Historic St Albans District A Premier Community

Guidance Notes for Completing Application Forms Please read these notes before completing your application form. It is important that you complete the application form as clearly and as fully as possible regardless of the fact that you are an internal candidate. You must not assume that the interviewer has any prior knowledge but put all the information on the application form that you would supply for an external job application. The Council expects the highest standards from its employees and if it is discovered that you have made false, incomplete or misleading statements in your application this will lead to any offer of employment being withdrawn or actual employment being terminated. You will have downloaded from the Council website or received by email or post the following information in respect of a vacancy: an Advert for the role, Job Description and Person Specification and a Career Progression Statement (if applicable), an Application Form, an Equal Opportunity Monitoring Form. Other relevant information may also have been sent to you regarding the department e.g. departmental structure and key priorities. Please read them carefully before completing the application form to assess whether you feel you have the suitable skills, knowledge and experience to undertake the role. The Job Description and Person Specification lists what is required of a candidate to enable them to successfully undertake the job. The requirements for the job are split into essential or desirable. If you show that you meet the essential requirements for the job on the application form you will be selected for interview. Desirable requirements will be used where there are a number of candidates who meet the essential criteria. Therefore you should show in your application, using examples where appropriate, how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the requirements set out in the Person Specification. The application form should be typed or written clearly and legibly in black ink. C.V.s are not acceptable as an alternative to completing the application form but you may attach any other relevant information or documents. Please do not send us any examination certificates or any other similar documents at this stage; we will only ask the successful candidate for these. Vacancy Details Please ensure you enter the job title and the reference number of the post you are applying for plus the closing date on the application form and equal opportunity monitoring form. Personal Details & Prevention of Illegal Working Please enter your personal details as fully and clearly as possible so we can contact you about your application. If you require a work permit to work in the UK or if you are entitled to work under a spouses work permit you must advise us of this fact by ticking the relevant box and providing an expiry date. Under Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 it is a criminal offence
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for the Council to employ a person aged 16 or over who does not have the right to work in the UK. You will have such a right if you: Are a British Citizen or have the right of residence in the UK. Are a national of a European Economic Area member state. Possess a Home Office or DfEE permission to work. In order to meet the requirements of the Act we will ask all successful candidates to produce documentation to verify their status. A full list of appropriate documentation will be supplied at this time. The law changes from time to time and nothing in these notes can override the law which applies when recruitment decisions are made. Education Please include any education or qualifications you have gained in Britain or overseas. Please start with your highest level qualification first. You will be asked to produce original certificates for any relevant qualifications stated on your application form when you are given a conditional offer of employment. Other relevant skills and/or experience Please provide any details of non-vocational items (i.e. leisure interests) which you feel will enhance your application. Membership of Professional or Technical Bodies and Qualifications Please include any membership of institutes or organisations connected with work. We will confirm these details with the relevant bodies if you are given a conditional offer of employment. Attendance on Training Courses Please provide details of any relevant training courses you have attended. References You must provide at least two job references covering the last five years. Please make sure that your referees are willing to provide you with a reference in writing. The references must be satisfactory to the Council. Please give your current or most recent employers as referees. If this is not possible (as you have not been employed before) we will accept references from someone who is able to provide information about your character, skills and abilities, e.g. teacher/lecturer, etc. Referees will be contacted by us when a conditional offer of employment is made to you and is necessary we will obtain your permission to do so at this stage (i.e. if you have asked us on the application form not to contact them until we have spoken to you). Please provide full details for your referees including full name, company details and address, telephone and fax numbers and an email address where available. We may check the authenticity of referees. Present /Most Recent Employment Please detail your current employer, job title, dates of employment and key duties and continue on an attached additional sheet if necessary. Employment History If you have never been employed previously, please give details of any work experience you have undertaken. Ensure you list all employment you have had to date and account for any gaps in your employment history and continue on an attached additional sheet if necessary.

If you have any gaps in your employment history, please include an explanation on your application form. Relevant Experience and other Supporting Information This is the most important part of your application and you should take time over this. Please relate your skills, knowledge, effort demands, responsibilities, environmental demands and any other requirements to the criteria listed on the Person Specification by giving examples of where and how you have used the skills etc required for the role. You can use your experiences, skills and knowledge acquired outside of the work environment if it is relevant to your application and the specification of the job. Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary. Health A satisfactory medical assessment by means of a questionnaire or a telephone conversation with our medical adviser, which may include a medical examination in certain cases, will be required before we confirm any offer of an appointment. In some cases a medical examination will be required. Disability Discrimination Act The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a person as having a disability if he/she has a long-term physical or mental impairment which has substantial and long-term physical or metal impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out day-to-day activities. The Council positively welcomes applications from disabled people. We will invite all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria of a post to the next stage in the selection process (usually an interview). Under the Disability Discrimination Act, we are reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled people in the recruitment and selection process. Please let attached sheet if you would like us to consider recruitment process. legally required to consider making with disabilities are not disadvantaged us know on the application form or an making any adjustments during the

The Council positively welcomes applications from disabled people. We will invite all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria of a post to the next stage in the selection process (usually an interview). Arrest, Convictions etc. in criminal or military courts in any country You must give details in this section of any contact you have had with police or military courts in any country. This includes convictions you may have which are not excluded under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. We do not automatically bar applicants with past convictions and we look at the facts of each case, its relevance to the job on offer and the risks which may arise. Basic Disclosure - Check of unspent Criminal Convictions etc All successful applicants for posts within the Council are subject to a check of unspent Criminal Convictions (called a Basic Disclosure) once a conditional offer has been made. Further details will be provided to the successful candidate.

Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults If however the duties of this post give you access to children, older people, those with disabilities, learning difficulties and other vulnerable groups, you are not entitled to withhold information about convictions that would be regarded as spent for other purposes. If you are required to fully disclose information about spent convictions due to the nature of the post you will also be subject to a clearance satisfactory report from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). This clearance will be sought after selection but before an appointment is made. If a CRB check is to be undertaken there will be a letter informing you of this contained within the recruitment pack. Relationships and Declaring Interests You must disclose any relationship to a member of the Council or to an officer holding any senior appointment (i.e. an officer on grade Senior Officer or above). Canvassing of officers or members of the Council, either directly or indirectly, will disqualify you from appointment. All successful candidates will be asked to complete a Declaration of Outside Interests form prior to their employment with the Council being confirmed. Advertisement Please indicate say where you saw this vacancy to help us monitor the effectiveness of our recruitment campaigns. Data Protection St Albans District Council is the data controller in terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. The data you have supplyied in relation with your application is covered by the legal notifications provided by the Council. The data will only be used for the purposes of recruitment and selection and for monitoring the effectiveness of the Councils equal opportunities policies. The data will not be passed to any third party without your consent, except where the Council is required by law to do so. If your application is unsuccessful it will be kept on file for 12 months, and then it will be securely disposed of. Any formal questions concerning the use of your data should be addressed to the Head of Internal Audit at the Council. Acknowledgement of Applications The Council does not acknowledge receipt of application forms due to time and cost. If you wish to have receipt of your application acknowledged, please enclose a stamped addressed envelope or postcard. All candidates who are successful in being selected for interview will be contacted by the Human Resources Department, typically, within one month of the closing date. Declaration Please ensure you sign and date the application form. In signing the form you are declaring the information contained on it and any attached documents you choose to provide are to the best of your knowledge factually correct. If you have knowingly provided false, incomplete or misleading information, or withheld information you may be dismissed from any post gained as a result. If you wish to forward an electronic version of your application form you may do so but will need to also send in a hard signed copy by post.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form St Albans District Council aims to provide equality of opportunity and access to services and employment at all levels within the Council. We therefore encourage applications from all minority groups. As an equal opportunity employer the Council recognises a number of groups can be disadvantaged because of factors such as ethnic origin, race, colour, gender, disability, age, trade union activity, marital status, religion, belief or sexual orientation. The aim of the Councils Equal Opportunities Employment Policy is to ensure no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on these grounds, nor is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable or are irrelevant to the post. Therefore all applicants are assessed solely on their merits. To help us ensure our Equal Opportunities Policy is working effectively we ask you complete the Equal Opportunities monitoring form. The form is confidential and is kept separate from the application form. People who make the selection decisions do not see the Equal Opportunities monitoring form. Questions If you have any questions or need any further assistance in completing your application form or on the recruitment and selection process in general please contact Human Resources Department on (01727) 819251. The completed Application Form should be returned to the Council on or before the vacancy closing date to: Human Resources, Customer Services and IT District Council Offices Civic Centre St Peters Street St Albans Herts AL1 3JE Recruitment/Guidance Notes for Applicants.doc Updated March 2011