Guidance Notes for Job Applicants

Welcome to the Council's guidance notes for job applicants. This page contains advice and guidance to help you apply for a job with the Council.

About Your Application Form

Your application form is very important.
It’s the only information we use to decide if you will be short-listed for interview. Any knowledge we may have of you, or any previous applications will not be taken into account.

The application form is divided into 16 parts. Most sections in the application form are self-explanatory and are not covered in these notes. However, we’ve included guidance and explanations for certain areas, for example, the information required about Criminal Records under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974).

If you want to complete an application form online you will need to supply an e-mail address and password as security. This will allow you to complete an application form at any time before the closing date.

You can save your application form, partly completed, if you wish, and then revisit the site to complete it by signing in with your email address and password. If you forget your password we will send you a new one by email.

We will not use any information you have supplied until you complete your application form and submit it to the Council.

Please note: a Curriculum Vitae will not be acceptable as an alternative to completing the application form.

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Job Descriptions & Person Specifications

Each vacancy has a written Job Description and a Person Specification.

The Job Description explains the purpose of the job and lists all the main tasks and duties.

The Person Specification sets out the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience the post-holder needs to do the job. These are listed as ‘essential’ or ‘desirable’ criteria.

To be invited for an interview you must at least meet the essential criteria.

Short-Listing

It’s usual for the immdeiate manager to decide which applicants are to be invited for interview. If your experience, skills, knowledge and attainments match the criteria laid out in the Person Specification, you are likely to be short-listed.

The Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

To help us monitor and improve the effectiveness of our Equal Opportunities Policy, you are requested to complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. This is detached from your application form and kept separately early on in the recruitment process.

If you are disabled as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and have the essential qualifications and experience laid out in the person specification, you will automatically be short-listed for interview.

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Completing the Application Form

1. Vacancy Details

This section is automatically completed with details of the vacancy you are applying for.

2. Personal Details

Fill in your full name, address, preferred title and contact telephone numbers (home, work and if possible, your mobile number).

We also ask whether you have a full driving licence. This is important if the job you are applying for requires you to drive.

3. Birth / Nationality Details

Fill in the details, about your date of birth and citizenship.

4. Current Employment Details

Give details of your present job including your place of work, a brief description of what you do, how long you’ve worked there and your reason for leaving (if you’re not currently employed, leave this section blank).

5. Absences from Work

If you’ve been absent from work due to illness in the last three years, list the number of times and the total number of days. You don’t have to say why you were absent, although there is space if you want to.

6. Previous Employment

List your previous employers in date order, starting with the most recent. Include your job title, and for more recent jobs, your grade and salary.

7. Breaks in Employment

Again starting with the most recent, give details and dates of any breaks from work for whatever reason (e.g. voluntary work, domestic reasons, travel, medical).

8. Educational, Professional & Vocational Qualifications (most recent first)

You must show you have the essential qualifications required for the job. Write down all of your qualifications, including the grade/level and when you achieved them. Make sure you include any professional qualifications (where you have to be a member of a professional body - See Part 9).

If you achieved your qualifications overseas, you’ll need evidence to show that they are equivalent to the UK qualifications essential for the job. If you need help with this, call UKNARIC on 01242 260010.

You can also use this section to list any other training courses you’ve completed which you think are relevant to the job.

9. Membership of Professional Bodies

If the job requires a professional qualification as essential or desirable criteria and you have obtained it (or studying for it) list the membership body, type of membership, the title of your qualification and the date you were awarded it/or when you expect to complete it.

If you have professional qualifications, which are not listed in the Person Specification, you can use this section to include them if you feel they are relevant.

10. Experience & Other Information

This is the most important part of your application. Try to match your skills, knowledge and experience with the requirements shown on the Person Specification.

Use the essential/desirable criteria as headings and outline your relevant experience where important. Some details of what you did, what was involved ,what was achieved, and how it is relevant to the job applied for.

11. Criminal Records & Employment

If you have a Criminal Record, the Council must have your consent to request a Standard or Enhanced disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau. For more information see Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) Guidance Notes (this link opens in a new browser window).

12. References

Any ‘offer of employment’ made to you is subject to satisfactory references.

Supply the names, addresses and titles of two referees who can verify your character and capabilities. Make sure at least one referee is your current employer (or the most recent if you’re unemployed).

If you have no work experience, are new to the country or the company you worked for no longer exists, a reference from a non-employer will be acceptable (e.g, your doctor, solicitor, or a former-teacher).

Your referee should be someone who knows you well enough to comment on your ability to do the job.

We do not accept references from relatives, partners or Elected Members of the Council.

13. Relationship to Elected Members of the Council

To ensure objectivity when selecting staff, any close relationships with Elected Members or employees of the Council must be declared in this section (e.g. If they are close relatives or you share a home).

14. Data Protection Statement

As a Data Controller for the Data Protection Act (1998), Wrexham County Borough Council is responsible for making decisions about how your personal data is processed and how it may be used.

Confidentiality of Personal Information
Your application form will be treated confidentially at all times. Its contents will only be disclosed to the persons involved in the recruitment and selection process.

There is some automated decision making in the selection process. However, an appointment panel makes the recruitment decisions. If you accept a job, your personal information will be kept strictly for purposes relating to your Contract of Employment.

Security of Personal Information
Security safeguards are in place to protect your details. Whether the information in your application form is processed manually or by computer, only designated staff can access it.

If your application is unsuccessful, the details you have submitted on-line will be deleted.

We may keep aggregate information for statistical and monitoring purposes. More details about the security of personal data can be found on the application form.

15. Declaration

If you are invited for an interview, you’ll need to sign your application form as an official declaration that the information you have supplied is correct.

(The application form contains more details about this declaration.)

16. Submitting Your Application.

Make sure you have completed each section of the application form - if not, your application may be invalid.

We receive completed applications up to and including the closing date shown on the advert.

If you’re satisfied your form is complete and the information it contains is accurate and correct, you are now ready to submit it to the Council.

There are more details about applying online/saving a part completed form at the end of the application form.

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Good Luck!

What Happens Next?

Once you have submitted your application and the closing date has passed, the following process takes place:

Shortlist - Within 2 weeks of the closing date a shortlisting meeting will identify those applicants who appear to meet the essential/ desirable requirements set out in the Person Specification and they will be invited to attend a formal interview. Their suitability can then be assessed against that of other candidates.

Interview – These will normally take place within 4 weeks of the closing date on the advertisement.

During the interview, as well as asking you questions relevant to the job and your experience, we may ask, where relevant:

• To see your Education / Professional Certificates
• For you to deliver a Presentation – using a relevant topic for discussion
• To take some Psychometric tests or other practical tests (e.g. a typing test to measure speed and accuracy)

The Decision - A candidate is appointed on merit. If you are successful (or unsuccessful) you will be notified either on the day or by telephone over the following 48 hours.

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Please also see frequently asked questions about job applications with Wrexham County Borough Council >>

If you have any further questions about this job or the process to be followed, please speak with the ‘contact name’ or the Personnel Department (telephone number on the job advert).

Please also see:

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