ICAC Officer (CACO / ACACO)
The integrity grade. The interview that rewards analytical honesty.
See the recommended stackSource: ICAC Grade Structure / Civil Service Bureau ICAC Pay Scale. Figures reference the HKSAR Civil Service Bureau published pay scales.
What this interview actually measures.
The ICAC's CACO and ACACO grades carry the institution's investigative and operational work. The interview is analytical, integrity-tested, and unsparing on superficial answers. IRB's CACO/ACACO module delivers a background brief on the ICAC's published work, current reforms, exemplar answers and personal essay marking.
What the grade pays. Where it leads.
Source: ICAC Grade Structure / Civil Service Bureau ICAC Pay Scale.
- 01Assistant Commission Against Corruption Officer (ACACO)
- 02Commission Against Corruption Officer (CACO, Pt 37–43)
- 03Senior CACO (Pt 44–44b)
- 04Principal Officer
- 05Assistant Director → Directorate
Integrity-grade selection. The interview is analytical, vetting-intensive, and unsparing on superficial answers — investigative logic sits beneath every question.
What we drill, and why.
Notes from Mike Yeung — former Senior Administrative Officer, twelve years across seven bureaux.
Integrity is tested as method, not as slogan. The panel wants to see how you reason a conflict, not whether you can denounce one.
Investigative logic — chain of evidence, admissibility, the difference between suspicion and proof — sits under every question.
Superficial answers do not survive this interview.
Current reforms and the Commission's operating context: know them cold.
The recruitment calendar — and where your preparation sits against it.
Twelve months, two tracks. Above, the official ICAC Officer (CACO / ACACO) milestones — applications, written papers, interviews. Below, the Companion preparation schedule: policy fluency from March, deepening through the autumn, government fundamentals in summer, the interview crusher in December, mock panels in the January–February crunch.
Indicative — see icac.org.hk. The ICAC cycle runs February–September; preparation is a rolling 12-month program with current-affairs fluency at its core.
What the ICAC panel is really reading for.
Five character and work calibres the ICAC Officer (CACO / ACACO) panel weighs — drawn from the department’s own published values and the Civil Service Bureau’s competency framework.
The first value and the last. Zero tolerance.
The anti-corruption passion that does not fade.
Investigate rigorously. Hold the standard of conduct.
Pursue the corrupt irrespective of background or status.
Hold the secret. Own the action.
Source — ICAC — Mission and Pledges / Code of Ethics
How we prepare for it.
- Comprehensive, up-to-date ICAC background brief
- Four ICAC-themed mock assessment questions, threshold exemplars
- Two essay marking & reviewing services
Assessments this position must clear.
Bundles built for the ICAC track.
Mocker Driller — CACO & ACACO Module
Targeted preparation for the ICAC's most competitive posts.
Interview Crusher Module
They won't remember your credentials. They'll remember how you made them feel.
Government Fundamentals Bundle
The organisation chart is on gov.hk. How the machinery actually moves is learned inside, or not at all.
Compass Setter Webinar
A monthly webinar to develop Companions' instinct and capability in public policy formulation and public policy rationale. New themes each webinar. New perspectives in looking at public policy each webinar. Deep dive on how public policies are actually made. Close these gaps before JRE and your interview arrives.
Book a free 45-minute
Know Each Other session.
Mike will hear your situation, name your gaps honestly, and recommend the exact stack for the ICAC Officer (CACO / ACACO) track. No obligation. No upsell.
Book a Know Each Other session