About us

• Recruitment at the National College
  • Recruitment and selection process
    • Resourcing strategy

Recruitment and selection process

Applications

We will send you an email immediately after you have submitted your application to confirm our receipt of your application. Please note that all correspondence on the progress of your application will be communicated via the email address that you provide to us on your application form.

A member of our recruitment team will then review your application. Your application will be assessed against the skills and experiences that are required in order to successfully perform in the role. The information you provide throughout your application form and within the supporting statement section will be assessed.

We aim to ensure that you are promptly contacted once we have made a decision about your application.

If you are interested in applying for a vacancy, please use the online application facility available in current vacancies.

Assessment

If after reviewing your application we feel that you have demonstrated the skills and experience we are looking for, we will invite you to take part in the next stage of the assessment process.

We design the assessment process specifically for the role we are recruiting for. There are some common assessment exercises that we may ask you to complete:

• Telephone interview: we occasionally ask candidates to take part in a telephone interview prior to actually coming in and meeting us face to face.
• Face-to-face interview: no matter what role you have applied for you can expect to take part in a face-to-face interview. Your interview will be with a panel of at least two people – one of these being the line manager. This will take the form of a competency-based interview that will seek to assess your experience across a range of competencies that are required in the role. We will be looking for clear examples of what you have done and how you did it in the past.

The competencies that we will assess you against are those that are in the competency framework that is used through the National College for employees. The competencies that you may be assessed against are as follows:

Motivation

For the role and also working for the National College.

Problem solving and decision making

Moves us towards the College's vision, developing, weighing up and selecting the right way forward.

Building relationships

Focuses on delivery to our customers and stakeholders, working effectively with colleagues.

Delivering and achieving results

Delivers on objectives, planning ahead and working effectively and efficiently within college guidelines.

Managing and developing others

Provides feedback and/or support as part of a learning organisation.

Managing and developing self

Takes responsibility for own learning. Lives and promotes the values.

Communicating and influencing

Clearly and concisely communicates verbal and non-verbal messages and influences outcomes. Respects other people’s views.

Technical element

Where we will ask questions around the technical skills required to perform in the role.

In addition to the competency based interview we always use at least one other assessment activity in addition to the face to face interview. This will be chosen by our resourcing partner in conjunction with the line manager and again will seek to measure evidence of your skills across a range of competencies that are required in the role. Some examples of activities that we have used in the past include:

• Intray exercise
• Scheduling exercise
• Analysis exercise
• Occupational personality questionnaire
• Presentation

We will ensure that you are provided with all the information you need before your assessment to enable you to prepare.

After you have attended an assessment day with us we will contract you to confirm our decision and should you require we can arrange to provide you with feedback on your performance throughout the assessment process. We will also send you a written letter to confirm our final decision.

Resourcing strategy

• View our resourcing strategy

Contact

If at any point you have a question about your application please contact Penna Barkers, our recruitment partners, on 0845 330 9903.