NHS bank contract or full time position?

jennylin · 8 June 2018 at 2:37PM

I am a recent post-grad student and I have just been offered two positions. One position is at a specialist oncology hospital and another specialising in respiratory. The prior being part-time with the likelihood of being transferred to full time in approximately a month and the later being full time. I am not sure which to accept. I like both places however, I am more interested in Oncology. I have also heard that oncology is a more complex process therefore the experience is more transferable to other fields of clinical research.

I'm not sure whether I should risk taking on a bank job (no contract) for a full-time position. The lovely staff at the oncology hospital have said that it is very likely due to the increased number of trials expected. I trust them but the careful side of me does not want to risk it after I have been searching for so long (8months) for a position and being told I haven't got enough experience.

TELLIT01 · 8 June 2018 at 3:45PM

Your heart is telling you oncology because that's what you really want to do, but your head is saying there is financial stability in the other option. To me the big question to answer is how you would manage financially if the oncology job didn't become full time. If you could cope then I would go for it, otherwise it really depends on how risk averse you are.

nicechap · 8 June 2018 at 4:47PM

jennylin wrote: »

I am a recent post-grad student and I have just been offered two positions. One position is at a specialist oncology hospital and another specialising in respiratory. The prior being part-time with the likelihood of being transferred to full time in approximately a month and the later being full time. I am not sure which to accept. I like both places however, I am more interested in Oncology. I have also heard that oncology is a more complex process therefore the experience is more transferable to other fields of clinical research.

I'm not sure whether I should risk taking on a bank job (no contract) for a full-time position. The lovely staff at the oncology hospital have said that it is very likely due to the increased number of trials expected. I trust them but the careful side of me does not want to risk it after I have been searching for so long (8months) for a position and being told I haven't got enough experience.

You haven’t said what role you would be doing in either area.

Bank staff generally get a higher hourly rate when working, you can choose when you work out of what s on offer, you choose how long a holiday you have and when (but it’s unpaid). You remain responsible for your cpd. You don’t get sick pay like employees do.

Full time is set hours, possibly rota dependent on nature of job, so may get allowances. Some cpd included, paid holidays, sick pay (grows the more years you are there).

aife · 8 June 2018 at 5:00PM

I'm a bit confused by your post.
What is your qualification and exactly what posts are you applying for ?
When you say you 'like both places' and refer to 'the lovely staff' does this mean you have actually worked there , or is this based on your impressions from the interviews / visits ? Are you already registered with a bank or agency ?
If you have already done some shifts in one or both of these places I would give a lot of weight to this. The NHS can actually be quite an unpleasant place to work and people that seem 'nice' during the application process don't always turn out that nice... . Or you might find they're not the people you're actually working alongside .
If you have been there , and you can afford the risk , go for the one that really interests you.
earning a living doing something you enjoy is one of the best things in life

jennylin · 8 June 2018 at 5:23PM

aife wrote: »

I'm a bit confused by your post.
What is your qualification and exactly what posts are you applying for ?
When you say you 'like both places' and refer to 'the lovely staff' does this mean you have actually worked there , or is this based on your impressions from the interviews / visits ? Are you already registered with a bank or agency ?
If you have already done some shifts in one or both of these places I would give a lot of weight to this. The NHS can actually be quite an unpleasant place to work and people that seem 'nice' during the application process don't always turn out that nice... . Or you might find they're not the people you're actually working alongside .
If you have been there , and you can afford the risk , go for the one that really interests you.
earning a living doing something you enjoy is one of the best things in life

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Your heart is telling you oncology because that's what you really want to do, but your head is saying there is financial stability in the other option. To me the big question to answer is how you would manage financially if the oncology job didn't become full time. If you could cope then I would go for it, otherwise it really depends on how risk averse you are.

Here is some more information which I hope will make my question clearer.

I applied for clinical research assistant roles at both places. From my interview and email correspondence, I got the impression that everyone was really nice and supportive (so far).
I am finding it hard to decide because I'm not sure if it's wiser to secure a year's experience and keep an eye out for other jobs with more interesting fields of research. Although I love oncology, I wouldn't mind working in a more diverse research setting which the respiratory hospital doesn't provide.

I am really interested in Oncology and my heart is definitely in this field of research more compared to respiratory. I was told via email correspondence and verbally that a full time position will defiantly be available in about a month but he thought of possibly not being transferred to a full time position is daunting. If it was in some sort of written contract I would not be having second thoughts.

Thank you for your answers!

TELLIT01 · 8 June 2018 at 7:16PM

From the additional information you have supplied I would just say that once you are in either role I think you would be expected to stay there for a reasonable time before trying to move on to something else. A year in either would seem to be a reasonable time to prove your ability and 'stickability'. Trying to hop from one role to another within a few months might not be viewed favourably be either the section you were working with or the one you were trying to move to. That's just a personal view.

jennylin · 8 June 2018 at 7:36PM

TELLIT01 wrote: »

From the additional information you have supplied I would just say that once you are in either role I think you would be expected to stay there for a reasonable time before trying to move on to something else. A year in either would seem to be a reasonable time to prove your ability and 'stickability'. Trying to hop from one role to another within a few months might not be viewed favourably be either the section you were working with or the one you were trying to move to. That's just a personal view.

Yes I agree, I want to commit to a position for at least 1 year before I consider moving. The full time contract is 1 year which is great because it gives me time to learn and stability.
Whereas the other offer is essentially a zero contract , I will be given shifts when required. However, from my correspondence with my potential line manager, they will need me in for 3-5 days each week.

NHS bank contract or full time position?

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