Curriculum Vitae (CV)
The CV is the part of the application where you provide details about yourself including contact details, education and previous experience. Below is some information to help you complete the CV part of the application form. The information is structured according to the structure of the CV form.
PAGE 1: GENERAL DETAILS
Which email address should I use?
It is very important that you enter a reliable email address that you can check throughout the summer and during term time in the Email Address field. Hotmail is not the best email account to use because oftentimes emails are bounced back because mailboxes are full or Hotmail thinks that the message is spam. If your email address is not reliable, you will miss important information regarding the application process.
Which address should I use?
It is very important that you enter a reliable address where you can be reached in September 2011 for the 1st round of recruitment and November 2011 for the second round of recruitment. Hospitals will contact you in varying ways, some will phone, some email and some send information via post. Make sure that they have an accurate address to send information to you.
Disabled applicants
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Since December 2006, there has been a legal duty on all public sector organisations to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people and significant public authorities have had to publish a 'Disability Equality Scheme'. Each NHS organisation should have one of these.
If you are disabled and need Pharmalife to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to make an application, please let us know by email nhsprereg@pharmalife.co.uk or phone 0208 4240860.
If you are disabled and you are invited to attend an interview, please let the hospital know in advance of the interview if you require any reasonable adjustments to enable you to attend the interview.
Guaranteed Interview Scheme
The Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) is a commitment is to guarantee an interview to anyone with a disability (as defined in the Equality Act 2010) who meets the minimum criteria for the job. All disabled applicants through NHS Jobs are offered the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and the National Recruitment Scheme offers this in line with NHS Jobs / NHS employers. Each hospital entry on the website contains an attached Person Specification for the post of pre-registration trainee pharmacist at that hospital. This Person Specification states the criteria against which applications will be short-listed. Some Person Specifications have essential and desirable criteria listed and the minimum criteria are that listed in the essential part of the Person Specification.
Disabled students wishing to apply under the GIS will need to will need to tick the 'yes' box on the online CV in answer to the GIS question. They will also need to provide evidence in their application of how they meet the essential criteria listed on the Person Specification for the hospital they are applying to. There is no obligation for a disabled student to apply under the GIS if they do not wish to.
Students may want to discuss their application with their University tutor or the Disability Co-ordinator at their university for further assistance. It might also be worthwhile checking with the HR departments of the hospitals you are applying to in order to see how the GIS operates at that hospital.
PAGE 2: QUALIFICATIONS
I am an overseas student and have different educational details.
Do not worry if your educational details do not exactly match the format of the UK system. Please use the provided space to explain your qualifications as best as you can.
What is Other Qualifications?
If you have other degrees or qualifications that you feel are relevant and important to your application, please click on the Other Qualifications button and complete the information as appropriate.
PAGE 3: PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
You can use this section of the application form to describe previous employment and / or work experience. THIS MAY BE PHARMACY AND / OR NON-PHARMACY RELATED and may include: previous employment, vacation placements, university placements and voluntary work.
How do I add details of my previous experience?
Simply click upon the "Add another Employment or Work Experience" button. A new window will pop up where you can add details of employment or work experience. If for some reason you do not see the new window, it may be hidden behind another window that you have open. To find it, simply minimise the windows that you have open until the employment details window appears.
How do I delete details of my previous experience?
To delete details of employment or work experience, simply click upon the Delete button for the position that you would like to delete. Be careful, once you delete a position you will not be able to retrieve it.
How do I re-order my previous experiences?
Employment/Work Experience is automatically placed in date order (according to the From and To dates that you have entered). You are unable to change this order.
How do I update details of my previous experience?
To update Employment/Work Experience details, simply click upon the name of the Company/ Organisation where you were employed or undertook work experience. This is a link that will open the details page for this position.
PAGE 4: EMPLOYMENT / CHARACTER REFERENCE
Who should I enter as my employment or character referee?
Your employment or character referee should be someone in a position of responsibility who can comment on your work experience, competence, personal qualities and suitability for the post. Your employment or character referee must not be the same person as your academic referee. Please note that personal references such as friends and relatives are not acceptable unless they have employed you. Before completing your application you should confirm with your nominated referees that they are a) willing and b) permitted by company policy to provide a reference.
MPharm Students: If you have had recent relevant work experience we recommend that you provide an employment referee rather than a character referee. Otherwise you could choose an instructor or a supervisor from an extra-curricular organisation.
OSPAP students: In order to employ an individual the NHS requires a minimum of two references covering the previous 3 years. Therefore you will need to provide details of a minimum of two employment / character references* on your application form; more if these references do not cover the previous 3 years.
* If you have been working in the previous 3 years you must provide employment references, one of which should be your most recent employer. If you have not been working, you may provide a character reference from someone in a position of responsibility who can comment on your work experience, competence, personal qualities and suitability for the post. Explanations will sought in relation to any gaps in employment at interview e.g. training, maternity leave etc.
When will you contact my employment/character referee?
Pharmalife does not contact your employment/character referee because NHS employers are advised not to use employment references as part of the short-listing process. Your employment/character referee will only be contacted by your hospital choices if they are considering offering you a post. The contact details of your employment/character referee will be displayed in your application to enable the hospitals to contact them if necessary.
Self-Declarations
Criminal convictions
The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) provides access to information across England and Wales about criminal convictions and other police records to help employers make an informed decision when recruiting staff. CRB checks are a mandatory requirement in the NHS for all staff who, as part of their appointment, have regular, direct contact with patients in the course of their normal duties. Further information on CRB checks can be obtained from the following website http://www.crb.gov.uk/ and for Scotland www.disclosurescotland.co.uk
There are 2 levels of CRB disclosure, Standard and Enhanced. New requirements for CRB checks came into effect in April 2010 and pre-registration trainee pharmacists appointed after this date will need an Enhanced CRB check. Click here for more information.
You will be asked to declare on your application if you have any “spent” or “unspent” criminal convictions or bind-overs, or any cautions, warnings or reprimands. As the post you are applying for involves access to patients in the course of normal duties it will be exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Therefore you are NOT entitled to withhold any information about convictions, cautions, warnings and reprimands which for other purposes are "spent" under the provisions of the Act.
Your employer will undertake the Criminal Records Bureau check after provisionally offering you a place. If you have any reason to think this may cause a problem, please discuss it with potential employers. Any offer of employment is subject to a satisfactory disclosure from the CRB. The decision rests with the employer as to whether to employ a person whose CRB check reveals a conviction or other relevant information. The information provided should be carefully considered in the light of all the relevant circumstances and judged on a case-by-case basis. Offers of employment may be withdrawn if the CRB check is unsatisfactory or if you fail to reveal information relating to any convictions on your application.
PAGE 5: Equality monitoring
The final part of the CV is an equality monitoring form. As Public Sector Employers, NHS organisations are required to collect details about an applicant's age, gender, ethnicity, religion/belief, sexual orientation and disability. The information in this section of the CV is collected to fulfil that obligation and is used for monitoring purposes only. The hospital will not see this page of your CV but they will be able to see collated and anonymised equality reports after the recruitment cycle has been completed.
After you have created a first draft of your CV you can make Draft Applications for your chosen hospitals
