Our recruitment process

If you are looking to apply for one of our positions, then the following information provides a brief overview of everything you need to know.

Applying for a post

The application form is your chance to sell your skills and experience as well as demonstrating how you are right for the post.

It will be assessed according to how you meet the essential (or 'key') criteria as identified on the Person Specification for the role, so it is critical that you provide adequate detail.

Also, take time to check your application to ensure that all sections have been completed and there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes.

Assessment Centres

Assessment Centres are an effective method of assessing the strengths and development needs of candidates. There are several selection tools which may be used during an assessment centre but the main elements include:

  • Ability tests measure current ability and future potential for a wide range of skills, for example verbal, numerical reasoning, clerical checking.
  • Personality Questionnaires indicate personality or work style preferences.
  • Situational Judgement Tests give hypothetical situations to determine how an individual would react.
  • Group exercises assess group interaction between a number of candidates.
  • Presentations assess knowledge, fact finding, presentation and influencing skills.

Interview

When preparing for the interview, you should familiarise yourself with the Job Description and Person Specification for the role.

The Person Specification contains each of the criteria that will be assessed at interview stage; therefore you should ensure that you have clear examples to demonstrate how you have met these requirements in the past.

You can prepare notes or cue cards to help if think you might need a prompt during the interview but make sure you ask the interviewer if it's OK to use these during the interview.

Pre-Employment Checks

Employment checks are a critical part of the recruitment process. They ensure that the organisation complies with legislation and that the people selected to take a new role are suitable and have the relevant qualifications.

The law requires specific checks to be carried out if you will be working in a role with children or vulnerable adults.

The employment checks for candidates will be dependent on the role that you've applied for. These may include: 

  • Right to work in the UK.
  • Criminal Records Bureau checks.
  • Medical checks (if the duties of a role alter significantly i.e. a move to a role requiring increased physical effort).
  • Safer Recruitment checks.
  • Qualification checks.
  • Security screening to British Standard 7858.