GUIDANCE NOTES FOR APPLICANTS

Thank you for your interest in our vacancy. The following notes are intended to
assist you in the application process. It is important that you read the job
description, person specification and these notes carefully before completing the
application form, as the decision to shortlist you will be based solely on the
information you provide in your application.

How to Apply

We recommend that all applicants apply online at www.jobs.nhs.uk by either searching

the site for our vacancies or by entering the relevant job reference number. Once you
have completed your online form please ensure that you press the Submit button at the
bottom. If you do not have access to the internet you can call our HR Team on 01623
673703 / 673704 / 673699, ensuring that you advise your name, full postal address
including the post code and the job reference number and we will post out an application
pack to you.

How to Complete Your Application Form

Take the time to familiarise yourself with the post by reading the advertisement, job
description and person specification. If you have any queries, the Appointing Officer will
be happy to discuss the post with you. Their contact details are contained in the
advertisement.

You are advised to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to
close posts at any time, once we have received sufficient applications. We advise you to
submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Job Description The job description contains details about the duties that you will be
expected to undertake.

Person
Specification The person specification identifies the essential and desirable skills,
knowledge and experience that you will need to have to undertake the
role. The shortlisting panel will study your application and look for
evidence that you meet each criteria. If you do not demonstrate that
you meet all of the essential criteria in your application form, then
unfortunately you will not be shortlisted for interview.

The panel cannot make assumptions about your or your

qualifications, and will only base their decision upon factual
information that you have submitted. Don’t be put off if you do not
hold modern educational qualifications (e.g. Business Administration
Degree) as you may have the equivalent in evidenced work
experience. However, some roles do require formal qualifications,
such as being a registered nurse and there is no equivalent

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 experience for that, if in doubt please contact the Appointing Officer to
discuss.

The person specification also provides details of how the essential

and desirable criteria will be measured:

A – Application form I – Interview

R – Reference T – Test

Application
Form The application must provide all the required information about your
skills, qualifications, and career history. The information contained
within personal details and monitoring information of the form is
confidential and will not be disclosed to the shortlisting panel.

Applicants must complete all sections of the form as fully as possible

and declare if there is a requirement for you to have a work permit, or
if you have any spent/unspent criminal convictions as required by the
post, or if you have a disability.

We do not accept cv’s; either in application form or in addition to the

application form so please do not copy and paste information from
your cv into the supporting statement section of the application form.

If the post requires a professional registration (e.g. NMC, HPC, GMC

etc) please ensure that you state on your application that you posses
the required registration and give your registration number. If you do
not specify this your application will not be sent for shortlisting.

When providing details of your referees, it is essential that the first

referee is your current, or most recent employer. You must ensure
that you provide full contact details (email, postal, telephone and fax
where available) for each referee and you should indicate whether
your referees may or may not be contacted prior to interview. Your
references should cover, as a minimum, three years of employment,
starting from your current or most recent employer.

Once submitted, you will not be able to amend your application form
so please ensure that you have checked the content thoroughly.
Once you have submitted your online application you will receive an
email from NHS Jobs confirming that it has been received.

All correspondence regarding your application will be via email so it is

essential that you check your email account regularly.

If you have any queries about completing your application form

please contact the Human Resources department.

What happens next?

Short-listing of
received applications

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 All vacancies close at midnight on the advertised closing date. The
Appointing Officer receives the applications the day after the closing
date. Each application is automatically given a unique reference
number for example; AR-578-985-02, upon receipt in the electronic
recruitment system, which is then used to identify the application in
the short-listing process. The Appointing Officer will not be able to
see the name and personal details on each application – they will only
be able to see skills, qualifications, work experience and reference
details. This is to ensure that short-listing is fair and purely based on
the information provided in the application, so please bear in mind
that you must be able to demonstrate in your application that you
match all of the essential criteria as detailed in the person
specification, otherwise you may not be short-listed.

All information supplied in received applications will be treated in

accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998

Positive About
Disabled People
Scheme The PCT is a Disability Two Tick Symbol holder and guarantees an
interview for all disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria
when applying for a post. If you are a disabled applicant and wish to
be considered under this scheme, please select yes, when asked if
you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

References When applying for a job you will need to provide details of a minimum
of two suitable referees, ensuring that you cover a minimum of a
three-year employment history. Therefore in some circumstances
you may be required to provide more than two referees. Your first
referee must be your current or most recent employer who is able to
provide a reference relating to your work experience and suitability for
the post for which you have applied. Your second/other referees
should also be a recent/past employer or possibly a work colleague.
Your references should cover, as a minimum, three years of
employment starting from your current or most recent employer. If
you are a student please provide contact details of a teacher/ lecturer
at your school, college or university. Personal references from a
friend or relative are not acceptable.

Please remember to provide full contact details for your referees

including name, address, email address, telephone number, fax
number (if applicable). This will help ensure that the process is not
delayed.

All references will be requested after interview if your application is to

be progressed further.

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 Once we have received both of your references, and you have taken
part in an interview, the recruitment team will pass them onto the
Appointing Officer who will read them and then proceed onto the next
stage of the recruitment process.

Interview If you are shortlisted for a post you will be contacted via the email
address you used when registering on NHS Jobs or the email
address submitted on your offline application. It is important,
therefore, that you check you emails on regular basis. You will be
asked to contact the Human Resources Department to confirm your
attendance and to receive a time slot for your interview.

You may be asked to undertake a presentation or test in addition to

your interview so make sure you read the details carefully so can be
fully prepared.

Offer Letters Once you have attended your interview and we have received
relevant references, the Appointing Officer will give verbal feedback to
all candidates. The preferred candidate will be offered the post
conditionally at first subject to Occupational Health and Disclosure &
Barring Service (DBS) clearance if appropriate. If the offer is accepted
then the Appointing Officer will forward all of the relevant
documentation to the Human Resources Team, which will include
copies of photo I.D, qualifications, interview notes and DBS forms if
necessary.

Once these documents have been received and checked by a Human

Resources Advisor, the offer letter will be created. You will receive
two copies of the offer letter stating the starting salary, start date and
instructions for your first day. You will need to sign both copies of the
letter, keeping one for yourself and returning one to the Human
Resources Team, formally accepting the offer. Along with the two
copies of the letter you will receive an ID 1 Form, which you will have
to complete in order for us to make your ID badge. If you already work
for an NHS Trust you may also receive a Staff Transfer Form, which
we will ask you to pass onto your payroll department in order for them
to verify your previous NHS service.

Starting Salaries
The salary quoted on the advertisement is the salary range for the
post. New employees from outside of the NHS will normally start on
the bottom of the pay band and then progress through annual
increments to the top of the pay band subject to appraisal in line with
the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF).

The salary of existing NHS employees will be assessed in line with

Agenda for Change terms and conditions on verification of previous
service.

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