Anyone heard of a ‘Talent pool’ in the NHS ?

[Bigham]

DS1 graduated last year with a first from our local uni, sadly not Oxbridge or Russell group. Has struggled to find any kind of employment, even in retail, so has been volunteering for a charity cafe to get some customer service experience. He finally got an interview with our local NHS trust for an IT post and although he didn’t get the job, they were really impressed with him and have put him in a ‘talent pool’. Apparently there are promotions coming up soon and once they have spoken to the ‘finance people’, there’ll be an opening and he may well be in line for a job. He doesn’t need to be interviewed again and they’ve told him about working hours, potential location etc.
Obviously we don’t want to get our hopes up, but is the talent pool a genuine thing ? It would be such a weight off our minds if this worked out and he could finally get onto the employment ladder.

I don’t know about the NHS but Talent Pools in general are only as good as the data they keep and the people using them.

It’s the reason we don’t have them at work (I’m in HR) because the upkeep is huge and it’s easier to place a new advert out when an opening becomes available than trawl through a pool of candidates who may/may not be suitable, may/may not want an alternative role to the one they applied and who may/may not have already found work. I really hope it is truth, but given the size of the NHS I can’t really see how it would work.

My opinion would be to not hang on it, and keep looking for roles. I really wish him good luck with his search for employment!

They definitely exist - where I work we don't use the tern 'talent pool' but 'keeping candidates warm'. Basically if we get someone who's really good but not the strongest of an exceptional pool or maybe not quite right for the vacancy they've applied for, but we know we have suitable vacancies coming up, we keep in touch with them. Especially if we've already proven them shortlistable and strong at interview.

HR people will be able to answer this. Would it show proactivity for DS to email the person he was interviewed by in a few weeks and ask if there is an update on further IT positions becoming available once budget is agreed?

EDITED FOR TYPO

Thanks everyone. I’ll nudge him to contact HR in a week or two. I’m presuming they’ll know more the nearer we get to the new tax year in April. It’s kind of what I thought tbh. Not entirely good or bad news !

Suspect it means they hope jobs will be available in the new finance year.

My old manager (NHS) used to note any unsuccessful candidates she liked the look of and would get them in the next post to come up. No idea how she swung it with HR.

I would just take it as encouragement to keep an eye on any vacancies and apply again