AO Communicating and Influencing interview questions test whether you can share information clearly, listen carefully and adapt your communication so other people understand what they need to do.
At Administrative Officer level, the focus is on plain communication and positive interaction rather than advanced influencing. Strong examples can come from explaining a process, helping a customer understand a letter, dealing with a misunderstanding or adapting your communication when somebody does not understand the first explanation.
Preparing for an AO Civil Service interview?
The AA/AO interview guide covers all nine Civil Service behaviours with current worked examples written at the right level for Administrative Officer roles.
What Communicating and Influencing means at AO level
🗣️ Share information clearly: use simple language and avoid unnecessary jargon.
👂 Listen carefully: understand what the other person is actually asking or worried about.
🤝 Stay professional: use polite, respectful language even when somebody is frustrated.
✅ Check understanding: do not assume the message has landed simply because you said it once.
🔄 Adapt your approach: change the explanation when the first version does not work.
🧘 Stay calm under pressure: keep the communication useful when the situation becomes difficult.
AO Communicating and Influencing interview questions
❓ Describe a time you had to explain information clearly to someone who did not understand it at first.
❓ Tell us about a time you had to deal with a frustrated customer or colleague.
❓ Give an example of when you changed how you communicated to suit another person.
❓ Describe a time you had to explain a process or rule in simple language.
❓ Tell us about a time you had to listen carefully before responding.
❓ Give an example of how you checked that somebody fully understood your message.
How to answer with B-STAR
💭 Belief: briefly explain your approach to clear communication.
📍 Situation: describe who you needed to communicate with and what was causing difficulty.
🎯 Task: state what you needed the other person to understand or do.
🛠️ Action: show how you listened, simplified the message, adapted your style and checked understanding.
📈 Result: explain what changed after the communication.
Example answer: explaining something that was not understood at first
Belief: I believe clear communication means taking responsibility for making the message understandable rather than assuming the other person is at fault if they are confused.
Situation: While working in junior IT support, a colleague from a non-technical team was frustrated because an access request had been delayed and they believed IT was ignoring it.
Task: I needed to explain the reason for the delay, help them complete the missing step and reassure them about what would happen next.
Action: I first listened to their concern and reviewed the request. I found that a required security approval was missing. Instead of using technical language, I compared the approval to needing a manager's sign-off before entering a restricted area.
I walked them through the form step by step and highlighted exactly where approval was needed. I asked them to explain back what they understood so I could check the message was clear, then tracked the request and updated them on progress.
Result: The request was approved the same day. The colleague understood the process, felt reassured and their team submitted future requests correctly, reducing repeat queries.
Example answer: communicating with an upset customer
Belief: I believe difficult conversations are easier when people feel listened to and the next steps are explained clearly.
Situation: In a customer-service role, a member of the public received a letter about their application and believed it meant they had been rejected. They contacted the team upset and frustrated.
Task: I needed to explain what the letter actually meant and make sure they understood what to do next.
Action: I let them explain their concern without interrupting, checked the letter and realised the wording referred to missing information rather than a rejection. I broke the message into short points, avoided formal language and used an example to explain what evidence was still required.
I paused regularly, invited questions and summarised the next steps at the end. I also confirmed the expected processing time so they knew when to contact us again if needed.
Result: The customer understood the situation, supplied the missing information and the application could continue without a formal complaint.
Practise more AA/AO interview questions
The complete guide gives you worked examples across Communicating and Influencing and the other Civil Service behaviours.
What interviewers want to see
✅ Plain, understandable language.
✅ Evidence that you listened before responding.
✅ A clear change in approach when the other person needed something different.
✅ A practical way of checking understanding.
✅ A result showing the communication helped resolve the situation.
Common mistakes
❌ Trying to sound too senior: AO examples can be simple and practical.
❌ Using jargon: clear communication matters more than impressive language.
❌ Only describing what you said: include how you listened and adapted.
❌ Assuming understanding: show how you checked the message had landed.
❌ Forgetting the result: explain what changed because of the conversation.
Quick AO interview check
✅ Is the communication problem clear?
✅ Have you shown that you listened carefully?
✅ Did you adapt the message for the person?
✅ Have you shown how you checked understanding?
✅ Does the result show a useful outcome?
Prepare across all nine AA/AO behaviours
How long should an AO communication answer be?
Keep enough detail to show what you personally did, but avoid turning a straightforward situation into a long story. The panel needs to understand the communication problem, your actions and the result.
Practise the structure rather than memorising exact wording so you can answer naturally if the question is phrased differently on the day.
For an overview of the behaviour, see Communicating and Influencing interview questions. Compare the examples with EO interview answers to see how expectations change.
