UK public-sector applications are scored, not skimmed. Civil Service roles use Success Profiles: behaviour examples marked against a published scale, usually within a 250-word limit. NHS roles score the supporting information against the person specification's essential and desirable criteria. This skill writes to the scoring.
Part of the pm-cv bundle.
What This Skill Produces
- Behaviour statements, one per behaviour asked for, within the word limit
- A personal statement or NHS supporting information mapped to each criterion
- A criteria check: every essential criterion and where it is evidenced
- A CV, if the advert asks for one, in the plain form these schemes expect
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- The advert: the behaviours, essential and desirable criteria, and word limits
- The grade (for example HEO, SEO, Grade 7) or the NHS band
- The person's examples, ideally from
career-inventory
Framework: Behaviour Statements
Use situation, task, action, result, with most of the words on action:
- Situation and task: two or three sentences
- Action: what I did, in steps, showing the indicators for the grade
- Result: the outcome, with a number where the person has one, and what was learnt
Rules:
- Use the behaviour's published indicators for the grade as a checklist. Show three or four of them clearly.
- Stay within the word limit. Count it and state the count.
- One example per behaviour; reuse an example only if the advert allows it.
- Write "I", not "we".
Framework: NHS Supporting Information
- Go through the person specification in order. One short paragraph per essential criterion, then the desirable ones.
- Use the criterion's wording as a sub-heading so the shortlister can tick it off.
- State registrations and qualifications exactly as held.
Output Format
Application: [role], [department or trust], [grade or band]
1. Behaviour statements: each with the behaviour, the statement, and the word count 2. Personal statement or supporting information 3. Criteria check | Criterion | Essential or desirable | Where evidenced | 4. CV, if required
Quality Checks
- Every behaviour statement is within its word limit, with the count shown
- Action is the longest part of each statement
- Every essential criterion is evidenced
- Each statement is written in the first person singular
- Examples are the person's own; nothing is invented
Anti-Patterns
- Going over the word limit. Text beyond it may not be read.
- "We did". Scorers can only credit what the applicant did.
- Describing the situation at length. It scores nothing.
- Skipping desirable criteria when the field is competitive.
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Write my Success Profiles behaviour for Delivering at Pace, 250 words, SEO level."
- "Help me with my civil service personal statement."
- "Write my NHS supporting information for this Band 7 post."
- "Check my application against the essential criteria."