Could you join e l b i d e r c n our i team?
Your guide to applying to Bluebell Wood
About Bluebell Wood Introduction
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of our amazing team. At Bluebell Wood we care for children and young adults whose lives are just too short, across South Yorkshire, North Notts, North Derbyshire and parts of North Lincolnshire. We’re here to help the whole family by giving them the chance to create wonderful memories together, and every single member of staff and every volunteer helps make this a reality.
Our incredible care
Our vision is to reach every family that needs our help, and to offer We currently care for around 290 children them the best choice of care. and young adults, both at our hospice in North If you share this vision, we Anston and in family homes. would love to hear During their stay with us, we provide from you. accommodation for families, as well as delicious home-cooked meals. Our Care Team are on hand 24 hours a day so families can relax and have fun.
Living with love and laughter Whether they’re signing The Gruffalo in Makaton or getting crafty in our messy play room, our Activity Co-ordinators and Music Therapist help children, as well as their brothers and sisters, express themselves through lots of fun and exciting experiences.
We’re also there when the worst happens and a child passes away. Families can stay in our end-of-life suite, and see our counsellors when they need.
Our volunteers
From April 2017 to April 2018 our volunteers gave us an amazing 74,623 hours of their time. Whether they’re welcoming customers in our shops, or keeping our hospice spick and span, each of our volunteers brings something different to Bluebell Wood. Joan, one of our shop volunteers, said: “When I retired, volunteering became a way to satisfy my love of shopping and help people at the It costs £11,000 to keep the hospice open same time.” each day for families who need us most, and 90% of that comes from donations and the help of our fantastic supporters.
Fabulous fundraising
From bake sales and bucket collections, to racing soapboxes and running through clouds of colour, we are so grateful to the amazing support we get from our community and corporate fundraisers. Without their dedication, we just couldn’t help as many families as we do.
Spectacular shops
From bargain to boutique, our nine shops across the region sell the very best in pre-loved goods, while helping us share our message across our catchment area. Donations of clothes, books and bric-a-brac are incredibly important to us; one bag of donations sold in our shops is worth £15 to our families, which could pay for a fun filled play session.
Want to join our team? Turn over to find out how to apply...
Your guide to applying for a job with us So, you’ve found a position at Bluebell Wood that you want to apply for. That’s great! So what’s next? Now you need to make sure your application does you justice, and gives you the best possible chance of getting an interview. This means reading the job description and person specification carefully, and taking time over your application to make sure you demonstrate the required skills and experience. We will be judging you on how well your application matches the person specification for the position you’re applying for. The applicants who most closely match the person specification will be the ones that will be offered an interview. To stand the best chance of receiving an invitation you’ll need to show you have the skills and experience we’re looking for (by giving clear examples within your supporting statement). Please make sure you have read and understood the:
“Bluebell Job Description – this provides details about the purpose of the job, level of responsibility, and duties to Wood is a lovely be performed. This is an opportunity for you to see if the place to work, job is really the one for you. Person Specification – this gives details of the everyone is friendly qualifications, experience, skills and knowledge needed and I feel proud to be to carry out the duties. part of such a great For more information about filling out your application, please team.” read over the next few pages. When you’ve completed your application, make sure you send it in to us so we receive it before the closing date and time specified on the advert. You can email it to us on recruitment@bluebellwood.org or you can send it in by post to our HR Department: FAO HR Department, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, Cramfit Road, North Anston, Sheffield, S25 4AJ. Good luck!
01909 517 360 Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice
www.bluebellwood.org recruitment@bluebellwood.org
Completing the application form Here are some of our tips and tricks for completing our application form: If you are hand-writing the application please use black ink so it will show up clearly when photocopied. Read the instructions in the job advert and application form very carefully before you start, and make sure that you complete all the sections of the application form. The information you give will be used to decide if you should be shortlisted for interview. Make sure you understand what information we are asking you for. Answer all questions as fully as you can. If you can’t answer a question then please put N/A to show that you have not missed it out. If you need more space in any of the sections you can attach additional sheets to your applications. The Personal Details, Criminal Convictions, Disciplinary Procedures and References sections must be completed in full. These will be separated from your application by the HR team before shortlisting. The Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form will also not be used for shortlisting and is used for monitoring purposes only. Make sure you don’t leave any gaps in your employment history. If there are periods of unemployment or voluntary/unpaid work then please indicate this in the employment history section. Please do not attach your CV to the form as it will not be considered. We need you to complete our own application form so that each application can be considered fairly. Remember, the decision to invite you to interview will be based solely on the information you provide in your application form, so to make your application stand out, take some time in completing the Supporting Statement section. You’ll want to show us that you meet all of the essential and desirable criteria listed on the person specification, including any education, experience, skills/knowledge criteria the job role requires. When you complete this section it might be helpful to put headings for each criteria as you cover them. Underneath these headings tell us how you meet each criteria, using clear examples of a time when you demonstrated these (don’t forget to include any voluntary/ unpaid work as these can also provide great examples of your skills and experience). You may want to keep a photocopy of your application so that you can refresh your memory if you’re invited to attend an interview.
01909 517 360
www.bluebellwood.org
Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice
recruitment@bluebellwood.org
Guidance for each section of the form Personal details
Please complete all of this section. Your personal details will NOT be made available to the shortlisting panel. Our shortlisting decision will only be based on your qualifications and experience and, in particular, your supporting statement.
Criminal convictions
Please read the statement in this section carefully and respond honestly, giving details if you have ever received a criminal conviction, caution, warning, reprimand or bind over. Any offer of employment made which requires a DBS check will be subject to receipt of satisfactory disclosure check from the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).
Disciplinary proceedings
Please provide details of any disciplinary proceedings you have had. Reference requests will include a request for details of any disciplinary actions or investigations which you have been subject to that are ongoing or still live on your records.
References
For all positions you must provide a minimum of two references. If you need to provide any more previous referee details, please attach an additional sheet with your application. If you are or have been employed, these should include your two most recent employers, your line manager or someone in a position of responsibility who can comment on your work experience, competence, personal qualities and suitability for the post. If you are a student please provide contact details of a teacher at your school, college or university. If you have not been in employment for some time but have had previous employment, then you should provide details of your last known employer and details of someone who can provide a personal reference. Where it is not possible to obtain any employer reference at all then please provide details of two personal referees. Personal referees such as friends and relatives are not acceptable. References will only be sought once a job offer has been made, and any offer of employment is subject to receipt of two satisfactory references.
Employment history
Please give details of your current or most recent employer, and previous employment covering your full employment history. Bluebell Wood recruitment@bluebellwood.org 01909 517 360 www.bluebellwood.org Children’s Hospice
Guidance for each section of the form Education
Please give details of school/college/university education, qualifications gained, and when these were awarded.
Other relevant training
You can give us information in this section about other training you have done which is relevant to the post. This could include workplace training, conferences and seminars, part-time courses, distance learning, etc.
Membership of professional bodies
If you have membership of a professional body, please supply details in this section.
Supporting statement
This is the most important part of your application. The information you give us will be matched against the essential and desirable requirements on the person specification, so make sure you have read it carefully. The job description will give you further information too. Every application will be compared against the person specification. When completing the application remember to show clearly how your knowledge, skills and experience are relevant to the requirements of the post. This section is your opportunity to make yourself stand out, so make sure you use it to your advantage. You can include any information here that has not been covered elsewhere on the form. Make sure you tell us why you would be suitable and how you meet the person specification. You need to convince the shortlisting panel that you have the required skills, knowledge and experience for the job, and that they should invite you for an interview. You can include, among other things, details about: Your duties and responsibilities in a current or previous role; Any skills, knowledge and/or experience which are relevant to the post; An explanation of any employment gaps; Voluntary work you have accomplished; Research, publication or presentation experience. If you have any queries about our application or interview process, please give us a call on 01909 517 360, or email recruitment@bluebellwood.org.
01909 517 360
www.bluebellwood.org
Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice
recruitment@bluebellwood.org
Monitoring equal opportunities Bluebell Wood strives to be an equal opportunity employer and we strongly believe in giving all our applicants equal opportunities when applying for a job with us. We aim to eliminate direct or indirect discrimination within our application process, as covered by the Equality Act 2010. This means that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation or gender reassignment. We would be grateful if you would take a few moments to complete our Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form when you fill out your application; the information is used solely for monitoring purposes and is separated from the rest of the application form before the interview.
Application deadline and interview
The closing and interview dates are clearly indicated on our job advertisements, wherever possible. Please make sure that your application reaches us before the closing date as we are unable to extend our application deadlines unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you are shortlisted to interview then, firstly, congratulations! We only invite the very best candidates to interview with us. Please make sure you check you can attend the interview date, as it is very unlikely that we will be able to offer you an alternative interview date. During the interview you may be asked to give a prepared presentation or perform a task relevant to the job you have applied for. You may be given the information for these in advance, or on the day, depending on task. After your interview, we aim to get back to you with our decision as soon as possible. If you are not offered the position, we are happy to give feedback on your interview (although due to the high number of applicants, we can’t give feedback on your application form).
01909 517 360 www.bluebellwood.org Bluebell Wood recruitment@bluebellwood.org Children’s Hospice