NHS Admin/Office Jobs - application advice

veraclaythorne

Possibly different where you are based, but where I live, all the band 2 clerical ads close within 48hrs, even less, no matter what the closing date actually says. So you have to get your application in really quickly as these are extremely popular jobs. 

NBLondon

bexybest said:

But also for a Band 5 admin role I recently got 100+ applications.. albeit a lot of overseas applications and a lot of completely random/inappropriate, there was also a lot of NHS (not necessary internal to the Trust) and ultimately they score higher as they have experience of the weird beast that is the NHS, along with all it's quirks.

Agreed - as an ex-NHS employee - I've seen this too.  So you really need to stand out, especially as you are not offering NHS experience or years of similar admin work.   If your Welsh is very fluent (as opposed to day to day conversation) - can you big that up?  Translator skills?

Iamdebtfree

I had a 'job crisis' three years ago - long story. Thought of leaving my safe secure b mind numbingly boring corporate admin job of ten years. Looked around, got two interviews for NHS PA level roles. Turned both down because, better the devil you know. 

I'm astounded by this whole ten thousand point requirement list for a simple admin job. Come on. Been doing it for 25 years. It's just common sense and quick typing with a bit of a**e kissing and 'yes-sir' ing thrown in.

MrBrindle

Hi all, haven't been on for a while and sorry for not replying to further messages.
Long story short, I applied for a further 5-6 admin jobs with the NHS and civil service, taking careful consideration into referring to the job specification and essential skills - however despite reaching the shortlist for one civil service job I was unsuccessful  for all jobs. One NHS job was for a trainee admin assistant, of which I thought I may at least be interviewed. Obviously the competition is sky high at the moment. I don't mean this in any nasty way, but I don't think being male helped. My MIL worked as an office based consultant for our local health board, where I did some freelance design work, and 80-90% of the office staff at the time were women! 

Anyway, 6 weeks ago I managed to get myself a position working as a graphic designer for the local authority, which is an absolute godsend. I'm working from home, and been given all the equipment. Work is nice and varied. Only downside is that I've only met 2/3 colleagues from the department in person, so it's a bit odd doing like online meetings with people you've never met! 

Thanks for all the advice, and hopefully I won't need to be in that job hunting position for a while. It was stressful, depressing and a horrible position to be in, and I know thousands of people are in a similar boat which is sad for the country.

strawb_shortcake

I think part of the reason you may have been unsuccessful is that you were likely to leave as soon as graphic designer job came up. 
When the civil service or public sector recruit they by large invest heavily in their staff through training. 
If you want to change direction in your career, I think you really need to sell your reasons for doing so including it being a long term plan rather than a means to an end. 

But congratulations on your new post

MrBrindle

annabanana82 said:

I think part of the reason you may have been unsuccessful is that you were likely to leave as soon as graphic designer job came up. 
When the civil service or public sector recruit they by large invest heavily in their staff through training. 
If you want to change direction in your career, I think you really need to sell your reasons for doing so including it being a long term plan rather than a means to an end. 

But congratulations on your new post

That's fair enough, and that was explained to me in an interview for one job I went for (building related).

Graphic Design jobs are very rare around this part of the world, and I only managed to secure work through sending out my portfolio and contacting people myself.

How much training is there in admin though? I'm not trying to down play the role, as I know there's a lot of work involved, but it's not something that's in general requiring any specifics skills or qualifications - apart from touch typing.

strawb_shortcake

MrBrindle said:

annabanana82 said:

I think part of the reason you may have been unsuccessful is that you were likely to leave as soon as graphic designer job came up. 
When the civil service or public sector recruit they by large invest heavily in their staff through training. 
If you want to change direction in your career, I think you really need to sell your reasons for doing so including it being a long term plan rather than a means to an end. 

But congratulations on your new post

That's fair enough, and that was explained to me in an interview for one job I went for (building related).

Graphic Design jobs are very rare around this part of the world, and I only managed to secure work through sending out my portfolio and contacting people myself.

How much training is there in admin though? I'm not trying to down play the role, as I know there's a lot of work involved, but it's not something that's in general requiring any specifics skills or qualifications - apart from touch typing.

Where I work in the PS the admin roles have pretty much gone, but they were always seen as a stepping stone and you'd move to a specific field once you'd proven yourself. There are some but not many will stay in Admin for their career. Though this will be varied depending on the department. 
There is still a lot of training available for core behaviours, and development of staff and I have around 10 courses I need to complete each year for mandatory training 

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the update Mr Brindle - looks like you were meant to be somewhere else.

xrayxray

Unfortunately you need a degree in academic writing just to fill the personal statement section, and I mean fill it! Use the whole word count to sell yourself. It is very competitive right now. My band 2 HCA posts attract around 400 applicants, porters posts get even more. I used to get maybe 40/50 this time last year 

rainbowtrout

I work for the NHS and of the five jobs in admin we advertised this year, only one had no internal candidate.