Moving from an APS 6 to an EL1 role is one of the biggest steps in the public service — and the interview is where most capable people come unstuck. Not because they lack the skills, but because they answer as the person they are rather than the person the role needs.

At the EL1 level, the panel stops asking "can you do the work?" and starts asking "can you lead it?" Everything below flows from that shift.

What the panel is actually assessing

An EL1 sits at the hinge of the APS: senior enough to set direction, close enough to delivery to be held accountable for it. Against the Integrated Leadership System, the panel is listening for four things:

  • Judgement — do you make sound decisions with incomplete information, and can you explain why?
  • Influence — can you bring people with you without relying on authority?
  • Delivery through others — do you get results by enabling a team, not by doing it all yourself?
  • Strategic context — do you connect your work to the bigger agenda?

The APS 6 who gets promoted is usually the one who answers every question as though they were already operating at EL1 — before they have the title.

The three questions almost every EL1 panel asks

"Tell us about a time you led a piece of work through competing priorities." They want to hear you make a call, not that you "consulted everyone." Name the trade-off you accepted.

"Describe a time you had to influence someone more senior." This is the influence competency in disguise. Show that you framed the issue in their terms — risk, reputation, the Minister — not yours.

"How do you get the best out of a team that's under pressure?" They're testing delivery-through-others. Talk about how you removed obstacles, not how hard you personally worked.

How to raise every answer a level

Take any example you already have and ask three questions of it:

  1. What was the decision only I could make?
  2. Who did I have to bring with me, and how?
  3. What was the wider consequence if it went wrong?

If your answer doesn't touch all three, it's an APS 6 answer wearing an EL1 suit. Rework it until it does.

The panel already knows you can do the tasks — you wouldn't be in the room otherwise. The interview is the one chance you get to show them you can carry the weight of the next level. Prepare for that conversation, and the questions take care of themselves.