Civil Service Interview UK: Behaviours, Strengths and Video

Quick answer: UK Civil Service jobs are assessed with Success Profiles, which combine behaviours, strengths, ability, experience and technical skills. Interviews usually ask behaviour questions, answered with a specific example (the STAR method is recommended), and strength questions, which want your quick, honest first response. Recorded video interviews are one of the ways strengths can be assessed. This guide uses the official Success Profiles guidance on gov.uk, checked on 8 November 2026.

The five elements of Success Profiles

1. Behaviours: the actions and activities that lead to effective performance in a job.

2. Strengths: the things you do regularly, do well and that motivate you.

3. Ability: your aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard.

4. Experience: knowledge or mastery gained through involvement in an activity or subject.

5. Technical: specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications.

The job advert says which elements and which behaviours are assessed at each stage. Read it first; everything else follows from it.

The nine Civil Service behaviours

The behaviours guidance lists nine behaviours, and you will not be asked to show all of them for one role:

1. Seeing the big picture

2. Changing and improving

3. Making effective decisions

4. Leadership

5. Communicating and influencing

6. Working together

7. Developing self and others

8. Managing a quality service

9. Delivering at pace

Each behaviour has examples for each grade, from administrative grades to senior leaders. Use the examples for your grade to choose stories; gov.uk says you do not need to show every part of each example.

Behaviour questions: answer with STAR

Behaviour questions ask for a real example, such as "Tell us about a time you improved a service". The guidance suggests the STAR method: set the scene, show what you did and how, and give the outcome.

Prepare two examples for each behaviour named in the advert, from work, study or volunteering. Spend most of the answer on what you personally did, and finish with a measurable result and what you learned. See the STAR method guide and UK competency-based interview questions.

Strength questions and recorded video interviews

The strengths guidance says strengths can be assessed through interviews, recorded video interviews, situational strengths tests, simulations and personality tests. Strength questions have no right or wrong answer, and gov.uk advises you not to rehearse answers, because they want your initial response.

Typical strength questions ask what energises you, what you find draining, or how you like to work. Answer quickly and honestly, with a short reason or example. To prepare, gov.uk suggests reflecting on your strengths and preferred ways of working rather than scripting answers.

For a recorded video interview: test your camera and microphone, find a quiet room, look at the lens, and read each question carefully before you start recording, within the time and retake rules shown on screen.

Rehearse your behaviour examples

CrackInterviewAI is a Windows 10/11 app for rehearsing interview answers out loud: say or type a question and get a short outline built from your experience and the job description, then practise saying it in your own words. Use it before the interview; follow the rules set for the interview itself. New accounts get 30 free minutes, then international prices start at $3.99 for one hour with no subscription (USD plans, download).

Rehearse your STAR examples

Practise behaviour answers out loud with 30 free minutes on Windows.

Download for Windows · Explore features

Frequently asked questions

What are the Civil Service behaviours?

Seeing the big picture, changing and improving, making effective decisions, leadership, communicating and influencing, working together, developing self and others, managing a quality service, and delivering at pace. The advert says which ones a role assesses.

How do I answer Civil Service behaviour questions?

Give a specific real example using STAR: the situation, the task, what you personally did and the result. Prepare two examples for each behaviour in the advert.

Should I prepare for strength questions?

gov.uk advises against rehearsing answers because it wants your initial response. Reflect on your strengths and preferred ways of working instead.

Does the Civil Service use video interviews?

Yes. The Success Profiles strengths guidance lists recorded video interviews as one way strengths can be assessed.

Keep exploring

Return to the CrackInterviewAI homepage to download the Windows app, or browse all guides on the interview prep blog.

Civil Service Interview (UK, 2026): Success Profiles, Behaviours, Strengths and Video Interviews