To think it's crazy that there is a full day assessment for a band 3 NHS admin post

[freedomer]

I've applied for the job and got an interview which is a whole day assessment. The morning is spent doing some group work and then if they like you they will interview you in the afternoon otherwise you go home.

I think it's a bit much for an admin interview! Dh earns far more than this and the most he's ever done is a short Impromptu presentation!

A whole day sounds well over the top, but sadly seems to be the way things are going now. Interview tests and second interviews for admin jobs are becoming more common.
It's probably that they will get lots of similar level applicants (not meant in a derogatory way, lots of people with very similar experience) so watching how they all interact etc helps them choose who seems best.
Some people look good on paper but may not be up to the job.
That would put me off to be honest.

UserThenLotsOfNumbers do you work in the NHS?

No, I work in the public sector though.

That’s crazy. I interviewed and got a band 4 job and it was a standard 20 min interview

Have never heard of this for a band 3 job

Freakingouttt I know it's crazy! The job is covering admin at different admin sites so maybe they want to see how well you interact with others and adapt to new surroundings- I don't know!

Agree that it's crazy and we don't do it in my public sector organisation.

Even for the band 6 graduate professional trainee role, we do an interview of around 45 minutes, plus preparation and delivery of a 5-10 minute presentation.

Our lowest admin post is band 4 and they get a standard 30-40 minute interview.

Last year I had an assessment centre for a just-above-minimum-wage customer service job in the heritage sector. There were around 25 interviewees for 4 jobs, the vast majority of whom had our were studying for masters degrees in relevent areas. There is a lot of competition for more basic jobs.

Yep, one of my friends had 3 rounds of interviews for an admin role. The hurdles people are being made to jump through for low-paid positions is ridiculous, but it shows how much competition there is.

Wow! BroomstickOfLove Just above nmw?! That definitely is a bit too much.

Definitely over kill! However, I've been caught out with people who interview well but are rubbish in their job/ with others.

Maybe they have too many applicants so need a process like this to manage it all or maybe they've been caught out in the past.

More likely, HR have set a new rule that says this is the way it's now done without thinking about why it's needed!

It does seem like overkill - I just interviewed for a band 8c job and it was a standard 45 minute-ish interview. A lot of NHS organisations are moving to a more values based recruitment model now, though, which requires a lot of different techniques on top of the interview process.

I went through a full assessment day with the NHS a couple of years ago for a bank band 2 role! A number of group assessments, talks from staff and service users, written tests, individual interviews etc with people being asked to leave at several points of the day.

Was all a bit full on. But it was for a HCA role in a psychiatric hospital so can understand it a little more than for an admin position, even if paid less. You really did need a certain type of personality to last more than a month there (though I personally loved it).

I had to look this up

so c£20k?

It depends what the job is as to whether it’s overkill. All NHS admin roles can vary greatly even within bands and despite being low paid, a band 2 or 3 role can still affect patient experience and safety if done badly. As a PP said, Trusts tend to work on a values basis now and it’s very difficult to judge whether a person ticks all the values boxes on just a short interview and an application form.

Low band roles also tend to attract people that have very little experience. They also attract people they haven’t worked in a hospital before and although it’s just an admin role, working in a hospital isn’t quite like working in any other office. So, in a way, you need to be doubly sure you’re getting the right person. In lower band roles, staff turn over is often much higher. It costs a lot of money and a lot of time to recruit these roles so I can definitely understand it.

The job isn't in a hospital. It's working a across different sites in the community.

That makes sense @freedomer. In that case it’s not OTT at all, that’s even more reason to make sure you have the right person fully.

Is it an open day type interview? I had one of this for a band 5 role, the morning consisted of presentations about the health board then we “mingled” before individual interviews, had lunch and then were brought back in the afternoon and told if we had the job or not.

I still think it's ott. BettysLeftTentacle there's a bit of reception cover and admin.

The hoops people have to jump through just for a job.

"The hoops people have to jump through just for a job."

this. it's madness. I have had an HR - private sector - person tell me that sometimes it's just a way of reducing the number of applicants.

However, many times when I applied for work I was temping, so losing a day's pay for an interview process would have horrified me. My late father always thought I'd be better off in the public sector but if this is normal....!

I wish they would do this where I work. The admin team really struggle, some are lovely and just need to be taught things (like how to copy and paste) and others really lack any interest or commitment.

But the end result is huge losses of time and money due to lack of competence and once hired there seems to be no way of letting people go. Probably poor management decisions but mean frontline staff end up doing scanning/printing/booking appointments themselves which is such a waste.

I'm a band 4 medical secretary and had to do a presentation in the specialty concerned. A whole day assessment seems excessive though. Good luck though.

Yes, it's crazy. And the HR processes are insane. Even for internal moves. It's really wonder it's on its knees. The time costs must add up to a bonkers amount of paid hours.

littleducks apologies if I have misunderstood your post

it's not a whole day assessment that would solve the admin problems on your team - an hour's test maybe.

as for lacking interest or commitment - I've never had either - I still get on and do the job to the best of my ability though. Again, it's not something a full day assessment can solve.

re multi site working, ironically I would have thought someone with a lot of experience of temping would be quite a good fit, but I didn't work with anyone on the temp circuit who would have considered a full day assessment for an admin job to be okay.

it sounds like the recruitment process is quite a waste of time!

I take it you won’t be going for the position the OP? If you are, I hope you won’t take the attitude that it’s ‘just a job’ to the interview. The NHS are actively seeking people that don’t take this view and see their role as an essential cog in a very big machine. They’re looking for people that will do the ‘job’ and more and be passionate about making a difference. This hasn’t happened in the past and the service has suffered heatedly as a consequence.

For what it’s worth, I have receptionists in the clinics I work in, also doing a bit of admin (which can be complicated btw) and it amazes me every day how much shit they have to put up with and how skilled they are at dealing with it. The wrong person in that role (band 2 mainly) is disastrous.

BettysLeftTentacle I most certainly am going to attend the assessment. I am very passionate about the NHS and have always wanted to work there. If this doesn't turn out then I will continue to do so till I get in!

And I most definitely won't be having a crappy attitude to working there either!