professionals should behave and helps everyone in policing apply the ethical policing principles in their role.
Hints and Tips
Do your research – Understanding our vision and priorities will show us you are invested in working with us. About us | South Wales Police
Review the role profile – Ensure you are familiar with the essential criteria and personal qualities required for the role
Think about your evidence and examples – this will help you prepare for the competence interview questions; The interview is there to demonstrate your skills. When providing examples try and avoid referring to ‘we’ and instead structure them using ‘I’ and what role you played and the outcome.
Ask questions – It is important to remember an interview is also the time as an applicant you get to speak with the employer. It is ok to ask questions in an interview.
Plan ahead – Interviews will take place in one of our premises, make sure you plan your journey so that you arrive on time. Please remember to bring you ID and copies of any qualifications that are essential to the role.