Posted By John Murphy Alec I can only write about local authority recruitment. We are committed to equalities and that includes equality of opportunity. The recruitment processes we use are auditable and transparent and always include more than one person (normally 3) on the selection and interview panel to ensure openness transparency and honesty. (The panel record in writing the answers an applicant gives to the interview question, signs it and these are kept for five years). I do not understand what you mean by "Similarly councils are specifying council officers admin qualifications as "vital" to keep the private sector boys out". In the job adverts I see for safety staff (In the SP) they quote safety qualification requirement and only those. In more senior posts we might seek someone who has experience of working in a multi-disciplinary organisation (for fairly obvious reasons). LA job applications include a person specification. The majority of applications I have seen fail to see this is an essential tool for ensuring they get across the first hurdle - onto the shortlist! (The interview is normally based on the PS too). Despite clear instructions to applicants they fail to describe how they meet each of the criteria identified in the person spec. (Co-incidentally the most frequent failure is the criteria about applying equal opportunities in the job). We have just appointed a safety adviser in my Council who was not a practising safety professional but he was in open competition with people who were (He was a safety rep' at IKEA)! I hope you can see from this example that we do not discriminate, we appoint the right person for the job. Keep on trying and remember, meet the person spec criteria and you will get an interview then its down to interview technique, personality and charm. Good luck. John

Posted By Alec Wood Thanks guys, I try to look at the person spec as a real measure of what is required. If I don't fit it then generally I would not apply. I would regard it as disrespectfull to them to waste their time. Locally, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and County Durham local authorities have all advertised H&S jobs recently. Most have been open and transparent as you say, but Co Durham's had as "essential" in the person spec a local authority administration certificate. The job function provided gave no hint of the job being anything other than the standard safety officer tasks with their usual amount of admin. This ad was followed by one from Hartlepool advertising several vacancies from Safety Officer to Toilet Cleaner. Every single one of them ended with a line specifying that consideration will only be given to candidates who can demonstrate current familiarity with local authority working practices and procedures. The public sector has long had a "jobs for the boys" reputation which they have worked steadily to rid themselves of over several years. It seems that the ones in this area have given up trying. Alec Wood