Aibu to apply for this job?

[JammyJobber]

Currently a Band 8a in the NHS and a role has come up that is perfect and I meet all the person spec for.
But, it's a Band 9!
Are they going to laugh at me if I ring them to have a chat about the job?
Feel like I'm being a bit jammy, but then I've seen other colleagues (all male funnily enough) jump up the bands really quickly and also skip several bands at a time, so maybe I should just take a punt?

Absolutely go for it.

What have you got to lose

Put yourself forward op

Absolutely go for it!

No idea how nhs bands work, but if you meet the criteria, why not?!

why wouldn't you?
you have literally nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

Once you get to Band 8 it's subdivided so you have 8a, 8b, 8c and then up to 9

So it would be a massive jump!

I bet most men don't agonise over whether they're up to a new role.

Absolutely go for it. Why wouldn't you?!

I'd apply but not expect to get it - I'm also in the NHS - haven't seen anyone jump from an 8a to a 9 (I think it's a mahoosive jump at that level to be honest), but have seen people go from a 4 to a 7 and lots jump 2 x bands. If nothing else, it signals ambition to the people recruiting, which is really good if it's an internal job? If you get an interview but don't get it, definitely ask for feedback - always useful - and good luck!

You meet the person spec, so maybe you're in too low a band at the moment?

What have you got to lose?

At best, you'd have a great new job, at worst, you'd have experience of interviewing for a high level job that might be useful in the future.

Go for it!!!

So you meet all the spec for a band 9, but you're a band 8a (I don't know, are there intermediate levels between?)

Why not ask yourself why you're still only band 8a if you're good enough for 9?

Have you talked yourself out of applying in this way before?

This is what I think too.

just apply. The worst that can happen is that it goes nowhere

Go for it, if nothing else it's great interview practice. I jumped bands quite quickly.

I do think I’m public sector banded roles often serve to keep people down.

In the civil service it can be hard to enter higher than SEO (because the attitude that you need to have experience of how the civil service works to do higher grade role is deeply entrenched - whatever the recruitment standards claim). Then the expectation is that you couldn’t possibly jump grades.

No wonder they lose good people to the private sector so often.

Which is to say, don’t let the grade structures close strict you. You feel you meet the person spec, so apply.

they should be looking at the quality of your application, not what grade you currently are.

I've talked myself out of several 8b and 8c roles 🙈 but the majority of those were because the roles weren't quite right in terms of what I wanted to do. I'm in a fairly niche area so it's not that often that a role like this crops up!

Go for it! Best case you get it, worst case you still have your current role and then probably learn something from the interview process. It could go to someone from outside the NHS who isn’t on any band at the moment.

Yes I agree with this - if you meet the person spec, is there a reason you're still working at 8a level? Has anything else come up that's an 8b/c/d that you've not gone for?

My experience of the AfC payscales and moving up them is that it can often be pretty archaic in its attitude to jumping more than 1 band at a time. Shortlisters/interviews often can't get past such a huge jump unless you've got previous experience maybe outside the NHS where you worked at a higher level, e.g. in education, but have then come to the NHS and had to take a drop before getting back up again.

Going from an 8a to a 9 would be an amazing jump and a payrise of over £40K - which shouldn't be relevant but sometimes is in the eyes of those shortlisting..!

But you have every right to apply - just try to think of it as something you're doing for the experience - and also maybe get a mentor or coach to get you past your current 8a job if you don't land the 9, so that you're on the way up.

Even if you don't meet 100% of the criteria you should still go for it. No one's going to laugh. If you don't get the job you still have your current one so have lost out on literally nothing.

Best of luck with your application! Fingers crossed

Go for it - what's the worst that could happen?! Is it with an ICB? There's so much opportunity for people with these at the moment - you have nothing to lose. And you meet the criteria so you have to go for it really, don't you.

We had Band 9 jobs being advertised this week actually and it struck me that I'd not seen an advert for that banding before.

Good luck!