Immigration Officer 2018

I am currently in the process of applying. I’m a bit confused though on how I need to refer to the competencies to the questions on the form as they seem like generic questions and not specifically asking me about any of the competencies. Any tips on how to do this if you have applied and gotten through?

I have been given a provisional offer and i'm now in the long process of getting my security clearance. Where did you apply for?

I'm not 100% sure what you mean. Have you looked at the STAR method of answering the questions? If not, it's S - Situation, T - Task, A - Action, R - Result. Google it, you can find a lot of help on how to answer them.

What helped me a lot what googling the competency framework and downloading the pdf on the civil service website of what exactly they're looking for. It breaks it down into the individual competencies and the criteria within each one so you can fit your examples around that. If you have any more questions just ask. Good luck

I understand the format of STAR and I have also downloaded the civil serve competency framework, however the questions on the application are:

1) what is it about you that makes you believe you would be a good border force officer

2) please describe an achievement you are particularly proud of and explain why you are proud of it.

3) describe the best team you have worked with and why did you enjoy working as part of this team?

4) how important is it for you to personally understand why things happen?

My question is, that although I can answer all of these questions and draw from some examples, I’m not sure how I would format it in a STAR way, and aside from question number 4 which I guess refers to ‘seeing the bigger picture’, it’s unclear what competsncies the others are trying to assess.

I’ll be applying for Heathrow thank you for your help in advance on this

Oh okay I see what you mean now. Sorry, I applied for immigration and not border force so I wasn't aware of those questions and didn't have to answer any like that. I think that the STAR method only applies for the 250 word examples for the actual competencies and not those questions. The guys over on the thread 'Mobile Border Force 2018' or 'UK Border Force' are pretty active and would be able to help you more than I can, if you haven't been on those already.

That’s strange I thought immigration came under border force? I actually want to apply in immigration! Did you not have any of these questions?

So did I but I think they restructured it and separated the two in 2012. Border Force still do deal with immigration related stuff but I applied for Immigration Enforcement which doesn't come under Border Force. No I didn't have to answer questions like that, I just had to give 4 250 words competency examples, online tests and then maybe a personal statement - I applied back in November so I can't really remember. If you want to apply then keep your eyes peeled for job adverts, there were 50 vacancies when I applied and they're definitely hiring more at some point. Just be prepared for the ridiculously long wait!

Ok thank you for your help, much appreciated good luck!