Hello and welcome! 🎉 If you’ve landed here, chances are you’re preparing for a Civil Service interview for the Administrative Officer (AO) level, specifically focusing on the Working Together behavior. This post is designed to help you understand what this behavior means at the AO level, how to answer related questions, and how to ensure you shine in your interview. Let's get started!
Preparing for an AO Civil Service interview?
The complete AA/AO behaviour interview guide covers all nine behaviours with worked questions and answers.
What Does "Working Together" Mean for an Administrative Officer?
Working Together is all about collaboration, teamwork, and communication. At the AO level, it means working effectively with colleagues, building relationships across teams, and contributing to shared goals.
For an AO, this behavior requires you to be a strong team player—someone who supports others, works well in a diverse environment, and ensures that tasks are completed through collaboration. It’s important to recognize the difference between levels: at higher levels, like HEO or SEO, Working Together may involve leading teams and resolving conflicts. But at AO, you’ll be expected to focus more on contributing as a reliable member of the team rather than taking charge.
Answering Working Together Questions with the B-STAR Method
When you’re faced with an interview question about Working Together, you can use the B-STAR method to structure your answer. This ensures you provide a clear, relevant response. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
B = Belief 🌟
Start with your personal belief about teamwork. What drives you to collaborate effectively? For example, you might believe that a supportive team environment leads to better outcomes.
S = Situation 🎯
Describe the situation where you had to work with others. Be specific. Was it a project, a daily task, or an unexpected challenge?
T = Task 📝
Outline your role in the task. What were you responsible for? At the AO level, this might involve ensuring everyone had the information they needed or helping a colleague who was struggling.
A = Action 🚀
Detail the actions you took to collaborate effectively. How did you work with your team? Did you communicate well, support others, or resolve issues?
R = Result 🏆
Finally, explain the positive outcome. What was achieved because of your teamwork? Did the project succeed? Did a colleague improve their performance? Make sure the result is linked to how your contribution made a difference.
Common Working Together Interview Questions
Here are some typical questions you might encounter:
👉 Tell me about a time you worked in a team to complete a task.
👉 Describe a time when you had to deal with a conflict within a team.
👉 Give an example of how you supported a colleague in a difficult situation.
👉 How do you ensure effective communication in a team?
👉 Click this link to see more example questions...
What the Interviewer is Looking For
The interviewer will want to see specific qualities in your answers. Let’s break down what they’re after:
Effective Collaboration 👫: They want to know that you can work well with others and share responsibility. Are you open to ideas, supportive, and willing to help others succeed?
Communication Skills 🗣: Your answers should show that you can communicate clearly and respectfully with your colleagues. At the AO level, this could be about sharing information effectively or helping to solve misunderstandings.
Problem Solving 🧠: How do you handle issues within a team? They will be looking for examples where you helped resolve a challenge by bringing the team together.
Commitment to Team Success 🎯: Your answer should reflect your willingness to prioritize team goals over individual achievements. They want to see that you understand the bigger picture and work towards collective outcomes.
Ideas for Scenarios
Here are some real-life scenarios that might help you think about how to answer these questions:
💼 Helping a new colleague settle in: You helped onboard a new team member, making sure they understood processes and felt supported.
📊 Completing a group project under pressure: You worked with colleagues to complete a task on a tight deadline, ensuring everyone contributed.
👥 Resolving a misunderstanding: There was a miscommunication in your team, and you stepped in to ensure everyone was on the same page.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
🚫 Being vague: Avoid general answers like "I work well in a team." Always back up your statements with clear examples.
🚫 Focusing too much on yourself: It’s easy to fall into the trap of highlighting only your individual contributions. Make sure to emphasize how you worked with others.
🚫 Blaming others: Don’t blame team failures on others. If you faced a difficult team situation, talk about how you helped resolve it, not just the problems.
🚫 Failing to show the result: Always finish your answer by explaining the outcome of your teamwork. What was achieved?
Key Takeaways: Why Working Together Matters for an AO
As an AO, Working Together is crucial to your role. It ensures that tasks are completed efficiently, and goals are met by leveraging the collective effort of the team. At this level, it’s about contributing to the team’s success, building strong working relationships, and helping others thrive. Focus on showing that you are a valuable, reliable team player who understands the importance of communication and collaboration.
Good luck in your interview! 🍀 You’ve got this!
Click here to continue learning more about the AA/AO interview...
Current AO Working Together focus
The existing page gives you the right foundation. At AO level, the strongest examples show how you contribute to the whole team and build supportive working relationships without claiming a leadership role you did not hold.
🤝 Contribute to the whole team: be willing to help with work outside your usual tasks when it supports the shared outcome.
👥 Build supportive relationships: get to know colleagues and understand how you can help each other.
👂 Listen to different views: take other perspectives seriously and check your understanding.
🙋 Ask for help: recognise when you need support rather than allowing a problem to grow.
🌱 Consider wellbeing: be aware of your own wellbeing and that of colleagues during busy periods.
🛡️ Maintain respectful standards: understand that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable.
More AO Working Together interview questions
❓ Tell us about a time you helped a colleague who was struggling.
❓ Describe a situation where you had to take on a different task to help the team.
❓ Give an example of when you listened to another person's view and changed your approach.
❓ Tell us about a time you asked for help so the team could still meet its objective.
❓ Describe a disagreement in a team and how you helped keep the working relationship positive.
❓ Give an example of how you supported a new colleague.
Worked example: supporting a colleague during a busy period
Belief: I believe good teamwork means paying attention to the shared workload and offering practical help before pressure turns into a bigger problem.
Situation: In an administration team, a colleague returned from leave to a large backlog while the rest of us were also dealing with a busy period.
Task: I needed to complete my own priority work while helping the team reduce the backlog.
Action: I spoke to the colleague first rather than assuming what help they needed. They explained that routine data checks were taking most of their time and preventing them from dealing with higher-priority cases.
I checked my own deadlines and offered to take a batch of the routine checks once my urgent work was complete. I asked them to show me the process and confirmed anything I was unsure about before starting. I kept a simple record of what I had completed so there was no duplication.
When I noticed one case did not match the normal guidance, I asked for help rather than making an uncertain decision.
Result: The team cleared the urgent backlog while my own work remained on time. The colleague was able to focus on the complex cases and we had a clearer way to share similar pressure in future.
What to keep from your existing preparation
Your current scenario ideas remain useful. Helping a new colleague, completing a group task under pressure and resolving a misunderstanding can all work well. Add enough detail to show what you personally did and how the team benefited.
For wider preparation, see the Working Together interview questions guide or compare EO-level Working Together examples.
