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Success Profiles: identifying what your application needs
Success Profiles is the Civil Service recruitment framework. It gives recruiters different ways to assess suitability for a role. Your first task is to identify which parts your vacancy uses, what you need to submit and what happens later.
By Sift Assist · Reviewed
The five elements in plain English
A vacancy does not have to use all five. These labels describe what is assessed, while a CV, written example, test or interview is a way of assessing it. One assessment can cover more than one element.
- Behaviours: how you act in situations relevant to the job.
- Strengths: activities you do well, regularly and with motivation.
- Ability: your potential to perform to the required standard.
- Experience: relevant knowledge and capability gained through involvement.
- Technical: role-specific professional knowledge, skills or qualifications.
Read the advert in three passes
Also open the candidate pack and any link to the employer’s recruitment site. If the information is incomplete, ask the named recruitment contact. A list of behaviours without an assessment stage is not enough to decide which written answers to produce.
- First, read the role and person specification. Mark essential requirements, any qualifications and what the work involves.
- Next, find the application or selection-process section. Record the fields required now, their limits, and any lead criterion used for an initial sift.
- Finally, record the later stages separately: tests, interview behaviours, strengths, presentations or other exercises.
Why the stages matter
If a separate instruction requests a 250-word behaviour at sift, include it. Read the whole advert rather than treating this illustration as a template for every vacancy.
Where your evidence can come from
Start a list of situations from employment, volunteering, study, clubs and responsibilities outside work. Write what you did beside each one. This is more useful than deciding that your previous job title sounds too junior or unrelated.
Then test the fit. Organising a community activity might show communication and prioritisation. It would not, by itself, satisfy a requirement for a specific professional registration. Transferable evidence and mandatory eligibility requirements need different checks.
Use the grade to choose depth, not to invent experience
Behaviour indicators are grouped by grade in the official guidance. Compare your proposed evidence with the relevant group, paying attention to the actual responsibility in your account. You are not expected to reproduce every indicator in one story.
If the advert uses an unfamiliar band or specialist title, ask for the equivalent level. Do not assume a grade from the salary, or assume all vacancies at that grade use the same word count.
Your advert-reading checklist
- I know which documents or answers must be submitted now.
- I have recorded each word limit separately.
- I have separated interview requirements from written sift requirements.
- I have checked eligibility, essential criteria and any lead criterion.
- I know where to ask about missing information and adjustments.
- I have checked the deadline and the vacancy’s instructions on AI use.
Official sources and how to use this guide
This is independent Sift Assist guidance. Our writing exercises and examples are teaching suggestions, not official assessment questions or guaranteed answers. Follow the vacancy and assessment instructions where they differ.
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