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Publication - Advice and guidance

Recruitment: candidate guide

Last updated
18 September 2025 - see all updates
Directorate
People Directorate
Topic
Work and skills

A detailed guide for applicants interested in applying for a job with the Scottish Government.

Our application process

The Scottish Government follows a structured three-stage recruitment process to ensure a fair and consistent evaluation of all candidates. This process includes:

  • stage 1: online application
  • stage 2: assessment
  • stage 3: offer and pre-employment checks

Each stage is designed to assess candidates against the Success Profiles framework, which considers Behaviours, Experience, and Technical skills relevant to the role.

For full details on each stage and guidance on how to prepare, please refer to our comprehensive application process overview.

Contact

The Scottish Government Recruitment Team: ScottishGovernmentrecruitment@gov.scot

First published
9 May 2024
Last updated
18 September 2025 - show all updates

  1. Update to threshold for sponsorship through the Skilled Worker Visa scheme.

  2. New section added providing guidance to candidates on the use of AI tools. New information added to the pre-employment checks page providing more detail on the different levels of security vetting.

  3. Addition to Hybrid Working information to reflect changes to take effect from October 2025.

  4. Updates to application process page, to link to Success Profiles guidance.

  5. Update to remove reference to Skills for Success assessment framework as it is no longer in use.

  6. New section on complaints process added and updates on assessment framework made to the application process section.

  7. Link added to further guidance on the Disability Confident Scheme in the Guaranteed Interview Schemes section.

  8. Working Pattern content has been updated to reflect a change in the standard working week for staff and a new page and content has been added providing information on the declaration of interests process.

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