If you work for a local authority..

[Helpmefindmysoul]

How long does shortlisting for a vacancy usually take?
The closing date was 25th September, I submitted my application a couple of days before.

Thank you in advance ☺️

It takes ages. You definitely shouldn’t be worried yet. Frustrated and annoyed, yes, but not worried.

Absolutely ages. Don't fret. Up to a month. Or more..

They are notoriously slow

Thank you everyone.. I thought the civil service was bad but I guess it’s essentially the same 🤭

Oh no, local authorities are bangers compared to the purring machinery of civil service

Civil services minimum 6 month recruitment process is a version of hell. You basically forget what you’ve actually applied for 🤭

Make sure you check your junk mail - sometimes the invitation comes from a weird email address.

Everything takes forever in a LA. When my DS got a job with one a few years ago, they offered him the job and started him almost straight away through an agency as they said that HR take so long with the paperwork. It was at least 2 months from accepting the job before he was actually employed. (he only needed to give 1 weeks notice on his previous job)

Good shout I will check junk too ..

How frustrating! At least they found him a way round it in the interim.
I don’t mind once you've interviewed, if it’s a little long due to checks and so forth. This shortlisting is insane, if they said it within two weeks at least you can prepare for interview or move on.
Patience is a virtue..

Our LG HR team were known as snails. We had Simon Snails, Jane Snail etc.

In my LA, all shortlisting is done by the hiring manager so it can vary a lot. I got the interview for my job within a couple of days of the closing date. Any recruitment that I’ve done, we aim to shortlist within a week usually. But I’m sure other teams may take longer depending on their capacity and motivation.

One thing to note is that there are so many people applying to all these vacancies atm which also means it can take a long time - e.g. 600 for a recent post in my department. All had to be reviewed by the hiring manager/panel, no HR screen or AI assist etc.

I work in a LA. Selection is done by the department or section manager. I get an alert as soon as an application is made and I either reject or accept them, usually with a day. We have a point added to our adverts that states something like- ‘If we receive a large number of applications, we may close the advert early — so please apply as soon as possible if you’re interested.’ I don’t want to be trawling through more than 20 or so applications, and if I get 10 that look good, I’ll close it then. It’s usually far fewer than 10 suitable ones in my industry, but loads of under qualified hopefuls.

Once the closing date is reached, the accepted ones are invited for interview. It’s actually pretty quick in my LA, within a week. That clearly isn’t the norm, judging by this thread

Oh dear but you made me chuckle 🤭

Yes I’m very conscious that currently a lot of people are applying for a very limited number of posts.
Also that shortlisting is down the traditional way.
I thought it had been 3 weeks but it will only be a fortnight tomorrow so to be fair maybe I’m just being impatient. I know not to think about it for a month but it’s such an interesting job..

Usually I see the disclaimer too in the roles I’ve applied for and that’s how I would do it too. Shortlist as applications come through but I’m in no way qualified to have an opinion on how it’s done.
Sounds like a variation, some authorities within a week or so and others a month or so..

Just have to wait it out I suppose 😊

It depends on the local authority and the hiring manager. The HR bit of the local authority I work for is pretty quick. Unfortunately a lot of tasks are delegated to the hiring manager. Some are brilliant, others less so.
Although there tend to be more applications for frontline low paid roles, I've found the managers are quicker to shortlist because they have staffing ratios to meet and rotas to fill (and have been struggling with a vacancy for a while before getting permission to advertise). Corporate managers are usually the slowest.

That’s an interesting perspective, thank you.
Seems like a range of factors affect the shortlisting. Could be a waiting game.

Quick update: I emailed one local authority as it was 4 weeks to the day that their job advertised closed. They said they would look into it and get back to me.
The second which closed on 02nd October, I went to review my emails and it says that if I have not heard back within 4 weeks to assume that the application has been unsuccessful.
Kind of frustrating as an unsuccessful application email is pre generated. 🤦‍♀️

It takes as long as it takes for the manager to get round to it. Depends how quickly they need to fill the role/ what else they've got on. Like anywhere else really.