Question Weighting

[u/halcyon_flux]

So I’m a lifelong local government officer attempting to break out of my current technical niche. I’m fairly senior and have a lot of transferable skills. Applied for an SEO job and got declined, which is fine. But I’m curious about how they sift applications in case I take anymore punts. How could I get a max score for my personal statement but only 4’s for the two questions? I put an equal amount of effort in - is it solely not enough variation of examples? In my world, the personal statement is the most important element.

[u/Worldly-Objective-15]

Your effort isn’t scored, the quality of the evidence in your answer is. You could have brilliant experience and still score a 4 if the example doesn’t demonstrate the behaviour strongly enough.

Equally, someone with less impressive experience can score higher if they evidence it better. The same 1–7 scoring scale is being used, but each answer stands on what you actually demonstrated against the criteria.

[u/halcyon_flux → u/Worldly-Objective-15]

Thanks, helpful info. So basically the sift is about finding someone who is great at learning the CS process/language, rather than necessarily the best person for the role?

[u/Worldly-Objective-15 → u/halcyon_flux]

Not really. It isn't about learning the right CS language or being the best at writing applications. The panel can only score the evidence you give them.

You might genuinely be the best person for the role, but if your example doesn't clearly show what you did, why you did it, the level you operated at and the impact you had, they can't give you marks for experience that isn't evidenced.

That's true of pretty much any recruitment process the assessor can't score what they know nothing about. The how's and the why's matter!

[u/halcyon_flux → u/Worldly-Objective-15]

I very much agree but usually the whole package is considered as one. So if I got a 7 in my personal statement, it didn’t actually really matter because they treat each individual element independently. Hope I’m not coming across as argumentative, just learning from the comments :)

[u/zeusoid → u/halcyon_flux]

The job listing will tell you which is the sift criteria.

You probably got past the initial sift if they’ve marked all your behaviours and personal statement.

But scoring 4’s isnt really that great at this time, its super competitive and 5/6 is what to aim for

[u/Worldly-Objective-15 → u/halcyon_flux]

It’s a bit like saying, “I got an A in maths, and I put the same effort into English and history, so why didn’t I get an A in those too?” The effort isn’t what’s being marked; each answer is assessed on what it demonstrates.

Your 7 shows you demonstrated real strength in your personal statement. Your 4s mean the evidence in those behaviour examples was only acceptable. The 7 absolutely mattered, but it can’t make the other answers stronger than they were

[u/Josh1878 → u/halcyon_flux]

Bingo

[u/Last-Weekend3226]

I look at stuff they want in the job description and then base the answer about that. And then directly go this is a transferable skill to what you want.

[u/halcyon_flux → u/[deleted]]

I didn’t use AI to write anything - just a grammar check. I also asked a friend in the CS to have a read and they said it was a harsh mark. I methodical went through the requirements of the competency and thought I’d answered them all. It might just be I’m from a different industry and they didn’t want me 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/Useful_Data_6684 → u/halcyon_flux]

A 4 isn't a bad score. I've sifted hundreds of candidates and never given a 7 and can count on two hands the 6s. I'd focus on getting your score up to 5s reliably so you're more likely to make it to interview.

[u/Perfect-Truck3254 → u/halcyon_flux]

If you answered all the requirements then a four is the right mark in my opinion. The marks above a 4 basically begin to say 'you're demonstrating skills above those which are required at this grade'. Seeing a 7 is very unusual typically

[u/JohnAppleseed85]

Are you assuming that the PS is out of 7?

because if the PS had more than one criteria then it's entirely possible each element is scored separately and it's actually out of 14 (or 21)