Application Process & Interviews at Victorian Government

There were 5 stages to the recruitment process. First there was a basic application with two written response questions. Then there was psychometric testing, followed by a recorded video self-interview. After that was an online group assessment centre before a final interview with my prospective managers.

The process was one of the longer ones I had encountered. Included a group task based assessment centre, a one way video interview, aptitude testing and finally a one on one interview in the last round.

Submit your CV online, answer pre-recorded interview questions and psychometrics, then group interviews and finally one on one interviews with selected department/team.

From memory, the interview process spanned over about 3-6 months. After initial application, applicants were then asked to complete pyrometric testing and reasoning, from which successful and unsuccessful applicants were filtered. This testing was very difficult, and I remember failing in the first 2 years that I applied for the program. A group interview was also involved, where you would work together as a team to work through a case study. After this round of interviews, successful applicants were invited once again to another online meeting, where they would be interviewed by two senior VPS staff. From there, successful graduates received a phone call at around August. All of the interviews were conducted online.

It was long, stressful and not overly accessible. I had some reasonable adjustments applied for the video assessment and interview and even with these it was incredibly stressful.

A long process, but overall good. The information given at each stage was excellent, especially the provision of information sessions.

Robust, with a lot of emphasis put on diversity.

Good process however spans over several months.

Individual interviews, followed by group-based interviews and then a full cohort induction. This system works well for the 'graduate' roles.

It was ok. Pretty standard, not to difficult or easy. It's pretty standardised. 1. Initial resume and eligibility check 2. Online testing and online interview recordings 3. Assessment centre 4. Individual online interview on Zoom with task to present 5. Background checks 6. Offer

It appears to be a thorough process

The assessments were great, i had a very nice experience. the process is a bit too long to go through. I've received a few offers when the vic gov one came through. That might cause the loss of talents.

Far too general lead to me being placed in a role that was not aligned with my skills

For the grad program the recruitment started in March or April the year before. after applying I did psychometric testing, a recorded video question, a zoom group interview/activity and then finally an interview with two interviewers. I got a call about a week after the final interview and got an o_er. The process after that was quite slow as the job didn't start for another 6 months but I got my contract within 2-3 weeks of the o_er.

The process for getting into graduate program was quite rigorous. It included an application stage, video recording responses to questions, online testing stage, group interviews and finally a one-on-one interview. I applied in March and only get my job offer at the end of July. The offer was also for January the following year.

Why do you want to work for the Victorian Government? Describe a time when you had to deal with conflict/difficulties? Describe a time when you had to deal with setbacks?

Why do you want to join the graduate program? Can you tell me about a time when you resolved a disagreement at work? Why do you think that you're an ideal candidate?

The general questions were around stakeholder management, team work, adaptability and then some industry specific ones as I am in a non-generalist stream. They were fair questions given the type of work I have been doing.

Reason for applying mostly. As no previous experience was required.

Why did you apply? Same questions asked to every candidate.

Fairly generic ones, the classic "tell us a time..."

Mostly motivational and behavourial questions.

For the group activity we were asked to come up with a novel solution to a problem: minimising harm to locals and travelers in bushfire events. for the individual interview the questions were mostly situational. One question asked about how would I feel if I was given a job I didn't really want to do, would I be able to deal with that - I think this relates to the nature of the grad rotations, they are completely random so there is the possibility you will get a rotation you don't like. The interviews were just question and answer, there was very little actual conversation or follow up questions.

For the one-on-one interview, I was asked about why I wanted to join the program, when I had dealt with conflict and when I had shown leadership.

Practice psychometric testing because that's the hardest stage of the process. Make sure you work collaboratively with others in the group assessment stage by doing something helpful like taking notes, rather than trying to push your ideas over others.

While it is great if you have examples of your personal and work ethic from a professional job, all of my examples were from university work and hospitality workplaces. It is not about the quality of your example, but how you relate it to the characteristics and qualities expected as a graduate. You want to demonstrate your personal qualities and ability to articulate this with confidence.

I would recommend that candidates practice for the interviews (the recorded one, the group one and the individual one). This could be done by preparing responses to general interview questions so that it is easier to discuss your experiences and skills. You should write out written responses and then practice verbally answering questions. Interviewing is a difficult skills and definitely requires practice.

Attitude is critical - be positive and team-focused.

The public sector focuses heavily on the STAR format for interview questions: Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example. Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation. Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it. Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.

Get a retail job and learn how to interact with people.

Really think about why you want this particular job and make sure your motivation shows through.

prepare for the interviews, they gave me a description of what the questions would be about and I prepared a something for each and had my notes in front of me ready to go. If you have to do a group interview, make sure you speak up and contribute to the discussion.

I think having a really good resume is important to ensure you get through to the next stage. Unfortunately, you can be a really good candidate and not be able to sell yourself on paper. Most universities, have online tools that rate your resume or ask a friend to review for spelling mistakes. Remember to put key skills with corresponding initiatives that demonstrate skills. Secondly, practice answering questions using the STAR method. I suggest preparing a list of examples you can use. It is probably safe to assume you will be asked about either conflict, leadership, or adaptability. I also suggest preparing an elevator pitch for why you want to join the program.