This is mainly for my own personal archives for whenever another competition rolls around:
I went to my post-board interview yesterday to determine where I went wrong on the competition. In the end, they said I aced the interview. ACED it to the point where I literally got full marks on the questions except for one which I got a zero on which had to do with the knowledge of the department component (which was advertised in the public listing).
Note to Future Palmer: Remember to look at the Annual Report of any given department when you need to have knowledge about that particular department.
Another Note to Future Palmer: Do whatever Catherine taught you all those years ago during an interview. Whatever you’re doing is clearly working. Thanks Catherine!
Note to others: Hey, if anyone needs help on interview skills for Government competitions, come see me.
In the end, they said they tried to do everything they could to give me some marks, but I was way off target because I was outlining knowledge of the Government and not the department. They did say I would have aced that question also if it had been about the knowledge of the Government. Dang. I wish I would have just babbled on about what the department does. Off the top of my head, I think babbling would have been better than having a well structured answer to another question!
We also went over some things dealing with my written exam and what I can touch up on my briefing notes and work plans. No worries on that one and it’s good advice to have in the future.
If no one has ever gone to a post-board interview, I highly recommend it. Even if you get the position, it’s always good to express interest in improving yourself. Unless you scored perfect on the entire competition, chances are, there are areas that you can improve in.
As for me, I suppose it is a relief inside my head that they told me that I am of the caliber of the level I was applying for and that I was on the right track. I just fell victim to the hiring rules which are in place. I must admit it is strange to hear your interviewers say that I am of the caliber but I still can’t come into the level because of one question I flubbed. Considering the…hiring problems a lot of places are having, one would think they would be less strict on certain elements, but on the other hand, I know very well WHY they have these rules in place.
So that’s that.