HOW TO FILL IN A NON TRAINING JOB APPLICATION FOR THE NHS

Hey guys! It's Vaanathi here! I hope everyone is staying safe.

So the next step is filling in job applications! I know it sounds daunting and tiresome... but it's really not that scary! I'm going to start off by giving a basic introduction about the websites.

YOU CAN START APPLYING FOR NON TRAINING JOBS WHENEVER YOU WANT! There is no restriction on when you should and shouldn't apply for jobs. That being said, I strongly recommend that you wait at least until you have passed PLAB 2 and applied for GMC.

Hospitals will take you more seriously if they see that you are almost registered.

There are two main websites that everyone recommends:

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/

https://apps.trac.jobs/

The majority of job vacancies are advertised on BOTH WEBSITES. However, when I was applying, I did find a few that were only on TRACJOBS. PLEASE CHECK BOTH WEBSITES EVERYDAY!!! New jobs are added continuously. Majority of the trusts, regardless of which websites you use to apply, will import the application onto Trac Jobs before they shortlist. So it is a MUST to have an account on Trac Jobs. You will get an email when the application has been imported to tracjobs and you will have to login and claim it. If you use Trac jobs, then there is no need to login and claim anything.

IT IS UPTO YOU WHICH WEBSITE YOU USE TO APPLY! THEY WILL NOT PREFER ONE WEBSITE OVER THE OTHER.

Personally, I preferred NHS Jobs as I found the user interface to be much more nicer and I had a lot of technical issues with Trac Jobs. However, Reetu used only Trac Jobs. Try both and use whichever suits you.

I am going to talk a bit more about NHS Jobs here.

Create an account and use a formal email id. I know several people who still use email ID's that they have created when in school. Try to make it simple as it will seem more professional. For example: firstnamesurname@gmail.com OR firstname.surname@gmail.com OR initialsurname@gmail.com .

After you have made your account, create a profile. You can start with your profile while waiting for PLAB 2 results. Take some time and fill it out fully and concisely. More words doesn't necessarily mean you've achieved more on your CV so be CONCISE. It is tiring! You will get annoyed. But if you fill it in once, you can reuse some parts of it multiple times such as employment history and referee details! I'm going to explain a few places where I had doubts with what to fill.

Visa status- Both of us required Visas. It is perfectly okay for you to mention this.

Employment history- Brief description of duties and responsibilities: BRIEF!!! Do not write stories. Do not go into too much detail. Word limit is 500 and I wrote only 100-200 words. Please include attachments and observerships. House Surgeon Job is considered equivalent to FY1 and is a pre graduation job.

Referee- Make sure you ask whosever name you are providing before giving their details. Double check all their details. You CAN definitely give references from OUSTIDE THE UK as well. But try hard to get an attachment so you can use a UK reference (it will help you a lot, because they will see you have some NHS exposure)

Courses- Both of us had not done any proper courses. However, I had completed AHA ALS in India. This is not recognised in the UK, however, I had added it as a course. I was also asked about this in one of my interviews.

Teaching- If you have not done any teaching, please do not fill in the box with a simple 'no'. Try and frame the sentence in such a way that you show you are interested in doing it in the future but have not had the opportunity to do it now.

for example- Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to .............., However , given the chance in the future, It is something I am very much interested in pursuing. THIS FORMAT CAN BE USED FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ON AUDIT AND RESEARCH.

If you have done teaching, or intend to do some, PLEASE COLLECT FEEDBACK! Your hospital may have official feedback forms, or you can create one on google forms, or you can use the following one: https://www.jrcptb.org.uk/documents/evaluation-form-teaching-and-presentations

I would suggest you ensure the feedbacks are anonymous. For the sake of training applications, you can ask the co-ordinator (or whoever is organizing the teaching) to compile all the feedbacks into a single form.

You can also do online teaching courses. BMJ also offers online modules.

Audit- This is HUGELY important. It is a BIG deal in the NHS!! Do your best to get involved in quality improvement projects. You can do it anywhere. I did my audit in India and I was still asked about it in the interviews. Reetu did hers during her Clinical Attachment. DO AN AUDIT ANYWHERE YOU CAN PLEASE!

Publications- YES !! Try and get some publications!! Even case reports are really good. It will help for training applications. (Disclosure even if you don't have publications you can still get a job- Reetu did not have any, but she mentioned how she was submitting them to be published).

Supporting Information main- I have gotten opinions from lots of different people about this part. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. Different formats have worked for different people. I am going to tell you my format and I hope it helps.

Try to divide your writing into different paragraphs or even use headings. Reetu did not use headings. You have to read the specifications for the job and please use it to tailor your supporting information (I know it's time consuming but it will help you a lot!!), so you know what they are looking for.

1. Give a small introduction as to why you like medicine and how this job will help in your long term goal and career

2. Why are you valuable?! What skills do you possess and where did you learn them?! How can you help the department?

3. Tailor your skills to the job specifications

4. And lastly, why this department? What has made you interested in this particular field?

Mine was 1000 words approx while Reetu's was 500 words. We have both gotten multiple interviews.

Double check the applications before you submit them, poor grammar is a big NO= NO.

Some applications may require you to upload your CV.

Time to apply:

What to search for?

If you have finished MBBS including your house job, you can apply for FY2, Junior Clinical Fellow, SHO and ST1 level jobs. Please also apply for LAS and LAT jobs.

What extra to do?

Each job that you open, read and download the job description and person specification. There are multiple PDF's with each job advert which YOU SHOULD READ! PLEASE DO THIS FOR EVERY JOB YOU WANT TO APPLY TO. I had a habit of downloading and saving each application after I had submitted it as well.

The first one you fill will be extremely slow. But it gets faster as you go on. Keep applying and don't lose hope! Things are slow because of COVID, but you should keep applying. Both of us applied for jobs during the pandemic. I started applying for jobs in march 2020 and confirmed a job in June 2020. Reetu started applying in October 2020 and got her job confirmed in November 2020.

Stay tuned for our next post for more tips to secure an interview.

GOOD LUCK