Welsh Government jobs: external candidate recruitment guidance

Thank you for your interest in working for the Welsh Government team. Our aim is to help the First Minister and Welsh Ministers to build a fairer, more equal, and greener Wales.

Team working is at the heart of everything we do. Our jobs will suit people who can develop collaborative relationships with a mix of people at all levels.

The First Minister has set a framework of social partnership: working together with our partners to solve problems and find solutions to the challenges facing Wales. The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We support staff to join a recognised trade union as an important mechanism for making sure their voice is heard in the workplace.

The Welsh Government is accountable to the people of Wales through the Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament. We aim to meet high standards of transparency and openness, and show honesty, objectivity, integrity, and impartiality in everything we do. We aim to create a working environment which is stimulating, supportive, diverse, challenging, and adaptable.

We work hard to create a supportive and inclusive environment for all staff to grow and perform to the best of their ability.

For more information about the benefits of working for the Welsh Government, please view: Welsh Government jobs: employee benefits. We hope this candidate guidance will support you with your application. It includes advice on:

• the assessment process
• how to evidence your skills, experience and ability
• terms of appointment
• step-by-step guidance to the online application form.

We recruit on merit and on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission recruitment principles.

Please see information on nationality requirements:

Civil Service recruitment: nationality rules on GOV.UK.

Roles are broadly open to:

• UK nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK.
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland.
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS).
• Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service.
• Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service.
• Certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals.

Sponsorship

Unless specified in the advertisement, Welsh Government does not offer sponsorship support. Candidates applying must have the legal right to live and work in the UK.

Diversity and equality

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity, and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues, and partners.

We are committed to increasing diversity in the Welsh Government, removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage (including equal and same sex marriage) and civil partnership, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, impairment or health condition, race, religion or belief or pregnancy and maternity.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and in their top 100 list of employers with a Gold award in 2023. We are a Disability Confident (Leader) organisation. We have signed Victim Support’s Hate Crime Charter, Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter and Changing Faces’ Pledge to be Seen which supports people with visible difference. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are 5 Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Mind Matters; Minority Ethic Staff Network (MESN); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together).

Name-free recruitment

The Welsh Government operates name-free recruitment. The recruiting panel will not see personal information such as a candidate’s name and address during the sifting process. This policy is in line with our commitment to end bias and promote equality and diversity.

Disability confident

Welsh Government accepts the social definition of disability, in which it is recognised that barriers in society act to disable people who have impairments or health conditions or who use British Sign Language. We are committed to removing barriers so that all (or potential new staff) can perform at their best. The Equality Act 2010 uses the medical definition of disability (“a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term impact on a person’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities”).

The Welsh Government is a Disability Confident Leader. We guarantee to interview any candidate with an impairment, health condition, who is neurodivergent or who uses British Sign Language if they meet the minimum criteria for the post. By ‘minimum criteria’ we mean that you must pass the online tests and provide us with evidence in your application which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of competence for the role and any qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential.

We are committed to the employment and career development of disabled people. If you have an impairment or health condition, or use British Sign Language and need to discuss reasonable adjustments for any part of this recruitment process, or wish to discuss how we will support you if you were to be successful, please email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales as soon as possible and a member of the team will contact you to discuss your requirements and any questions you may have.

A great place to work for veterans

We offer veterans who meet the minimum standard on each of the job’s essential criteria the opportunity to go directly to the next stage of selection. If you have completed at least one year in his Majesty’s Armed Forces (as a regular or Reserve) and are in transition from the Armed Forces, or no longer a member, you can apply for roles in the Civil Service under the Great Place to Work Veterans initiative.

Redeployment interview scheme

Civil Service employers can offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of civil servants who are at risk of redundancy and who meet the minimum job requirements. For example, you may be at risk if your work area has launched a voluntary or compulsory redundancy scheme that you’re eligible for, or you are aware that your employer has begun consultation on how to reduce staff in your immediate team or work area.

To be considered for an interview, you must:

• have good reason to believe that you are likely to be made redundant in the near future.
• have demonstrated in your application and testing stages that you meet the minimum job criteria detailed in the person specification.
• be applying for a job at the same grade as, or lower than, your current job.

The application form will ask if you want to apply under the Redeployment Interview Scheme, or guidance will be in the job advert. At the interview, you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities, and you will be marked solely on merit.

Welsh language

Wales is a bilingual country, with both Welsh and English used routinely in our daily lives and workplaces. The Welsh language has official status in Wales. There are measures in place to ensure it is not treated less favourably than English. The First Minister has set out his vision for the future of the language in our Welsh language strategy Cymraeg 2050: a million Welsh speakers. This government’s vision is to see the number of people able to enjoy speaking and using Welsh reach one million by 2050. It also wants to double the percentage of people using the language daily.

As an organisation we have a legal obligation to provide services and information to the public in Welsh, for example providing bilingual correspondence and newsletters and answering the phone bilingually. The details of this are set out in the Welsh Language Standards.

The standards also ensure that Welsh speaking employees have access to internal services in Welsh such as:

• a bilingual Intranet.
• Human Resources (HR) documents.
• IT tools to help us work bilingually.

We want to support our employees to improve their language skills at all levels. We have many opportunities for our staff to start learning or brush up on skills they already have. Our bilingual working strategy Cymraeg. It belongs to us all sets out our ambition to become a truly bilingual organisation by 2050. Our initial goal is to become exemplar in our use of the language over the next 5 years.

The Welsh Government therefore acknowledges the importance of developing and growing its bilingual workforce. Applications for any post can be submitted in either Welsh or English. Applications submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than applications submitted in English. You can also request an interview through the medium of Welsh and deal with us through the medium of Welsh throughout the recruitment process.

Before you make your application, you should carefully read the job advert and assure yourself that you can provide sufficient evidence of the criteria listed. Only candidates who are deemed to have provided sufficient evidence against all criteria being tested (which for the purposes of the Disability Confident Interview Scheme is the minimum criteria for the grade) may progress beyond the initial first stage.

You should plan the completion of your application; being mindful of the closing date for the vacancy, as this is a fixed date that will not be negotiated (except where a reasonable adjustment is appropriate and has been agreed beforehand).

To apply, you will be asked to register for an account on the Welsh Government on-line system using an email address. It is recommended that you select an email address you can always access, as this will be our main method of communication with you.

If you have an impairment or health condition or use British Sign Language and need to discuss reasonable adjustments for any part of this recruitment process, or wish to discuss how we will support you if you were to be successful, please email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales as soon as possible and a member of the team will contact you to discuss your concerns and requirements.

We welcome applications in Welsh and English for most adverts; however, for some Welsh Essential roles, only applications in Welsh will be accepted. Please ensure you have understood what is required of you from the advert. Where applications in either language are accepted, they will be treated on the same basis. To access the Welsh version of a vacancy, simply click on the ‘Change Language’ toggle button at the top right hand of the page. If you would like to apply in Welsh, simply click on the ‘Gwneud Cais’ button at the bottom of this page. Please note, once you start an application in Welsh, you are not able to switch to an English application for that post, using the same user account. If you experience any difficulties, or have any questions regarding the process, please contact SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.

Success profiles

The Welsh Government use Success Profiles as the basis for our application and assessment process. This is a government wide approach that uses a number of different “elements” (experience, strengths, ability, technical and behaviours) to determine our selection methods. We strongly recommend that you read this information before starting your application.

There will usually be a minimum of 2 stages, e.g. an application followed by an interview. However, there could be several different stages to the assessment process, depending on requirements. Please refer to the advert for specific details of each stage.

Application form

When completing an application form you will be asked to provide information regarding your eligibility, education and employment history. Step by step guidance to each section of Application Form can be found at Appendix A should you require.

You may also be asked to provide evidence of your skills, experience and ability in line with the job advert requirements. These may fall under any number of elements of Success Profiles and is the most important part of your application form as it will be assessed by a recruitment panel. When choosing what examples will best evidence the criteria required, consider the following advice:

Base your examples on a previous experience; you may want to think about your achievements from the last few years.

• You can use examples from as wide a range of experiences as you need. Outside of work, this might be experience from education settings or volunteering.
• When you have picked your strongest examples, ensure they meet the full requirements of the criteria you are seeking to evidence. When drafting your examples, allow yourself plenty of time to refine your example/s in line with the criteria you are evidencing.
• Ensure evidence is presented as succinctly and does not go over the word count.
• Remember, a recruitment panel cannot assume what is not included in the example; they can only assess what you have written.
• Use ‘I’ not ‘we’. Evidence your role and how you affected the outcome.
• Do not get caught up telling a story or setting a scene in your example. Your example should include a brief statement regarding the situation or context of your example, then focus on how you went about the task, what actions you instigated, undertook or lead on. Explain why you undertook these actions, any obstacles you encountered. Finally include results, using short statements to demonstrate why your actions were effective or why they added value. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this.
• Some candidates find it helpful to use the STAR approach when presenting evidence as it provides structure and focus to examples in both the application form and the interview.
  • Situation: briefly describe the context and your role.
  • Task: the specific challenge, task, or job that you faced.
  • Action: what you did, how and why you did it.
  • Result: the outcomes and what you achieved through your actions.

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result.

Sift

The evidence you provide will be assessed by a recruitment panel. If the panel agree that you have provided sufficient evidence against the criteria, your application will progress to the next stage.

You will be given a minimum of 5 working days’ notice for any further stages (this can be extended if you are disabled and need a longer timescale to be put in place as a reasonable adjustment).

If you fail at any stage, your application will not progress. Notification of the outcomes of each stage will be issued to all candidates by email to their registered email address.

Unsuccessful candidates will receive brief written feedback on their application.

Technical tests or exercises

The advert may state that you need to undertake tests or an exercise. These may be as a standalone stage or form part of an interview.

Guidance will be provided at the point you are invited to take the tests. If you need a reasonable adjustment to be made (for example, if your assistive technology is not compatible with the test) you should contact SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales as soon as possible. A member of the team will contact you to discuss your requirements and any questions you may have.

Failure to complete a test or exercise by the deadline given will mean an application will not progress to the next stage.

Interview

Our interviews are normally online, using Microsoft Teams, but occasionally may be held in one of our offices. Interviews involve a blend of questions based on different elements of Success Profiles. You will be provided with information, in advance, of what the interview will consist of, either as part of the advert or via further communications at each stage. This might include some of the following types of questions:

Behaviours

Behaviour questions will explore in detail what you are capable of and will be in line with those listed on the job advert. The aim is to find out how you behave and use your skills to respond to challenges and problems.

Please remember, even though the panel will be looking for evidence of a specific behaviour, you need to ensure that you answer the specific question that they ask you at interview. It is important to remember to listen carefully to the question and then use the most appropriate example to evidence that question.

Disability Confident: we will guarantee an interview to disabled people who have:

• selected in their application form that they wish to be given a guaranteed interview under the guaranteed interview scheme, and
• meet the minimum criteria for the grade through the sift stages (further detail of this commitment and how it is applied).

Strengths

Strengths questions will explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the grade requirements. They will also be in line with the strengths listed in the job advert. There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for strengths questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

Technical or experience-based questions

These are designed to explore your professional skills, technical knowledge, understanding and experience within a bespoke context. These may include questions relating to specific professional competency frameworks or explore your qualifications or professional knowledge.

Interview panel

At interview, there will be a recruitment panel of 2 or 3 people. They will hope to see you at your best at the interview and will do all they can to give you the opportunity to evidence that you can meet the criteria required for the role and grade.

Interviews will follow the structure below:

• the Chair will introduce the panel and explain the format and timing of the interview. You will be asked if there may be any extenuating circumstances which may affect your performance at interview, such as a recent bereavement or car accident. This is to ensure that there is nothing which may inhibit your performance. If something has occurred, you will be provided with the opportunity to reschedule your interview. However, if you do choose to go ahead with the interview, you will not be able to reschedule for another time if afterwards you feel you did not perform at your best.
• each member of the panel will take it in turns to ask questions.
• at the end of the interview, the Chair will give you the chance to ask any questions you may have.

Interview duration

The interview will usually last between 45-70 minutes depending on the grade of the role applied for and type of assessment required.

Interview language

We will try to carry out your interview in your preferred language, English or Welsh (based on the preference you indicated in your application form). If we are unable to offer a full Welsh Speaking panel, simultaneous translation from Welsh to English may need to be provided. In such cases you will be informed of the arrangements prior to the interview.

Purpose of the interview

The purpose of an interview is to:

• test a candidate’s suitability for the requirements of the role and grade.
• give all candidates an opportunity to present their evidence.
• recommend which candidates should be offered roles and produce an order of merit based on scores achieved.

At interview, the panel will be trying to find out how you meet the criteria listed in the job advert. You need to be prepared to give answers demonstrating how you meet them.

Useful tips in preparing for interview:

• try to arrange a ‘mock interview’ with a friend, family member or colleague.
• prepare more examples than you provided on your application. The panel may ask you for more details and/or other examples if it helps you to provide the evidence required to meet the behaviours.
• think about using the ‘‘STAR” model to structure your responses (more information on STAR).

After interview

Following the interview, outcomes will be issued at the earliest opportunity using the email you have registered with. Unsuccessful candidates will receive brief written feedback regarding their interview.

Grievance and complaints

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint should contact us via our Complaints Unit: How to make a complaint about Welsh Government.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met, you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.

Working hours

Posts are available on a part-time, job-share and full-time basis. We welcome applications from people who work part-time.

Leave

Full-time employees are entitled to 31 days annual leave, plus 10 public and privilege days’ leave, pro rata for part time employees.

You will be eligible for sick pay, holiday pay and any absence entitlements in accordance with Welsh Government terms and conditions.

Welsh Government also offers a range of family friendly and flexible working arrangements, which support modern working families. We have designed our policies to enable employees to combine work and family life so that we can retain their valuable skills in the workplace, and they can fulfil their potential.

Performance and training

Objectives will be agreed between you and the line manager at the start of the appointment with regular reviews carried out at agreed intervals. The line manager will arrange an induction programme or training as appropriate.

Everyone in Welsh Government is supported to develop their skills and capabilities, which includes access to learning and development. We are committed to learning and development and ensure our staff have a minimum of 5 days learning per year.

Location

Most posts are classed as pan Wales unless otherwise stated in the advert. ‘Pan Wales’ means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. A list of the Welsh Government’s offices can be found on GOV.WALES. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location.

Smart working

The Welsh Government actively encourages smart working. This means focusing on how you use your time, and where and how you work, to meet business needs in the most productive way. This provides staff with considerable flexibility with location and hours worked. Smart, flexible working is becoming a permanent feature of working life in Wales and the Welsh Government will lead the way in this.

Salary

Successful candidates will be appointed at the amount listed under “Actual Starting Salary”. This applies to all external applicants, regardless of whether they are already working for Welsh Government, are existing Civil Servants or have never worked for the Civil Service. Existing salary points for existing Civil Servants will not be matched.

Eligibility

Sometimes posts are available as a secondment opportunity. It will be stated in the advert if this is the case. Secondments are for non-civil servants, and candidates must meet the eligibility criteria below:

• have the right to work in the UK and meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
• not have any immigration visa restrictions which specifies a particular place of work.
• have an employer willing to support a secondment arrangement.

If you are successful for an opportunity on secondment and:

• have been on secondment to the Civil Service within the last 12 months and/or,
• have been appointed to the Civil Service under an Exception within the last 12 months.

You must declare this so that the Welsh Government can seek the Civil Service Commission’s approval that the appointment can progress.

Salary

Secondees will remain employed by their current employer for the entire secondment period on their existing terms and conditions and payroll.

Secondees are not eligible for any Welsh Government pay award or reward during the secondment. They will remain on their existing basic salary, with no alignment to WG salaries, or spine points, during the secondment. WG is under no obligation to agree to cover any allowances, specialist pay or benefits that will not apply in the work they are undertaking whilst on secondment. Such allowances, specialist pay or benefits may continue to be paid to them by their Parent organisation, but WG do not have to reimburse these.

Our secondee policy and agreement can be shared with candidates applying on a secondment basis on request.

Eligibility

Sometimes posts are available as a loan opportunity. It will be stated in the advert if this is the case. Loans are only open for existing Civil Servants who meet the eligibility criteria below:

• have been recruited in line with the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles (appointment on merit through fair and open competition).
• have successfully completed their probationary period.
• have demonstrated acceptable performance and attendance levels.
• have the right to work in the UK.
• do not have any immigration visa restriction which specifies a particular place of work.

Individuals moving on Loan will be subject to the Civil Service Transfer Principles (How to Move Jobs Between Departments and Agencies) and typically transfer on a lateral basis. Unless the loan is for less than 6 months, successful individuals will move to the Welsh Government’s terms and conditions and payroll.

Unless otherwise stated in the Job Advert:

• loans are not expected to gain a permanent transfer or permanent promotion to Welsh Government.
• only those applying laterally are eligible to apply. Individuals on loan will be expected to return to their home department, at their substantive grade, at the end of the agreement.

Salary

Candidates joining the WG on loan will have their financial position protected during the transfer:

• If the current salary is below the minimum of the relevant WG pay scale, the individual will be placed on the first spinal point of that scale.
• If the current salary falls between 2 spinal points on the relevant WG pay scale, the individual will be placed on the lower of the 2 spinal points, and the difference will be paid as a *mark time allowance to match their current salary.
• If the current salary exceeds the maximum of the relevant WG pay scale, the individual will be placed on the highest spinal point of the scale, with any remaining difference paid as a *mark time allowance.

*A mark time allowance tops up the salary to match the individual’s current pay and remains in place until the pay scale spine points increase through pay awards or incremental progressions, gradually reducing the allowance until it is no longer paid.

If you have any questions about this guidance or the application process, please email: sharedservicehelpdesk@gov.wales.

Resourcing Hub, Welsh Government

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Navigating the application form

The fields marked with an asterisk ‘*’ are mandatory, therefore you must provide a response, or you will not be able to submit your application. Fields without a ‘*’ are not mandatory, as they may not be relevant to all candidates. Select ‘Save & Continue’ once you have completed all the questions on a page to proceed (this will save what you have completed on that page). You can also select ‘back’ at any point to return to the previous page. Alternatively, you can select a specific page you want to return to by clicking on a link to the page in the Progress Tracker.

Progress tracker

A green tick by a section shows that you have responded to all the questions in that section. A blue tick shows that you have completed all the mandatory questions in that section. A cross indicates that you have left some mandatory questions unanswered; therefore, the application cannot be submitted. You do not have to complete the whole application form in one go. Once you have completed a section, ensure you click the ‘Save & Continue’ button to save all you have done in that section. You can then log out of your account and return to your unfinished application at any point up to the closing date for the vacancy. To return to the application form, simply log in to your account, select ‘My applications’ and click on the relevant vacancy title, which should be in your applications history.

Introduction

The purpose of these questions is to determine if you are eligible to apply for this opportunity. You will be asked as part of your eligibility, to confirm your nationality details and that you are legally allowed to work in the United Kingdom. You will also be asked if you meet the Civil Service recruitment nationality rule on GOV.UK.This is a requirement for working within the Civil Service. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria as set out in the application form, your application will not be taken further. If it becomes apparent at the pre-employment stage that you are not eligible to apply, your application may be withdrawn or offer retracted.

Personal details

Complete the fields regarding your personal details such as your name, address, etc. It is essential that you provide correct and up-to-date information, as the information is needed to progress your application.

Education and professional qualifications

Please provide us with details of your education history. The ‘place of study’ refers to the school, college and university you have attended, and the ‘subject/qualification’ will be what you studied there. You can add another instance of the boxes to input your information if there are too few to enter your qualifications.

Civil Service history

This section is to determine whether or not you are an existing Civil Servant. If you select ‘no’ you will continue to the next step of the application form, if you select ‘yes’ you will be asked to provide further details.

Employment history

Complete the fields regarding your current (or most recent) employment and then add any previous employment. To add the details of an employer or role, respond ‘Yes’ to the ‘Do you have any employment experience?’ question. This will add an instance of the employer details section. It is essential that you provide correct and up to date information. If you have further instances to add, click ‘add another instance’. Please also ensure that any gaps in employment are accounted for under ‘Gaps in employment’.

You will need to provide details of the name of your previous employers, position(s) held and reason(s) for leaving, for at least the last 3 years (unless you have not been in employment for this long, please provide as many details as you are able). If you have no employment experience, select ‘No’ to the ‘Are you currently serving as a civil servant?’ question, and then insert ‘No employment history’ in the ‘Employer Name’ box.

Welsh language

Select your level of Welsh language ability for the various skills areas listed, as well as your preferred language for assessment. Your level of ability will only be considered if Welsh is identified as being essential or desirable for the role, we are matching successful candidates to. If Welsh is essential for a role, it may be necessary to assess your Welsh language skills.

Inclusion and accessibility

As an employer we offer various guaranteed interview schemes as set out on page 5 of this candidate guidance document.

If you have any reason to need recruitment adjustments that would allow you to take part in this recruitment exercise, please note here an overview of any requirements you may have, or any information you would like to make us aware of regarding your requirements.

If you have an impairment or health condition, or use British Sign Language and need to discuss recruitment adjustments for any part of this recruitment process, or wish to discuss how we will support you if you were to be successful, please contact SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales. We can only work with you to arrange adjustments if we are made aware of your requirements prior to your application submission, test or interview.

We are committed to the employment and career development of disabled people and encourage you to talk to us about adjustments if you need them.

Providing your evidence

This section of the application form will be titled according to the assessment process outlined on the job advert (e.g. Statement of Suitability or Behaviours/Technical/Experience/CV).

Statement of suitability

A statement of suitability is similar to a covering letter and can be used by the applicant to provide evidence against the job criteria. Remember, don’t include any personal information that could directly identify you.

Behaviours

Behaviours are defined by the Civil Service Success Profiles dictionary as: The actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job.

You may wish to prepare your evidence offline and then copy it into the below boxes to avoid being timed out of the online recruitment system.

Above each evidence box, you will find details of the behaviour criterion that you are being asked to provide evidence against. You must ensure that you provide evidence against all of the criteria listed otherwise your application may be deemed incomplete and this could mean you may not be successful at the shortlisting stage.

CV

If required you will need to input a name-free CV, including your employment history, relevant experience, skills and key achievements.

Remember, don’t include any personal information that will directly identify you; you will be asked to tick a box to confirm that you have removed any information that may identify you.

If only a CV has been requested as part of the application process, please ensure that you review the ‘Other vacancy related information’ box on the job advert to ensure that you are aware of the criteria that are being tested at the CV sift to allow you to tailor your CV accordingly.

Experience

Experience is defined by the Civil Service Success Profiles dictionary as:

The knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.

Above each evidence box, you will find details of the experience criterion that you are being asked to provide evidence against. You must ensure that you provide evidence against all of the criteria listed otherwise your application may be deemed incomplete and this could mean you may not be successful at the shortlisting stage.

Technical

Technical skills are defined by the Civil Service Success Profiles dictionary as:

The demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications.

Above each evidence box, you will find details of the technical criterion that you are being asked to provide evidence against. You must ensure that you provide evidence against all of the criteria listed otherwise your application may be deemed incomplete and this could mean you may not be successful at the shortlisting stage.

References

You will need to provide the names of two referees (one must be your current or most recent employer) that cover at least the previous three years of employment. If you have just left school or college and have no previous work experience, please make sure that at least one of your referees is one of your teachers, lecturers or your head teacher or personal tutor. References are not requested until the point that we offer successful candidates a post.

Relationships and declaration of interest

In this section you are asked to declare whether you are in a close relationship with or are closely related to a current Welsh Government employee or a Member of the Senedd. Use links provided within the application form for further information.

Equality and diversity data

The Civil Service is committed to achieving a workforce that reflects the society it serves at all levels including the most senior. Collecting this information enables us to identify whether we are recruiting from the widest possible pool of talent and check that all groups are being treated fairly throughout the process. This form will not be disclosed to anyone involved in assessing your application. If you do not wish to provide a response to a particular question, you should complete the ‘Prefer not to say’ option. We are sensitive to the fact that some people would rather not complete diversity forms. We assure you that all information provided is kept strictly confidential, used purely for statistical purposes, and will not be used to influence recruitment decisions.

Source of application

Please provide information on how you found out about the vacancy – this is for monitoring purposes, to ensure we are using the most effective means of advertising our vacancies.
Declaration

Please ensure you read the declaration statement. If you agree to the statements regarding data protection, equal opportunities and how your application will be processed, select the tick box to confirm your agreement. Select ‘Submit’ ONLY if you are content that your application is complete, and you do not wish to make any changes.

Application updates

Once you have applied for a vacancy, you will be kept updated on the progress of your application via your registered e-mail. You can also check on the progress of your application by logging in to your account and viewing the ‘My Applications’ section of your account.

Success Profiles on GOV.UK

As a Civil Servant, you are appointed on merit based on fair and open competition and are expected to carry out your role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values. For more information on the Civil Service code, please visit:

The Civil Service code on GOV.UK