GUIDANCE NOTES

Read This First

In your pack you should receive the following four items.

  1. Information About Community on Solid Ground and How to Submit an Application
  1. Application Form and Equal Opportunities and Diversity Monitoring
  1. Terms and Conditions of Employment (attached separately)
  1. Job Description and Person Specification (attached separately)

YOUR APPLICATION

Thank you for considering Community on Solid Ground as your potential employer.

Community on Solid Ground

Community on Solid Ground (CSG) is an active and effective charity that promotes participation to develop integration, community cohesion and social inclusion. Its ethos is that equality is best achieved through inclusion rather than exclusion and to this end the organisation works with mixed groups, breaking down barriers to co-operative and tolerant interaction.

CSG uses sports, education, training, social activities, and mentoring to empower young people to increase their confidence, motivation, skills, employability and quality of life. All of its work is underpinned by the determination to improve the quality of life in the local community, addressing key indicators:

  • Health and Well Being
  • Crime Reduction
  • Community Cohesion

It promotes the health and well-being of all community members through active participation and engages all sections of the community, including ‘hard-to-reach’ people. It uses educational, social, and sports activities to help them choose positive lifestyles, enable them to be more resilient in order to achieve their full potential and positively contribute to the community as mature and responsible individuals, for the benefit of the whole community.

It targets all marginalised groups within the disadvantaged area of Whalley Range, which has a large multi-cultural population. The organisation is concerned with tackling inequalities through engagement with the people within the community, mostly whom are of minority ethnic origin. It supports all age groups as there are direct services to Women, Elderly people and also has specific focus with regards to young people in accessing its services.

Activity programmes aim to equip local people from varied backgrounds to find solutions to community problems in co-operative action. Direct support is available for children out of school and young adults out of work. There is particular focus on Women only activities catering for the cultural needs of local women and for promotion of better health and well being of women of all ages.

We work with the most disadvantaged young people in the area aged 6- 19. We provide sessions and activities leading to accredited outcomes and all supporting young people in developing confidence, resilience and sports leadership skills. In addition to this young people are supported to develop strategies towards life opportunities including production of CVs, job applications, interview preparation, volunteering, work experience, and employment support. Our activities are interactive and allow young people from mixed cultural and ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to voice their opinions and appreciate difference, promoting values of tolerance and respect. Practically 80 % of our young people advance and go on to make a positive change in their lives by getting a job or going back into education.

CSG has contributed to the reduction of youth nuisance incidents by 73% in the last 2 years in Whalley Range.

Community on Solid Ground was awarded with a Manchester City Council “Be Proud” award for its Sporting Achievements in 2010, Inspiring Journey award at the Manchester BME awards 2012 and is currently shortlisted for the finals in the National Diversity Awards 2013.

We currently work in the South & North of Manchester where we regularly work with more than 400 young people and work in partnership with many active organisations. In the coming years we also aim to set up new projects in other parts of Manchester so that more young people can benefit from CSG.

Community on Solid Ground was set up in 2009 and received charity status 2010. We are funded by a range of national and local organisations.

CSG operates an Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy.

Our Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy aims to ensure that every applicant is treated fairly. Your application is the only information on which we decide whether or not you will be short listed for an interview. It will be used as a basis for the interview itself. The content of your application is therefore very important and the following advice is designed to help you complete it as effectively as possible.

Our equal opportunities statement gives a summary of the main points of our Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy. We ask you to fill in the equal opportunities form so that we can monitor whether we are reaching all sections of the community and to check that our recruitment processes operate fairly.

As part of our ongoing commitment to upholding the principles of the Data Protection Act, we will keep the information from your application for 6 months, after which it will be destroyed.

Submitting an Application

After reading the Person Specification and Job Description, attached/ located at the end of this document, think carefully about your application and consider to what extent you have the experience, skills and knowledge necessary for the vacant post.

Please complete the application form supplied in black ink or typed because the form may need to be photocopied. Additional sheets may be attached if you run out of space.

If you are applying for more than one position, please submit a separate application for each position.

If you are registered physically challenged and wish to apply by any other method?

If you are registered physically challenged and wish to apply using another method besides the written/typed application please contact our Administrative Department who will ensure that you have the appropriate support.

Completing the Application Form

It is important to note that if you are filling out the application form electronically you may need to delete multiple choice answers in order to leave the answer that best suits you. Please do not change the application form, but if you are filling the form out electronically only readjust it to better suit your needs in terms of answering the question as accurately as possible.

Personal

General details - please provide a work/daytime telephone, mobile or text number if at all possible. We will only use this number with discretion but it helps us to get in touch with you quickly. Furthermore, only those with permission to work in the UK will be short-listed.

Education, Qualifications, & Training

Please tell us about your educational qualifications and vocational training/courses. Please do mention all qualifications and training relevant to the job. Include qualifications gained and training/courses attended through voluntary work, leisure, or other interests.

You may be asked to bring your qualification certificates to the interview. We may occasionally need to verify qualifications with registering bodies.

Professional Membership

Please tell us of any work-related organisation of which you are a member.

Employment History

This section gives you the opportunity to tell us about the work you are doing now or have done most recently. Please tell us your most recent salary and benefits. Always remember to specify your personal responsibilities within your recent and previous employment, rather than simply those of your section or department. Please state the reason why you left/are considering leaving your job.

Supporting Statement: Experience, Skills and Knowledge

This is your opportunity to describe how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the job. You should also use examples from your own experience to justify your claims.

This is the most important part of the application. You should use this section to tell us how you believe you meet each of the selection criteria listed on the person specification.

Demonstrate how you meet each requirement in the person specification by giving details and examples of your experience, skills, and knowledge. Various points within the person specification may overlap, but remember that all points must be addressed in full.

Do remember that relevant experience can be gained from current or previous employment, community or voluntary work gained in the home and through leisure interests.

Criminal Convictions

It is necessary in most instances to report criminal convictions that have yet to become ‘spent’ with accordance to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. If you are unsure of anything here please contact our Admin Department. For all positions it is necessary to apply to the DBS for a disclosure but this will be advised on the job details and will only be done with the applicants express consent, and only completed for the successful applicant.

Please return your application form to the Administrator at the address shown on the form marking the envelope private and confidential.

We strongly suggest you keep a copy of your application for yourself as a source of reference.

Our Recruitment and Selection Process

Short-listing

After the closing date, all application forms are read to see how each person’s skills and experience relate to the post being applied for. Applicants who meet these requirements more closely are invited for an interview. The statement provided by the applicant describing how they meet the person specification of the post holds central importance in this process.

As a charity, we do not pay travel expenses for people invited to the interview.

Interviews

The interview panel is normally made up of two or three people who will ask a number of pre-determined questions. The people involved with the interview will be relevant to the post specified, and in turn, may vary.

Everyone who is interviewed will be asked the same basic questions.

There may also be supplementary questions based on the information you have given us in your application form or at the interview itself. The questions are intended to allow you to expand on your application form and to show the panel how well you meet the requirements of the job. For some jobs there may also be numerical/written/practical tests or a presentation in addition to the formal interview. If this is the case we will notify you in advance of the interview.

You will have the opportunity at the interview to ask questions about the job, conditions of service or anything else you need to know about Community on Solid Ground.

The panel will keep a record of their assessment of each candidate so that the reasons for their decision are clear, consistent, and justifiable. If you wish to discuss why you have been unsuccessful, please contact the Administrator in the first instance at the address on the application form.

Thank you for your interest in Community on Solid Ground.

Administrator

Community on Solid Ground

Welsh Chapel

116B Egerton Road North

Whalley Range

Manchester, M16 0BZ

Email:

Please Note

If you have not received a response within 3 weeks of the closing date, your application has been unsuccessful. Community on Solid Ground, as a charity, follows this procedure to reduce recruitment costs.

Data Protection Act 1998

Information provided by you in this application form will be kept for the purposes of monitoring. It will be copied for use during the recruitment process. Once the recruitment process is completed, the data will be stored for a maximum of 6 months and then destroyed. If you are the successful candidate, relevant information will be taken from this form and used as part of your Human Resources record.

Community on Solid Ground Application Form

JOB TITLE: Project Assistant (Women’s Services)

PERSONAL DETAILS:

Surname: / First names:
Address:
Postcode: / Telephone:
Day:
Evening:
E-mail:
Do you hold a valid UK/EU passport? (please circle) Yes/No
Do you have permission to work in the UK? Yes/No
Do you have a current driving license? Yes /No
Do you have a car you could use for work, if required? Yes /No

EDUCATION:

Please give details of further / higher education, starting with the most recent:

Dates / Name of College/University etc / Qualifications Obtained
From: / To:

OTHER TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS:

Dates

/ Details / Qualifications obtained

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES:

Dates / Name of body / Type of membership

EMPLOYMENT:

Most recent or present employment:

Employer’s name and address / Dates / Position held / Salary
(excluding benefits)
From / To

Please give brief details of your major responsibilities and duties:

What period of notice is required?:

Previous employment: (most recent first)

Employer’s name and address / Dates / Position held / Salary
From / To

Please give brief details of your major responsibilities and duties:

Previous employment:

Employer’s name and address / Dates / Position held / Salary
From / To

Please give brief details of your major responsibilities and duties:

Previous employment:

Employer’s name and address / Dates / Position held / Salary
From / To

Please give brief details of your major responsibilities and duties:

SUPPORTING INFORMATION: EXPERIENCE, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE

Please give your reasons for applying, together with any other information you consider relevant to the post, including what you believe you can bring to the post and the work of Community on Solid Ground. Please use the box below (and additional sheets if required).

OTHER INTERESTS: (including membership of clubs, societies, leagues, etc)

REFERENCES:

Please give details of two people who can provide references, one of whom should be your present or most recent employer.

Name:
Address:
Telephone No:
Email:
Relationship: / Name:
Address:
Telephone No:
Email:
Relationship:
May we contact them prior to interview?
Yes/No / May we contact them prior to interview?
Yes/No

Do you have a disability? If so, please tell us what we need to do if you are short-listed, in order to accommodate this at the interview.

Do you have any criminal convictions that have yet to become ‘spent’ in accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?

Yes No 

If ‘Yes,’ please state the nature of your offence.

DECLARATION

The above information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge

Signed: / Date:

Please return by the advertised closing date to:

Administrator

Community on Solid Ground

Welsh Chapel

116B Egerton Road North

Whalley Range

Manchester, M16 0BZ

Email:

Closing date for applications: 12pm, Monday 6th June 2016

Please note: any applications sent after this time will not be accepted.

Interviews will take place on Thursday 16th June 2016