To apply for a job when it says applicants should be able to drive...and I can't?

[HennyPennyHorror]

The part about driving is not in the "Essential" list. It's in a part sectioned "Successful applicants must be prepared to" and that goes on to list a bit about police checks, a bit about Child Safe Environment Training (we're in Oz) and then "Drivers licence"

There's a separate section listed as "Essentials" and that includes certain technical knowledge, certain computer skills and other things.

AIBU to assume that the driving part is non-essential but I should be prepared to learn?

I was planning to anyway....I really could do this job well! If I got in interview I would book lessons immediately so they could see I was serious...even though it would be a stretch financially.

There have been lots of threads where colleagues who don’t drive have been expected to give lifts to colleagues who don’t drive, often without a contribution to petrol/wear and tear. That’s really unfair. But if you could use public transport then that’s fine if course.

*colleagues who drive

Bloody auto correct

If you know where some of these community centres are and you get to interview and they say oh do you drive?

You can so no, but I would be coming to work using public transport and I've checked on routes and all these centres are very well served by buses so I'm very confident it would be perfectly possible to manage the travel very well.

There's absolutely no reason not to apply. It might only be a problem if you were doing a job like I did once where I had to go to two or three different sites a day across a big city (nearly as big as Manchester), inevitably scattered at all the furthest corners, never right near to each other! I couldn't have done that without a car for sure, but your opportunity sounds far more manageable.

Go for it!

The NHS Trust I work for have taken that bit about having a driving licence out of Job Descriptions and replaced it with 'must be able to travel independently'.

I trad somewhere recently that women feel the need to tick every box in the criteria before they will apply for a job. Men will start working down the list and eventually think they have enough to do the job and apply anyway.

Go on, think like a man.

Being able to drive, ie having a driving licence, is no guarantee that you will be able to drive for the job.

You might not have access to a car.

You could be unable to drive because of a temporary health condition.

You could be banned from driving.

You could have passed your test but be anxious about diving.

My point is, a lot of people could in theory tick the driving box on the application but not be able to drive, so don't feel that you can't apply for the job if you are suitable in all their ways.

Fill in the application form for your provisional licence today, buy a Highway Code, get going with the lessons, and apply for the job.

They are not allowed to put it in essentials, unless it is an essential part of the job because it is discriminatory towards people with certain disabilities.

So it’s in desirables.

They would obviously prefer a driver, but perhaps if you spoke with them and explained you are learning. There’s no harm in applying but for me it would depend on how long it would take me to complete the application, I wouldn’t want to spend a day form filling to get an automatic knock back.

Of course apply. If you don't have to go to the other offices a lot, you can always take an uber there.

Sand that's a really good bit of info! I can imagine it too! I certainly go down the list and feel "no I shouldn't" if I don't tick all the boxes!

Cabbage yes....true.

I will apply. If I have to travel to the community centres, I'd be going alone...nobody would have to drive me as it's a solo job.

I am NHS and my trust doesn’t put that it is essential as this is against the disability act as if someone meets all the criteria but doesn’t drive, they can’t be excluded just on that reason and may well have other alternative options. I once worked with a doctor who was not able to drive due to medical reasons but qualified for paid taxi’s through access to work

It isn’t just community travel it’s also training off site. Some of our off site training is up to 25 miles away with impossible and dire transport links

For this reason you should phone up

Pookie this isn't a medical position. Nothing to do with medical type stuff.

I was giving you the reason it’s not in essential
But often there are other reasons it’s a requirement to drive ie off site training

Call and ask.

But if you go ahead and apply. be prepared to be beaten by another candidate who can alreasdy drive. They wouldn't have included it if it wasn't important.