Working for us - How to apply
The following notes are intended to help all job applicants seeking employment at The Sheffield College, and form part of our commitment to Equal Opportunities.
The following notes are intended to help all job applicants seeking employment at The Sheffield College, and form part of our commitment to Equal Opportunities.
The Sheffield College is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, socio-economic class.
To be considered for employment you must complete the online application form and, if you wish, you can attach additional information in support of your application. If you require additional support in completing the application form please contact Human Resources Team on 0114 260 2769 or email us at jobs@sheffcol.ac.uk.
Please read all the guidance notes before completing the application form. The notes follow the order of sections on the application form. You are strongly advised to read ‘Supporting Information’ as this is a very important part of your application.
Only application forms completed online by the closing date specified by the College will be considered for shortlisting.
All job applicants are considered on a fair, unbiased and lawful basis, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, socio-economic class. Your personal details, e.g. name and address, are not given to the selection panel. Your application form is given a unique identification number to preserve your anonymity.
Include details of your present or most recent work, whether paid or undertaken on a voluntary basis. Please ensure you indicate the number of hours you worked per week and the number of weeks you worked in a year; for example you may have worked seasonally.
If you are applying for a lecturing position it is essential we know all the details of any previous part-time/hourly lecturing work undertaken.
If you would like the College to consider job share or other flexible working for the job please tick the box to indicate ‘Yes’. You will have an opportunity to discuss your request if you are invited to interview. The College will explore possible arrangements with you, consider your request and a decision will be made based on the service needs. However, we cannot give any guarantee that your request will be granted.
Start with the most recent first and work backwards and include any relevant paid or unpaid work experience. Please specify the reasons for leaving and for any gaps between employment or work experience. Details of your continuous employment/work experience will help us to meet our safeguarding responsibilities. Please contact the Human Resources Team if you have any questions or concerns regarding providing this information.
Please give details of formal qualifications obtained and education from secondary school onwards. If you cannot remember all of your grades put Pass, Fail, Referred or Unfinished, as appropriate. If you started a course or programme and did not finish, record it and state the reasons for non-completion. Remember to give details of relevant in-house/in-company courses or other courses you may have attended.
This is the most important section. It is your opportunity to convince us that you have the skills for the job that we have asked for – no matter where you have gained them.
Please note there is a limit of 4,000 characters in this box however you may a continuation sheet at this point.
You should use this section to describe your experience and how it matches the requirements on the person specification. Remember, you may have gained this from your previous jobs or experience from voluntary work, from your knowledge of the local community, or from interests in your social life.
Ensure you know what sort of person we are looking for by reading the job description, person specification, additional details and the advertisement. Look carefully at the essential requirements for the job. Make sure this section is clear and gives examples of what you have done. For example, start your sentences as follows:-
Supporting information indicates the extent of your written skills as well as a commitment in time to your application. If you submit additional supporting information you may wish to include headings and paragraph numbers and this should be a word document.
These should address the essential criteria for the job, as outlined on the person specification provided.
Unless you indicate otherwise, referees are normally contacted before the interview takes place. The referees should be people who know you and are able to comment upon your suitability for the job. Please do not give the name of a friend unless they can comment on your suitability in a work situation. One referee must be your present or most recent employer. If you have not been employed before please provide the name and address of your Year/Personal Tutor or College/University Principal.
If you are successful at interview, you will receive a conditional job offer. You will be required to complete a confidential Occupational Health assessment questionnaire. You may be asked to discuss any relevant health issues with a suitably qualified medical practitioner to establish whether these need to be taken into account when determining your suitability for the job.
We follow the Two Ticks symbol requirements in order to encourage applicants with disabilities. All applicants who state that they have a disability and who meet the essential requirements of the job (set out in the person specification and job description) will be guaranteed an interview. Reasonable adjustments will be made to the recruitment process to ensure that no applicant is disadvantaged because of disability e.g. audio visual aids, translation, access arrangements.
Some jobs at the College involve contact and access to children under 16 or children under 18 who require special support. If this is the case for the job you are applying for, a prospective employee will be required under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 to agree to a police check. If you have been convicted of a criminal offence at any time, this offence may now be 'spent' and treated as if it has never occurred.
However, in the case of jobs involving children, as defined above, these must still be declared, no matter how much time has elapsed since the criminal conviction. In order to check that you must declare 'spent' convictions you can seek advice from a solicitor, Citizens Advice Bureau, Probation Officer, or by contacting the Human Resources Office at the College or other suitably qualified person.
All 'non-spent' or current convictions must be declared. Failure to declare a 'spent' conviction in these circumstances would be considered deception and the College would be entitled to terminate your employment, if you were appointed.
If the interview date is not stated, and you are away from Sheffield or unable to attend at a particular date, please ensure that the dates you are unavailable are clearly stated on either your application form or supporting documentation. However, it should be noted that if the interview date is stated within the further information supplied, it may not be possible to arrange to interview you at another time and date.
We also have a downloadable document which outlines our:
If you have any queries, or require any further information or support, please contact Human Resources as detailed above.
