PSNI External Recruitment Branch

Applicants are advised to keep a copy of this booklet for reference throughout the process.

Candidate Booklet

This is an online application form which must be completed electronically. Applicants will be asked to confirm and demonstrate that they meet our eligibility criteria and to supply a number of personal details.

Please note that all equality monitoring forms must be complete in order for an application to be submitted.

CVs are not accepted for permanent positions. To apply you must complete an application pack. If your application pack is received after the closing date and time it cannot be accepted.

If a candidate’s application is successful and the candidate is invited to interview stage,but the interview date is not suitable for the candidate PSNI will try as far as possible to offer an alternative date or time for their interview/assessment. However this is not always feasible.

Formal screening of application forms

Formal screening of application forms consists of a check to determine that the application form has been completed fully.

Part-completed application forms will NOT be sent back to the applicant for completion nor will applicants be contacted to provide details which were omitted from the application form.

*Note: Applications from candidates outside the United Kingdom do not have National Insurance Numbers in the same format as in the United Kingdom and therefore will not be rejected for omitting.

Applications will be rejected if:-

The applicant does not satisfy the nationality requirement for the post;
The applicant is a current PSNI partial retiree;

Applicants, who do not pass the above formal screening, will not be progressed further and the relevant applicants will be informed.

Shortlisting

Shortlisting may be applied to a process when there is a need to reduce the pool of candidates to a more manageable number in advance of the selection stage.

In such cases, shortlisting is normally carried out against the desirable criteria on the application form, on the basis of the information contained in your application form. The short listing panel do not have access to any information other than what is on your application.

Candidates are therefore strongly advised to demonstrate each criterion in the section of the form that specifically addresses that criterion.

Assessment Centre

In some cases candidates may be required to attend an assessment. This may be in the form of an eligibility test, presentation, group assessment or any other form of assessment where appropriate. Candidates will be informed of this at the onset and details of requirements will be provided to the candidate.

Education

For those candidates who are invited to Interview we require proof of qualifications. If you do not have original copies of your qualifications please contact the school where you sat your examinations. If they cannot provide this information you should contact the appropriate examination board (you will be given a period of time to try and obtain these). If we do not receive original copies of your qualifications within the specified time frame you will not be appointed to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

If your certificates are in a name other than that which you applied in, you will need to provide us with documentary evidence (i.e. either your Marriage Certificate or Change of Name Deed Poll Certificate) to verify that your certificates relate to you. Applicants will be required to provide original and photocopies of exam certificates at Assessment Centre.

Where professional qualifications are required as part of the selection criteria,candidates must hold current full membership of professional bodies prior to sift taking place. (Certificates will be validated if invited to attend interview.)

Please note that all certificates must be dated on or before the competition closing date.

Computer Literacy

Applicants are required to have a level of computer literacyas stated on the Job Description, in order to effectively perform their role.

Additional requirement

If an applicant is successful following interview and is within the appointable band that the PSNI intends to recruit from, for a particular competition, they will be required to pass all of the following stages in order to be considered for appointment:

Medical Assessment
Substance Misuse Test
Recruitment Vetting Process

Vetting

Police Service of Northern Ireland Vetting Policy is designed to support and embed the Policing with the Community Strategy 2020. The overriding principle of the strategy is to gain the confidence of the whole community in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

For civilians coming into the organisation and those already employed, the check consists of a CTC Check (Counter Terrorist Check) and a check of motoring and criminal convictions. If someone has a conviction it does not necessarily mean that they will be refused security clearance. We use guidelines to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly.

In some cases members of staff are vetted to a higher level, these are known as SC Level (Security Check Level - this was formerly known as Extended Security Check Level) and DV Level (Developed Vetting). These are used where members of staff are employed in posts where they would have access to highly sensitive and top secret information.

All applicants who have spent time in the last three years outside the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland should be aware that the process for checking will vary from country to country. Where it is not possible to carry out necessary checks an application will not be processed further.

Substance Misuse Policy

As an employer the Police Service of Northern Ireland is required to provide a safe working environment and safe systems of working for both employees and those who are not in their employment but with whom they come into contact.

As a result the Police Service of Northern Ireland has introduced a substance misuse policy which includes testing of biological material for history of use of substances listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Therefore, all successful applicants will be required to undergo a drug-screening test prior to being offered an appointment.

Those who return a positive result will not be offered an appointment with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Medical Standards and Disability Discrimination Act

The Police Service of Northern Ireland expects employees to be fit for the full range of duties. Consideration will be given to making reasonable adjustments for candidates for whom the conditions of the Disability Discrimination Act is likely to apply. Candidates who are successful at Interview stage will be expected to complete a Medical Health Questionnaire form. Details on this form will be subject to data protection and will only be viewed by PSNI Occupational Health Adviser.

Candidates maybe asked to attend a medical appointment.

Queries

PSNI appointments will not be made from any competition where the order of merit is more than twelve months old unless there are practical reasons for extending the period.

Candidates should not liaise with panel members and departmental representatives. All queries regarding this process must be directed to Resourcing Branch, Human Resources, Lisnasharragh. All communication regarding results will be issued by Resourcing Branch, HR.

Panel members must not, under any circumstances, contact candidates directly regarding results before these are issued formally. Any breach has the potential to invalidate the process and/ or initiate legal proceedings, and therefore will be taken seriously and will be subject to investigation. Equally, candidates must not lobby panel members or branch/departmental heads for information regarding results prior to official release, and any instances of same will also be investigated.

Please do not place yourself in this position.

Feedback

Feedback will not normally be given if an applicant is rejected following the paper sift stage.

Feedback for selection processes will be provided in writing, upon request to Resourcing Branch, HR. Panel members will notoffer feedback to candidates after interviews.

Complaints Procedure

We are committed to providing the highest standard of service to all our customers. However, if something goes wrong or you are dissatisfied with our service, please let us know so we can put things right as soon as possible.

We want to:

Make it easy for you to raise your complaint
Listen to your concerns
Treat complaints seriously and deal with them efficiently
Apologise when we have got it wrong
Make sure you are satisfied with how your complaint was handled
Learn from complaints and take action to improve our service

How to raise your complaint

By email – contact HR Recruitment at , placing ‘Complaint’ in the subject of your email.

It is important that in responding to such complaints that applicants are advised that selection decisions by panels cannot be ‘appealed’.

If you write to us we will acknowledge receipt within 5 working days.

If the investigation required is complex or we require further time to provide you with a complete response we will reply to you to update you on the progress of your complaint and tell you how longwe expect it will take. We will continue to keep you informed of progress until we have provided a full response to your complaint.

Your complaint has been investigated but you are not satisfied

Ask for your complaint to be reviewed by a higher level manager within HR Resourcing.
If you are not satisfied with the initial response you should ask for your complaint to be referred to the Head of Resourcing.
If you are still not satisfied with our explanation you can write to the Director of HR.

Keeping People Safe