Do your homework

Remember this is a sales process. Recruiters will be more impressed with applicants who have taken the time to research the organisation and understand the needs of the job, and then to use this knowledge to tailor their application.

So how do you do this?

Read the advert wording carefully – pay attention to what the recruiter is communicating. What aspects of the job are being focused on? How does your skill set match this? Recruiters often pay more attention to the advert wording than to the job description. What are they asking for? What seems most important to them? HEE adverts now include the shortlisting criteria- it is vital to pay attention to these when writing your application.

Read the job description carefully – don’t ignore this, someone will have gone to the trouble of writing this, and it serves a purpose. However, job descriptions are often written in a way that doesn’t highlight the relative importance of different responsibilities. So, you may need to read between the lines – read it alongside the advert wording.

The “About the Job” section of HEE job descriptions is often the best place to start, to get a “feel” for the job.

The last four sections of the job description starting from “Expected Outcomes” are:

• Engaging People/Key Working relationships
• Delivering Results/Functional Responsibilities
• Management and leadership
• Setting Direction and Service Improvement

These describe what the “outputs” (responsibilities) of the job are – what you are expected to do.

The first four sections of the job description headed “Recruitment Profile” is effectively a “person specification” section – what you are expected to “bring” to the role:

• Behaviours and Values
• Skills and Abilities
• Experience and Knowledge
• Qualifications and Training

These describe the “inputs” of the job - what you need to demonstrate in terms of behaviours, values, skills, abilities, experience, qualifications, and training to perform the job successfully.

However not everybody is going to be able to demonstrate all of these, so don’t be put off if you think you are missing something. Your job is to try to convince the recruiter that you have enough of the “right stuff” to be given an interview.

Recruiters expect to have to do some training of new staff and recognise that nobody is perfect “off the shelf”. Willingness and aptitude to learn is often just as important as ability. A track record in learning new skills may convince recruiters that you are worth “taking a chance” on.

Take the opportunity to chat to the recruiter - many adverts may give you the contact details of the recruiter and provide an opportunity to speak to them. This can be a great way to find out a bit more about the job and what they are looking for.

Look at the HEE website -  find out about the organisation in general. What does HEE do? How does it do it? What are the values? What is important right now? What are the HEE objectives? What are some of the challenges? Where does this role fit in? How does it help achieve the objectives? What kind of employer is HEE?

You may find this research preparation form helpful.