THE SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is divided into a number of stages, which are described below. The first sift is the eligibility sift and once this process is completed your application is separated and only the section on your achievements and reasons for applying will be seen by the assessors at the suitability sift. This is an anonymised process to ensure fairness and equality to all applicants.

Eligibility Sift

All applicants are required to meet the following eligibility criteria

• Travel Requirements
  You will be required to travel from your employment base in order to access some of the training and development opportunities, and on qualification you may need to travel in your role as a Probation Officer. This may necessitate quite lengthy journeys. Can you meet this requirement?

Candidates with a disability should refer to the Disability section

• Fitness to Pursue Career

Health and attendance records from previous employment will be an important consideration.

In completing your application form, reasons for absences are not required. However, if a particular matter affected your sickness record, you may wish to give appropriate details. All appointments to the service are subject to medical assessment.

• Educational Qualifications
  University entry requirements for the BA (Hons) in Community Justice Studies

The University of Portsmouth welcomes applications from highly motivated candidates irrespective of their backgrounds and recognises that individuals who may lack formal educational qualifications can nevertheless study successfully at undergraduate level.

The University is committed to increasing the numbers of full-time students who come from groups and backgrounds that have traditionally been under-represented in higher education. The BA (Hons) in Community Justice Studies course team particularly welcomes applications from individuals who can demonstrate prior experiential learning as an employee or volunteer in a community justice or similar setting.

As a guide, the University standard minimum entry requirements are:
Entry to a degree course

• Two GCE/VCE A levels or one VCE Double Award
• An appropriate BTEC National Diploma, Certificate or two National Awards
• An Access Certificate
• Scottish Higher Certificates
• Scottish Advanced Higher Certificates
• Irish Leaving Certificate
• The International Baccalaureate Diploma

The usual University age requirement for entry to the programme is 18.

Please give accurate details in chronological order of academic/ vocational/ professional qualifications. You must indicate grades for all subjects. Successful candidates will be asked to provide proof of all qualifications listed.

• Previous Convictions

The National Probation Service is exempt from the provisions of Section 4 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Acts 1974. This means that you must disclose ALL previous convictions, as an adult or a juvenile, whether spent or not. You must also declare ALL cautions, bind overs, any road traffic offences, courts-martial, or ANY pending proceedings.

Having a criminal conviction is not an automatic bar to appointment. Each case will be carefully considered on its own merits, recognising that certain categories of offence normally will make the applicant unacceptable for appointment. Probation Areas will not make decisions upon the offence category alone but will look especially at how recently the offences took place, issues of seriousness and of circumstances.

The following list of offences would normally make an applicant unacceptable:

1. any person subject to Life Licence or other form of statutory supervision (for any offence)
2. any offence against children
3. sexual offences, other than those arising from consensual sexual acts
4. drug related offences of more than a minor nature of seriousness, especially those concerning supply (though not, for example, simple possession of a Class B drug for personal use)
5. offences of violence at a greater level of seriousness than common assault; or, ANY offence involving domestic violence
6. offences that have involved a breach of trust
7. any offences (other than minor road traffic matters) that have resulted in conviction within the period of two years up to the closing date for applications.

All appointments are subject to satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau certification. A copy of the Criminal Record Bureau Code of Practice and can be downloaded from the CRB website at www.disclosure.gov.uk

You must inform us immediately of any charges brought against you, or ongoing police enquiries or investigations that come to light, between the submission of your application and the completion of this recruitment process.

• Completed Application Form

To enable your application form to be processed it must be fully completed and signed. Ask a friend or a colleague to check each section of your form is completed as required. Do ensure that you have completed the word count boxes in Sections 8 and 9. If the form is incomplete in any way, it will be deemed ineligible and you may not be shortlisted.

A Note on the Monitoring Section of the Application Form

In order to evaluate how well we are progressing towards the aspiration of our Valuing Diversity Statement (please see the front of the application form) we do need your assistance. You will find a monitoring section at the back of the application form which we would like you to complete in full. On receipt of your completed application form we will detach the monitoring section. This will be entirely separate from your application and the information that you provide will be entirely confidential. It will only be used for the purposes of monitoring our Recruitment and Selection procedures and ensuring equality of opportunity.

Wording re Evidence of Potential

The National Probation Service invites applications from candidates who can provide evidence of potential to work with people who have experienced personal or social difficulties (not necessarily offender related)

Suitability Sift

The National Probation Service requires high quality recruits from a wide variety of backgrounds, including those pursing a subsequent career. The range of communities with which the Probation Areas work is richly diverse and this diversity must be reflected in the workforce. Probation work is complex and demanding, requiring particular skills and abilities and candidates will be required to demonstrate how their life and work experiences relate to the role and skills required of a Probation Officer. The ability to show that you have these transferable skills is more important than the circumstances in which you gained those skills.

Therefore, whilst experience of working with offenders is clearly relevant, this is not an essential requirement and the Service invites applications from candidates who can provide evidence of potential to work with people who have experienced personal or social difficulties (not necessarily offender related).

In this sift all eligible applicants will be assessed through both the Achievement Questionnaire and Reasons for Applying sections of the application form for their suitability to progress to the next stage of the process. These two sections will be evaluated against the following criteria in the Person Specification:

• Achievement Questionnaire (Section 8 of Application Form)

The Achievement Questionnaire asks about achievements for four of the criteria in the person specification. This is the way in which we will start to find out about relevant abilities and potential and has been designed to allow applicants from a range of backgrounds to show that they have the relevant potential.

Applicants will be assessed for skills in:

• Ability to relate to others
• Working as part of a team
• Planning and Organising
• Values and Communication (Written)

There is a word limit for each of the four Achievement Questionnaires and marks will be deducted if exceeded.

• Reasons for Applying (Section 9 of Application Form):

Applicants will be assessed for skills in:

• Motivation and Commitment and Communication (Written)

In this section, applicants will need to demonstrate their interest and enthusiasm for the post, some knowledge and understanding of the role of the Probation Officer and the demanding work of the modern Probation Service. This is your opportunity to tell us why you want to become a Probation Officer, what you know about the work of the National Probation Service and why you think you are suitable. This section has a word limit and marks will be deducted if this exceeded.

Final Selection Process
The final selection stage consists of an Assessment Centre which is undertaken in two parts.

Assessment Centre Part 1 will take place at either John Moores University in Liverpool or the Manchester Metropolitan University, and selected candidates will be invited to attend on one of the following dates:

19 or 20 May 2008

Assessment Centre Part 2 will be conducted at various locations within the North West region. Selected candidates will be invited to attend on a date during the period:

9 - 27 June 2008

Shortlisted candidates will be provided with information about the format and content of the Assessment Centre and how to prepare for it.

Applicants should note that only those invited to the Final Selection Process will receive any written communication. If you do not receive such an invitation before the 9 May 2008, then you can assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE:

Candidate availability:
Candidates will need to be sure that they can be available during the specified assessment centre periods. We will give as much notice as possible to selected individuals but once appointments are offered, no changes will be possible.

Travelling expenses:
Candidates are asked to note that the North West Training Consortium is unable to pay travelling or any other expenses for candidate attendance at either of the assessment centre days.

Feedback on the Assessment Centre Process
All candidates who have taken part in the Assessment Centre process will be advised of the outcome of their application. Unsuccessful candidates will be offered the opportunity to receive feedback on their performance. In order to help the Consortium to improve its recruitment and selection procedures, candidates may be asked for feedback on their experience of the process. Candidates who are to be offered appointments as Trainee Probation Officers will be contacted by 21st July 2008.

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