Concerns raised over civil service applications process

Applicants for a recent admin officer recruitment intake for the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) have voiced their frustration over issues faced in the application process.

Over 3,000 applicants were invited to complete the pre-recorded interview; however, the exact number has yet to be determined by the Minister of Finance, with discrepancies in her answers.

In a written response to a question by Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan, the Minister stated that there were 3,315 people who applied. However in a subsequent letter to Mr Durkan, the Minister stated that there were 3,299 applicants.

Audio and video issues, along with website crashes, have been reported as issues by many who went through the application process.

A number of applicants spoke to the Derry News surrounding the application process and alleged mistreatment.

Through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Department of Finance, it has been confirmed that 427 of the 1,298 participants were unsuccessful, predominantly due to candidate technical issues (sound or/and video) during the recorded interview stage.

This means 32.9%, or roughly one in three people, could have been prevented by these problems.

One applicant, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “There was very little guidance given regarding the video interview platform, with guidance on the NICS recruitment website being primarily aimed at a different platform, known as WebEx, which seems to be used for higher-grade positions in comparison to the HireVue platform, which has seemingly been plagued many with issues, with some not having audio, some not having video, and some simply failing to upload due to the service timing out whenever they attempted to complete the interview process.”

Meanwhile, another applicant said: “I was accused of using notes. I appealed the decision and requested feedback and the evidence to which they came to their conclusion.

“I received a generic email from them stating the decision was made and was final.”

Meanwhile, through another FOI request, it was discovered that 102 participants were unsuccessful as a result of not being able to ‘assure identity’ in the video interview.

One anonymous applicant spoke about this issue, with blurriness impacting their ability to display ID.

None of the participants were contacted to provide a valid ID or given the chance to resit the interview.

Numerous applicants reported issues to the human resources department of the NICS, but only 46 of the people who faced issues were afforded an additional opportunity to resit the interview.

According to NICSHR, 381 candidates, or 29.37% who failed the process, made an error when setting up for the video interview.

One applicant said: “HR Connect seemingly considered the matter decided with issues being my fault and not taking into account any information which I had told them, simply stating that the system underwent rigorous testing prior to going live and investigations following showed no issues but confirmed issues were user error; again, I highly doubt this.”

MLAs Mark Durkan, Gerry Carrol, and Daniel McCrossan have each questioned the Minister of Finance regarding these problems, complaints about applicants' treatment, and explanations they have received from NICSHR.

In response the Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald said: “NICSHR are working closely with the interview platform provider to examine where improvements to the guidance can be made to enhance the advice to mitigate issues and increase candidate experience.”

The Minister confirmed that despite the concerns raised, the NICSHR would continue to use the current system and platform.
SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan has requested further details from the Minister surrounding the process.

"I've been contacted by quite a number of candidates in recent weeks impacted by technical issues with their recorded interviews. The entire process and the response to those concerns have been frustrating, to say the least,” he said.

"The Department of Finance has serious questions to answer around how this was allowed to happen and how this issue was not picked up sooner, to the detriment of hundreds of candidates.

“I've written again to the Finance Minister to request further detail on the numbers impacted and the number of complaints received thus far.

“Candidates should have faith in the application process, and it’s unacceptable that people may have missed out on these roles as a result of a technological issue that wasn’t picked up on.

“Our civil service is in dire need of new staff, and this problem could have seriously impacted recruitment efforts over the past year.

“There is an onus on the department to ensure that things like this don’t happen, and they have to make this right. I would urge anyone impacted to come forward and register their experience."

A Department of Finance spokesperson said: “In December 2023, the Civil Service launched a recruitment campaign for Administrative Officers and over 6,300 applications were received.

“The pre-recorded interview format was used enabling candidates to complete their interview at a time of their choice during the interview period.

“The online interview platform went through rigorous testing in advance of go live and no issues were identified. Candidates invited to interview were given advice in advance on what to do if they had issues with set up due to compatibility or software issues including a Help Centre link with troubleshooting steps.

“Any complaints received in relation to the recruitment process were dealt with in line with the Civil Service recruitment complaints procedure.”