Providing Evidence Against the Application Form Questions – A Quick Guide

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service use competencies for all talent and leadership development. Competencies are about the person for the role as oppose to the technical skills required for the role (which are confirmed in other ways such as professional qualifications or time served experience). Competencies are about you and your behaviours and can be measured in positive and negative indicators for each competency.

Preparation is vital to your success and you will need to refer to the following documents to ensure you stand the best chance of succeeding:

  • LFRS Competency Framework – refer to the role you are applying for
  • Person Specification
  • Job Description

The application form will ask a number of questions for which you must provide your answer in no more than 500 words per question. Your submissions will be scored against the positive and negative indicators for each key competency that is linked to the role and those that are specified in the person specification.

When answering the questions you may find the following tips useful:

  • Explore the competencies you will be asked about for the role. It is likely each question will be targeted towards one specific competency
  • Ensure in your answer you include how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification. The person specification clearly indicates which criteria will be measured at application stage and to which competency they relate to
  • Use specific situations based on solid examples from work (current or previous), volunteering or academic studies
  • Be prepared to answer questions from your answers in an interview
  • Think carefully in preparing your answers and use examples that best demonstrate your skills, behaviours and values. Think about several examples and use the best one in your answer
  • Think about examples that are positive, show off your past successes and how you have brought value to your organisation in your current role
  • Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to answer each question
  • Remember, answers can relate to past failures as well as achievements. Explain in your answer the reason for failure and what has been learnt from it and focus on the positive indicators within any failure
  • Avoid too much background detail
  • Use google to learn more about competency based questions and interviews
  • Don’t make up answers, if questioned at interview you will come unstuck!
Accessibility