HMRC 042R Officer Caseworkers (External) October 2016

I had my interview today at Euston Tower.. Went exactly as I expected it to.. no surprises at all. Very sorry to the person who were asked a collaborating question. This is clearly a mistake/unfair tactic. For people saying it's a £30k job.. there are jobs which are £100k which still have specific competencies. Collaborating was not a competency they advised we would be assessed on and therefore you should absolutely challenge it. Turned up really early but was seen straight away.. someone took my photocopies then led me to the room. One man from ManPower and one woman from HMRC. ManPower man did almost all of the talking, woman from HMRC basically never looked up so I just directed everything at him. Ice breaker about what I did at the moment and what attracted me to this particular role. First question about when I'd used sources of information to make a decision, second question about improving a process to ensure a quality service and another question about obstacles meaning objectives and priorities had to be changed. All very predictable and easy to tailor to any pre-prepared example. Have to say the two other gentleman in the waiting area surprised me because of their age.. they were MUCH older than me (I'm 23). I'm not sure why but in my head everyone applying for these jobs are straight out of Uni/Sixth Form/in their mid-twenties. I asked them at the end to guarantee that there were jobs available and he said it was the largest HMRC recruitment campaign in recent times and there are PLENTY of jobs it was just a case of putting people into the right positions. Said I would get a response early December. Time to wait!

All sounds very positive and encouraging. Apart from the MUCH Older bit. Dread to think what will be thought of me in the waiting area... Ha ha.

Best of luck.

All sounds very positive and encouraging. Apart from the MUCH Older bit. Dread to think what will be thought of me in the waiting area... Ha ha.

Best of luck.

I had my interview today at Euston Tower.. Went exactly as I expected it to.. no surprises at all. Very sorry to the person who were asked a collaborating question. This is clearly a mistake/unfair tactic. For people saying it's a £30k job.. there are jobs which are £100k which still have specific competencies. Collaborating was not a competency they advised we would be assessed on and therefore you should absolutely challenge it. Turned up really early but was seen straight away.. someone took my photocopies then led me to the room. One man from ManPower and one woman from HMRC. ManPower man did almost all of the talking, woman from HMRC basically never looked up so I just directed everything at him. Ice breaker about what I did at the moment and what attracted me to this particular role. First question about when I'd used sources of information to make a decision, second question about improving a process to ensure a quality service and another question about obstacles meaning objectives and priorities had to be changed. All very predictable and easy to tailor to any pre-prepared example. Have to say the two other gentleman in the waiting area surprised me because of their age.. they were MUCH older than me (I'm 23). I'm not sure why but in my head everyone applying for these jobs are straight out of Uni/Sixth Form/in their mid-twenties. I asked them at the end to guarantee that there were jobs available and he said it was the largest HMRC recruitment campaign in recent times and there are PLENTY of jobs it was just a case of putting people into the right positions. Said I would get a response early December. Time to wait!

There are candidates in their 50s. they have a wealth of experience to offer

Can I just point out that I wasn't criticising or mocking older candidates.. I just had it in my head that the majority would be recent grads etc..

I am 33. I was under the impression that I was one of the younger ones for a job like this. I would be surprised if there were many people in their early 20's applying for a level like this, and definatly not sixth form or uni leavers. You need to have good experience to show the competencies required to work at this level and quite frankly that is going to be very tough in early 20's.


I don't have a degree, although I would like one - I certainly have the ability - but I was not mature enough at the age of 18 after A Levels to go to university.


The good thing I am thinking of from the jobs being available to internal candidates as well, is that if they get these positions ahead of external candidates, then that means there are going to be vacancies available for the positions that have been left. Optimistically thinking, the external candidates that don't achieve high enough scores, POSSIBLY will be offered lower ranking positions.


The civil service is great to get into, and offers a long and rewarding career - if you can get a foot in the door. One of the questions I asked in my interview was about the scope for promotion. The answer given to me is they expect you to stay in the HEO position for 2 years, then you can go as far as you want, its all down to you. I am really excited about this job and hope I am chosen. But I would quite happily take the next grade down if I do not make HEO level.

Best of luck today and I hope you feel a bit better.

I am 33. I was under the impression that I was one of the younger ones for a job like this. I would be surprised if there were many people in their early 20's applying for a level like this, and definatly not sixth form or uni leavers. You need to have good experience to show the competencies required to work at this level and quite frankly that is going to be very tough in early 20's.


I don't have a degree, although I would like one - I certainly have the ability - but I was not mature enough at the age of 18 after A Levels to go to university.


The good thing I am thinking of from the jobs being available to internal candidates as well, is that if they get these positions ahead of external candidates, then that means there are going to be vacancies available for the positions that have been left. Optimistically thinking, the external candidates that don't achieve high enough scores, POSSIBLY will be offered lower ranking positions.


The civil service is great to get into, and offers a long and rewarding career - if you can get a foot in the door. One of the questions I asked in my interview was about the scope for promotion. The answer given to me is they expect you to stay in the HEO position for 2 years, then you can go as far as you want, its all down to you. I am really excited about this job and hope I am chosen. But I would quite happily take the next grade down if I do not make HEO level.

Just got out. Apart from feeling ill think it went ok. Both wrote down lots of info, not too many secondary questions. So we shall see.

Which location are you again?

Glad to hear it went well! Did your interview tally up with how I described mine?

Haha, no don't get me wrong if anything it was intimaditing! They were probably twice my age, I just didn't expect it that was all. They were both sat there when I was taken upstairs to this little waiting area and I thought it was my actual interview! I shook their hands and everything.

Haha brilliant..love that you shook the other candidates hands thinking they were the interviewers. Ptobably quite an easy mistake to make! Wish you, and everyone, the best of luck and thanks for the chuckle during this very tense wait to hear the outcome. Interviewed in Cardiff on 1st Nov and only 8 days on I am desperate to know!!

Regarding age: There were around 25 people in my intake, the youngest is 24 and the oldest is in their 60s. The average is probably between 30-35.