Please read the Candidate Guidance Document for this vacancy for full assessment details: Guidance for Candidates
Sift Stage
Please remember to complete all 7 of the areas to evidence.
To be eligible to apply for these roles, you must meet the Government Social Research profession entry requirements. Via either the qualification or experience route (evidence area 1):
Hold a minimum of 2:1 in an undergraduate degree or 2:2 with a postgraduate degree
AND
either
[qualification route] A relevant social science subject at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Which contains substantial social research methods training. (We would expect social research methods to represent around a third of modules taken)
or
[experience route] At least 4 years’ social research practice experience. (This would be experience designing, managing and conducting research in a research agency, market research agency or specialised research team. For this route you must make explicit the breadth and depth of your research experience and skills).
To apply for this opportunity, you will need to submit a CV (no more than 2 sides of A4) and a personal statement. The personal statement should evidence the Behaviours and Experience criteria. These are listed in 'Areas to Evidence' section of the advert. Your Personal Statement should not exceed 2100 words (including headings). In your personal statement you should make clear how you are evidencing each of the 7 areas. We recommend roughly one paragraph for each of the 7 areas. Your evidence should address the specific part of the evidence requested rather than the general behaviour.
Information on what evidence is required for 4-7 can be found in the behaviours guidance for success profiles (see Level 3 – HEO and SEO). Instructions can be found on how to respond to evidence in the Candidate Guidance Document: Guidance for Candidates
Sift outcomes are expected to be issued in March at which point you will be able to book an interview slot. If you are successful at sift, you will not be able to request your sift scores until the full assessment process has completed.
Assessment Stage
Candidates who are successful at the sifting stage will be assessed using the Government Social Research assessment approach.
These include:
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A GSR knowledge test;
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An oral briefing exercise which will assess 2, 3 and 6 in the list of areas to evidence;
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A general interview following the oral briefing which will cover areas 4, 5 and 7 from the areas to evidence listed in the advert. In addition you will be asked a question relating to equality in the management of research (area 3) which will ask you to focus on one of: anti racism, social model of disability or coproduction. You can find more information in the candidate guidance and we will also remind you of the details of the assessment process if you are invited to an interview.
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Number 1 in the areas to evidence is only assessed at application stage.
Applicants will be assessed initially for the Senior Research Officer roles at the SEO grade. However if the applicant is not found appointable at the grade, they will be assessed for the Research Officer role at the HEO grade.
If an applicant is graded at SEO (SRO), they will have a starting salary of – £41,700
If an applicant is graded at the lower grade HEO (RO), they will have a starting salary of - £32,460.
For more information and news about the GSR please visit the GSR website –
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-government-social-research-profession.
For further details of the Assessment Process, please refer to the Candidate Guidance: Guidance for Candidates
Final Outcome
Following assessment candidates will be ranked in merit order. Posts will be offered to the highest scoring candidates according to the merit order.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.