Requirements for the role

Each section on the job profile is very important. These are:

• relevant experience
• general and special knowledge
• skills and abilities
• additional requirements

They set out the skills and criteria that you'll need to do the job. We'll be looking for these in the following ways:

• Application form (A). We'll look for evidence of this in your application form.
  
  
• Interview (I). We'll ask you questions and test you on this at your interview.
  
  
• Certificates (C). If you're invited for interview, you'll need to bring your qualification certificates and other appropriate documents. This will show proof of your achievements. If you've lost your certificates, you'll need to contact the examination bodies for confirmation of your qualifications. If you hold international qualifications you can use UK ENIC to get them compared to UK qualifications. Proof of entitlement to work in the UK will also be needed.
  
  
• Presentation (P). We may ask you to give a presentation. We'll tell you when we write to invite you for interview.
  
  
• Test (T). We may ask you to do a test to show that you have a certain skill. An example of this could be to prove you can use Microsoft packages like Excel.

Sometimes we'll test criteria in several ways (application, interview or test) depending on whether they're essential or desirable for the role you're applying for.

• Essential (E). These is criteria that are vital to being able to do the role effectively.
  
  
• Desirable (D)/minor (M). These are criteria that are not essential to fulfil the role in the initial induction period, but they'd be a bonus.

To be shortlisted and invited for interview you'll need to prove, by giving examples, how you meet the criteria.

Guaranteed interview schemes

We run 3 guaranteed interview schemes. You must meet all the essential criteria for the job to be eligible for these. This means you must provide evidence in your application or CV supporting letter. You should demonstrate how you meet all of the essential criteria for the role. There's still an exception where internal applicants who're at risk of redundancy have to be considered first. This is in accordance with our managing change policy.

You'll be asked if you are eligible for any of the schemes on the application form.

The three guaranteed interview schemes are:

Disabled applicants

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident employer and support fair recruitment practices. We're one of thousands of organisations who're removing barriers to disabled people in employment and benefitting from their skills. As a Disability Confident employer, we offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet all the essential criteria for the role.

Young people in care or care leavers

A guaranteed interview will be offered to young people in care or care leavers who meet the essential criteria for the role. This is part of our commitment to young people in care and care leavers.

Veterans

In support of the Armed Forces Community Covenant, we operate a guaranteed interview scheme for armed forces veterans. A guaranteed interview will be offered to people who have served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and meet the essential criteria for the role.

Tips

• You must meet the essential criteria in order for us to shortlist you. Desirable/minor criteria are an advantage, but not crucial. If we have lots of applicants for a post, we'll look at all the criteria. This includes the desirable/minor ones to help us shortlist candidates.
• Include as much detail as you can in your application to show how you meet the 'essential' criteria of the role. Make sure you give examples.
• Make your examples as relevant to the role as possible, and as clear and concise as you can. Remember that you can include experience from all sources. This can include previous jobs, school, clubs and voluntary work.
• Don't forget to keep referring to the 'responsibilities' listed on the job profile and make sure that your application reflects these.
• Don't leave any blanks. If there are any questions that don't apply to you, simply put 'not applicable' or 'n/a'.

References

If you're shortlisted, we'll ask for a minimum of two work related references. If you're currently employed, one of these must be your present or most recent employer. We can't accept character references or those from relatives or friends.

We understand that there may be times where you can't produce two work references. For example:

• where you've not worked before (such as being a school/college leaver)
• where you've only had one previous job
• where you've had a career break

In these cases we may accept non-employment references, although they must still cover your skills and abilities. These could relate to part-time or voluntary work, or be from your school or college. For example, if you've been volunteering in a school whilst on a career break, you could ask the headteacher to give you a reference.

Safeguarding vulnerable people

We pledge to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you're shortlisted for a role working with children or vulnerable adults, you must complete the criminal record background section of the application form. You must disclose any criminal conviction which would normally be considered to be 'spent'. Spent convictions are those that happened some time ago and are not normally needed to be revealed. More details are given in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

For more details, visit the Disclosure and Barring Service website. You can also contact our HR Safeguarding Team on (01226) 772291 or (01226) 773796.

Final check

• Make sure that all sections are complete. If a box isn't relevant, put 'n/a'
• Our closing date and time is a strict deadline, so take a note of it and make sure that you submit your application form in good time.