Our recruitment process

If you are looking to apply for one of our positions, then the following information provides a brief overview of everything you need to know.

Pre-application

Applications received from former Lancashire County Council employees will not be considered where this would breach the terms of their voluntary redundancy / severance agreement.

Short listing

The Person Specification contains the criteria for each job and our recruiting managers review all applications against the Person Specification. Your application is, therefore, your chance to sell your skills and experience as well as demonstrating how you meet the job criteria. This is why it is important that you provide adequate detail when completing your application.

You will receive a notification when the shortlisting exercise is completed to let you know whether or not your application will be taken through to the next stage of the selection process.

Assessment centres

As part of the selection process, you may be invited to attend an assessment centre or be asked to complete online tests.

Assessment Centres are an effective method of assessing the strengths and development needs of candidates. There are several selection tools which may be used during an assessment centre but the main elements include:

  • Ability tests measure current ability and future potential for a wide range of skills, for example verbal, numerical reasoning, clerical checking.
  • Personality Questionnaires indicate personality or work style preferences.
  • Situational Judgement tests give hypothetical situations to determine how an individual would react.
  • Group exercises assess group interaction between a number of candidates.
  • Presentations assess knowledge, fact finding, presentation and influencing skills.

Should you be invited to complete assessments, your invitation will specify which tests are to be used and further information will be provided to help you to prepare.

Interview

When preparing for the interview, you should familiarise yourself with the Job Description and Person Specification for the role.

The Person Specification contains the criteria that will be assessed at interview stage; therefore you should ensure that you have clear examples to demonstrate how you have met these requirements in the past.

You can prepare notes or cue cards to help if think you might need a prompt during the interview but make sure you ask the interviewer if it's acceptable to use these during the interview.

Pre-employment checks

Employment checks are a critical part of the recruitment process. They ensure that the organisation complies with legislation and that the people selected to take a new role are suitable and have the relevant qualifications.

The law requires specific checks to be carried out if you will be working in a role with children or vulnerable adults.

If you are successful in being offered a position with us, the pre-employment checks that you will be asked to undertake will be dependent on the role that you've applied for. However, as a guide these may include:

  • Right to work in the UK
  • Disclosure and Barring Service checks
  • Reference checks
  • Medical checks
  • Qualification checks

If the post you are applying for requires you to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a 'disclosure' please note information provided by you or the Disclosure and Barring Service will be dealt with in a confidential manner in accordance with the DBS's Code of Practice. You may view the Code of Practice on the DBS website at www.gov.uk/dbs or alternatively a copy is available on request from the Recruiting Manager. The following policy documents are available for your information;

General help on getting a job

At our libraries we can help you:

  • Set up an email account
  • Register with Find a job
  • Find useful advice from the National Careers Service
  • Find a CV template, CV tips and what to include in your CV
  • Access Jobseeker Skills which includes guides to Find a job, job hunting, CVs/covering letters, interviews and starting work. Login with your Lancashire library card number

Contact your local library for more details.

Courses

Lancashire libraries regularly hold online basics and online jobs sessions. You may need to book for some sessions. Free work clubs are held in a number of libraries and other venues across Lancashire where tutors will help with producing CVs and covering letters, completing application forms, interview skills and searching for jobs online.