DWP employment waiting list

sportfan

Chris-x1 wrote: »

Hi all, what follows is what has happened to me so far...

I applied for a job as an Administrative Officer as part of the North West DWP recruitment drive in late Jan 09/Feb 09. I was notified that I had successfully completed the initial application process after about a month and that I would be required to take the literacy and numeracy tests at the Manchester City Stadium on the 17th Feb 09.

Quite a lot of people had their tests that day and more were to follow in the afternoon. 3000 people applied for the job of Administrative Officer in this region and 770 made the sift cut. The tests were fairly straightforward and after about 15 minutes waiting we were put out of our misery. I got my name called out third (luck of the draw or merit order?) and my pack told me I had an interview on the 27th of February at 3.45pm. Also in the pack were the CRB forms and Health documents and I was asked to bring a passport and proof of address. I filled in all the relevant forms and brought them along to the interview with me. At the reception a kind lady checked my forms for me and photocopied and certified my passport photo and evidence before I was called away to the interview room with two other DWP staff to interview me.

The interview was fairly relaxed and they had set questions to ask which followed fairly accurately what was described on the guide I received on the day I passed the tests. I answered the questions fairly well drawing on my experience at Work and at University and it all took about 20 minutes.

I was able to ask a few questions and my first was naturally "When do I find out if I was successful or not?" Answer "We'll try and notify you by the week starting 9th March" next question "How many job vacancies are there?" Answer "We cover quite a large area here in the North West and as you can see by current events we are experiencing quite a recruitment drive to cope with rising unemployment so there are a good number of vacancies." I asked another question about where I would be placed in the North West and she said that travel was taken into consideration where possible....Afterwards one of the ladies who interviewed me took me back to reception to double check they had all my forms and information and that was that.

I received my test results back for future reference so I don't have to take the tests again unless I apply for a post above the level of Executive Officer. This means I exceeded the score expected of an Administrative Officer I'm guessing but I was baffled as the results only had a Numeracy score on the sheet and it said my result was 11!

Hopefully I will have made the top percentile of performers at Interview and Test scores and I'll be offered a job next week depending on CRB etc which is a formality.

Anyone else similar experiences?

Wow thanks for that Chris! Was very detailed and i had similar experience mate! But hold on...these CRB forms....are these the forms you get in the envelope when you are invitied for an interview? or do you get more forms when you passed the interview? I'm confused...because i filled in the health and declation forms etc and gave them permission to let them contact my referees and do all the checks required - there were 4 forms that i filled in and handed in at interview - are these the crb forms/checks everyone is talking about or do you get more when and if you pass the interview?

Can anyone help with clearing this up?

Chris i dont think u'd b offered a post that quick as in next week! it takes few weeks for admin and checks to be done and also training as well!

Chris-x1

There are definitely jobs available and I think the waiting list is for those who weren't as successful as others at the interview/testing stage. The waiting list is there in case the preferred candidates turn down/are turned down for the vacancies and they have a list of less preferred people for posts.

A jobcentre plus chap today told me there are at least 30-40 jobs and more being advertised. 30-40 sounds like quite a small number for 700 plus applicants who got through the sift stage. Not sure how many people fail the testing but I'm assuming it's not a great deal

reddave000

Chris-x1 wrote: »

There are definitely jobs available and I think the waiting list is for those who weren't as successful as others at the interview/testing stage. The waiting list is there in case the preferred candidates turn down/are turned down for the vacancies and they have a list of less preferred people for posts.

A jobcentre plus chap today told me there are at least 30-40 jobs and more being advertised. 30-40 sounds like quite a small number for 700 plus applicants who got through the sift stage. Not sure how many people fail the testing but I'm assuming it's not a great deal

Waiting list letter is standard you will get one if you are successful at interview.

Chris-x1

So you go on a waiting list despite being accepted for a vacancy..groan. How tedious. The Criminal record disclosure form was included in the pack of stuff I got when I had the tests and got given an interview. I filled that out and the health pamphlet and handed them in to the DWP staff at the reception area of the interviews. The interviews themselves were held in the director's boxes at Eastlands.

I was expecting some sort of training but wasn't sure how much was needed for the post to be honest. Is it standard salary pay whilst training is undertaken? Anyone know why the pay scale for the position varies so much 14-17.5k? Is that London weighting?

reddave000

Chris-x1 wrote: »

So you go on a waiting list despite being accepted for a vacancy..groan. How tedious. The Criminal record disclosure form was included in the pack of stuff I got when I had the tests and got given an interview. I filled that out and the health pamphlet and handed them in to the DWP staff at the reception area of the interviews. The interviews themselves were held in the director's boxes at Eastlands.

I was expecting some sort of training but wasn't sure how much was needed for the post to be honest. Is it standard salary pay whilst training is undertaken? Anyone know why the pay scale for the position varies so much 14-17.5k? Is that London weighting?

Entry Rate is £14700 then goes up each year providing you meet the set standard in your one2ones, not sure about rate of pay while training let you know next month when i start. I was on the waiting list for 5 months

NewShoes

reddave000 wrote: »

Waiting list letter is standard you will get one if you are successful at interview.

I'm not so sure this is true. I got a letter saying I was successful @ interview and that they are undertaking pre-recruitment checks in order to see if they can offer me a position. No mention of a waiting list.

NewShoes

Chris-x1

I think the waiting list used to be pretty standard before the advent of the employment melt down here in the U.K. There are procedures involved now (770 people for testing, forms filled in pre-interview stage etc etc) that were not the norm 6-12 months ago. Times have changed and the jobcentre (having closed down many branches and downscaled it's operations) must make wholesale changes in it's recruitment policy to meet demand. Chances are you'd still be waiting for a job 5 months on if the economy hadn't gone the way it has.

The impression I have got is that there will be no waiting lists as the vacancies are there to be filled immediately. Previously the DWP would recruit for positions and fill them keeping on file any people who didn't make the grade for potential use in future vacancies should they arise. As I said, I think with this unprecedented amount of vacancies a certain degree of unprecedented fast tracking is involved.

sportfan

Can someone clear this up please...?

The forms that you get in your envelope when you pass the tests/invite you to interview - these forms are what everyone is talking about? - where you give consent for them to contact refereers and take up crb checks etc you tick the boxes and say yes i giv permission??

When you pass interview - you get waiting list form but do you also get more forms asking u AGAIN about crb cheks?

R they two diff type??

NewShoes

sportfan wrote: »

Can someone clear this up please...?

The forms that you get in your envelope when you pass the tests/invite you to interview - these forms are what everyone is talking about? - where you give consent for them to contact refereers and take up crb checks etc you tick the boxes and say yes i giv permission??

When you pass interview - you get waiting list form but do you also get more forms asking u AGAIN about crb cheks?

R they two diff type??

In a word, yes. You would know if you had completed a CRB form. The CRB form is an official (not DWP) form. You have to provide your past addresses, mothers maiden name, passport number/driving licence number etc. This is the form that gets sent to various agencies such as the police to check for any criminal convictions etc.

lovable_lizzie

I was sent a letter telling me I had been put on the waiting list, but was also sent a form about pensions to send back immediately. No one else has mentioned this form, so not sure what that means.

This is all very confusing!