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 you to provide an excellence statement. Your submission will be scored against each key competency linked to the role and those specified in the person specification.

• The Person Specification attached to the relevant job advert will outline all of the essential and desirable criteria for the role.
• Essential criteria are requirements that candidates must possess to be shortlisted for an interview.
• Desirable criteria are qualities that would give candidates an advantage in the shortlisting process.
• It is advisable to write a short paragraph for each criterion, giving an example of how you have previously demonstrated this, either in employment, education, volunteering, or an extra-curricular activity.
• Each criterion listed in the Person Specification will have a Competency noted next to it, which is taken from the Values & Behaviour Competency Framework.
• It is beneficial to review the relevant Competency Framework (Support Staff or Operational) and identify the positive indicators for each Competency noted on the Person Specification.
• This will give you a good idea of what values, behaviours, skills, and actions might be useful to mention when writing about each criterion.
• The Person Specification also notes at which stage(s) in the process each criterion will be assessed.
• The measure "1" is used to identify the criteria that are assessed at the application form.
• It is recommended that you cover all of the criteria with "1" noted next to it.
• Use the strongest examples that you have to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.
• These examples should show your achievements but can also reflect on how you have learnt from and overcome past failures.
• Be prepared that you will get questioned on the same criteria during your interview, so do not falsify any information!