If you work for a council...

[jibjibb]

Posting for traffic…

How long did it take for you to hear back about the job after applying?

I’m not sure whether I’m no longer being considered or if their process just takes longer than other organisations.

The post closed on 13 June.
It’s an office role that would be perfect for me, I put a lot of effort into my application and meet all the criteria including the desirable criteria

That’s less than a week, you’ve got a good chance yet. Ours go to HR, who collate them, then we have to get the shortlisting panel together before going back to HR, who send out interview invites. I would expect it to be longer than a week so don’t worry.

In our team we would need the 2 hiring managers to agree the shortlist and then use the shitty HR system to notify you of that. If one manager has leave etc, it may take just over a week so don't be too disheartened. The automated system also means that the interview and no thanks.emails get sent at the same time.

I waited about 2 weeks from closing date

But if it’s really driving you mad just give them a ring and ask, it won’t go against you, especially if you’re nice!

I waited a week.

They told me I'd know by the Friday but when I didn't hear back I emailed on the Monday and they told me I'd got the job.

However, onboarding took over 3 months as HR was/is woefully inadequate.

Processes can be slow sometimes but they normally tell you at interview when you can expect to hear. Sometimes they interview someone a whole week before or after another candidate which slows the process down, but my place would usually make that clear.
Also if you don't get the post, ask for a feedback call, they can go through the interview question by question. It is sort of painful at the time, but I type up everything and it has helped me to look at that before the next interview and give better answers! Good luck!

Thank you, I’ll wait patiently!

The role is really well suited to me, especially as one of my children already uses the programme it focuses on, so I already have a good level of knowledge from a user prespective.

It’s also about £3k more than I’m earning now, which is a bonus!

I also had a quick question about salary.... If a role is advertised at something like £30,470 to £34,941, is there any chance of starting above the minimum, or do most people start at the bottom? Ideally I’d hope for somewhere in the middle, as I already do a very similar role and have lots of relevant experience etc

The poster has not been interviewed. She has submitted an application.

OP it would be remarkable for you to hear within such a short period of time. LA are not quick, at anything. And back office functions have been hit badly by staff losses in ' restructuring' exercises. Also, the HR at one council I worked for were utterly incompetent (for example they forgot to offer the job to one successful applicant. The first she knew about her having got the job was a couple of months later when her new manager phoned her to arrange her first day starting time)!

It would also be normal to have received a ' thank you for your application, you have not been successful this time but please apply for other posts in the future.' email if you have not got through to interview.

So far, you have not reason to think you won't get an interview.

Its normal to start at the bottom but it is worth stating your case to start higher ( (once offered the job). They can only say no after all. I would not die on this hill though, as they may have a strict policy of not doing this. It will depend on the council and how influential the manager can be with HR.

I’m already in employment, so I’m happy to wait up to three months to start.

To be honest, if interviews were at the beginning of July and I heard back by mid-July, I’d need to give four weeks’ notice anyway, which would land me right in the middle of the school holidays so id welcome them to take a couple of extra weeks!

But im getting ahead of myself ha ha

Thank you. I’ve been with my current employer for three years, and from the point I applied to receiving a job offer, it was less than two weeks in total. So totally different and its my first time applying for a council based role.

Top tip. if you get the job, you will start to build up continuous service in LA. Length of service accrues benefits such as additional leave for length of service. If you move to another LA job (even if in a different local authority) after this one you have to make sure there is no break at all in service between going from one job to another - ie you need one contract to finish on monday and then start on tuesday. Even a break of one day will mean you will lose ALL of the service you have built up so far. Weekends can count as a break - so if your contract ends on a Friday and new one starts on a Monday - that's a break. There are people who have lost decades of continuous service like this, so have lost holiday entitlement.

Remember continuous service follows you from local authority to local authority.

In my experience in LG you’ll start at the bottom if you’re a new employee unless they’re desperate to recruit to the role. There’s no harm asking though.

IME, the only way you wouldn’t start at the bottom is if the role you are currently undertaking is higher paid, particularly if you are already working for another LA, or in a different department within that council.

I’d check your junk mail and call them after a week

That is after interview though.

OP, as others have said, Local Authority processes will mean that it will take longer than a week from the closing date to when candidates hear if they have got an interview.

Mine took 3 months haha. Applied early Jan interview end March

wow! That is a longgggg time.

At our LA you'd start at the bottom.

Thank you. Im happy to start at the bottom to be honest but like anything any extra money would be better.

2-4 weeks to hear about interview I reckon. You can ask about starting at a higher grade if you’re offered the post - they can only say no. You’ll get an increment each year until you reach the top of the grade. Good luck.

Thank you.

Once you hit the top grade... What happens then? do you just stay at that grade?

Where I am now we get a 3-4% pay rise every year regardless of our banding.

Yes, you stay at the top but every local government worker gets a pay rise each year which is set by the government in conjunction with the unions. It’s not a lot - usually under 3% across most bandings. Once you’re in a local government role and more experienced, you can apply for posts that are the next grade up and you start on a new pay scale. Often the top of one grade overlaps with the bottom of the next grade.

I'd say 2 weeks+ to hear if you are being invited to interview would be good going. (I work in HR though no longer in recruitment). Shortlisting is usually done by the recruiting manager and interview panel members so any delay in getting those people together to agree final decisions will drag it out. If they've had a good number of applications it can also take longer as they have to score each application and enter it into the HR system. We have to enter a score for every single essential criteria on the job description/person specification (so there is clear justification for rejecting people) which can be quite laborious.

Re the salary, if you get offered it is likely to be at the starting salary of the band. but there is absolutely no risk in asking for a higher spinal point and seeing what the answer is. You'll usually be dealing with HR who are used to that, so its not going to affect how you are seen or anything like that. At my London LA the salaries on offer are well behind the job market in some professional areas so we are used to offering above the bottom.

If they offer you the job, you just say you are very keen to accept but can you please discuss salary as it wasn't quite what you were looking for. You don't have to give a reason. Bear in mind that they advertised the whole salary range so theoretically are able and willing to offer that. Also:
a) you will probably never get another chance to progress through the spinal points at more then one step per year so now is the time to try and get a bit ahead of the entry point for the band
b) women traditionally don't negotiate like men do, which is one of the reasons there is a gender pay gap
c) there is a cultural difference as British people find it much harder to talk about money than say Americans!

I was immediately offered the middle of the band so it depends. We can certainly flex a bit if we don’t want to put someone at the bottom.

council's are S L O W I most defintely wouldn’t worry if you haven’t heard anything