AIBU to consider this job (£6k pay cut)

[thelonelyones]

I've been offered a job interview at the start of december but I'm worried about it. The job is what I'm already doing however my concerns are as follows:

1, I'm currently earning £36,000 and the salary for this one is £30,000. As its public sector, I don't think there's any flexibility. Am I crazy to consider it? I worry I will feel like a failure by going back the way and not forwards.

2, what do I say if they ask why I'm leaving? The truth is bullying and discrimination. I raised a grievance and I've started a tribunal claim. I have union support. I don't know how to answer any questions about why I'm leaving though as the truth would put them right off me

3, how do I explain my sickness absence (related to the above), assuming they ask? I know they shouldn't but my DF insists they will ask about my health in a "roundabout way"

4, how do I explain my disciplinary? Again related to the above and was retaliation for my grievance, hence the tribunal claim.

All sorts of worries are in my head. DH and DM say its better to be happier and just tighten our belts, but DF (who was a senior manager before retiring) says to stay where I am and stick out the grievance / tribunal claim.

I'm not unemployed and where I am has a good salary and benefits package. I like the job I'm doing, its just the people. I feel so upset and stressed at the thought of going back and facing all those people and experiencing the same problems over and over again but DF says the grass might not be greener. He says if I'm off sick I shouldn't be going to any interviews and I could get fired if found out?

maybe even things like what kind of community outreach or charity work they do, that kind of thing. One of my favourites, as it really throws them, as well as making them realise you see them as people and not just scary interviewers

I work for the NHS. I've conducted loads of interviews. I'd be horrified if someone asked me that. It's a really intrusive question and I don't think it's appropriate. I think 'throws them' might not capture the damage this can do to how you're seen. We can't ask personal and irrelevant questions and so I don't think interviewees should. The other questions are fine but I'd say be careful about asking something which can be easily answered by an internet search.

3, how do I explain my sickness absence (related to the above), assuming they ask? I know they shouldn't but my DF insists they will ask about my health in a "roundabout way"

They shouldn't. I expect your OH does not work in the public sector or any employee committed to equal ops recruitment. Occ health will pick up on a high sickness rate if needed when you go through health screening. We would never ask someone about their health at interview. Not directly and not indirectly.

@73Sunglasslover that's a very valid point and reflects how every interview, every department, every manager is very different.

I've worked for 4 different NHS organisations in my time (not on the clinical frontline though) plus one academic institution where we served the local NHS, and whenever I was on an interview panel we always had an HR person sitting in on both the compilation of the questions and the interview itself to make sure we weren't being intrusive AND we were staying legal. But your point is very, very valid.

I guess it's a case of reading the situation on the day and maybe asking a different type of question, then, something very innocuous, particularly given that this is an E&D role. Although the other questions may well be enough; or indeed it may be that any and all questions the candidate might have about the role are addressed in the interview.

I should have phrased it better - when I say "throw them" I didn't mean in a bad way, I just know how incredibly monotonous it can be when you've conducted 8 hour long interviews in a day, so it was really to try and get across that you understand the interviewers are not machines, but people too.

I feel really stupid but what are "health inequalities"? I'm assuming inequality in accessing health services?

I mean, I do E&D in a completely different sector and have zero experience in health and social care. Hoping that won't be an issue and they are more interested in my E&D background than my health knowledge.

I think I'm just too tired and anxious to think about this properly!

@73Sunglasslover I've also just realised that the comment about the charity and outreach work could be misinterpreted - I didn't mean on a personal level, but which causes the hospital/Trust as a whole works with.

For instance, I worked in one hospital in quite a tough part of the city where educational aspirations were low and our larger department was very involved with high school outreach. The aim was to show sixth formers that actually the NHS was not a bad career choice, quite the opposite. It always got very positive feedback.

Good call though, I'll look out for how that kind of thing could be made clearer in any future examples I use!

I'm only going to put one link for the Health Inequalities area - the Internet is definitely your friend when it comes to the NHS, there's no lack of information out there. The difficulty can be in working out what not to include.

www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/resources/

The World Health Organization also has some good explanations, www.who.int/features/factfiles/health_inequities/en/.

www.kingsfund.org.uk/topics/health-inequalities - The King's Fund is another think tank.

In all of this I'm assuming your interview is within the NHS England area; if it's not, then a quick search for NHS Wales, NHS Scotland, or the HSC in Northern Ireland should give you results that are more focused on those areas. (Don't answer which one it is, it's just to make you aware that the four operate independently. Actually, every Trust/NHS organisation seems to have its own way of doing things, in my experience, right down to the team/manager/individual level.)

And I'm sure they've invited you to interview as your application makes them think you've got the experience and skills to do the job. Sometimes what they're looking for is a fresh pair of eyes.

Where I work in the NHS the lecture topic would make no sense... The topic of health inequalities would be tangential at best. Is your role going to involve a lot of staff recruitment or "public health" ie, actively finding patients or monitoring for different outcomes by social status difference?

without being too outing, the role would involve:

1, equality impact assessments
2, keeping the board, stakeholders, colleagues etc updated on E&D legislative changes etc
3, leading internal working groups
4, engagement with local communities, third sector orgs
5, leading on the approach to tackling health inequalities

I've to give a 5 min presentation on why £&D matters....FFS....how can I condense it all into 5 mins!