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Police Service of Northern Ireland - Candidate Charter

Candidate Charter - Staff

The Police Service of Northern Ireland will manage all stages of the recruitment process for Police Staff requirement, which includes:

  • Provision of information on the recruitment process;
  • Advertising vacancies and communicating with candidates until appointment;
  • Managing the application stage through provision of an online application form and equality monitoring form;
  • Determining if candidates meet eligibility criteria which includes age, nationality, computer literacy and education (determining whether education eligibility criteria is met will include assessing evidence of qualifications attained);
  • Determining if the details provided by the candidate on the application form meet the required shortlisting criteria for the job applied for;
  • Conducting an assessment of candidates through assessment techniques such as selection test, interview and presentation;
  • Assessing candidates against the Competency Values Framework (CVF);
  • Ensuring that assessors independently mark and agree your rating for the competency being examined;
  • Successful candidates, having been assessed and reached the required standard for appointment, are placed onto a merit list and notified accordingly;
  • If successful in a recruitment process and within the appointable band, the candidate will be issued with a provisional offer of appointment which will be subject to successful completion of all pre-employment checks as follows -

(i)    Vetting process aimed at maintaining the public's confidence in PSNI. This process considers issues such as previous convictions, social media activity, financial health of candidates;

(ii)   Health assessment to consider if you are fit for the full range of duties associated with the job applied for and where reasonable adjustments to working practice and/or working environment may be needed;

(iii)   Pre-employment Substance Misuse Test. This is normally conducted on successful completion of vetting;

(iv)   Online learning package which has to be undertaken and successfully completed by the candidate.

  • When all pre-employment checks are successfully completed, PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment will issue the appropriate offer of appointment. It is PSNI policy that, except in very exceptional circumstances, candidates will only receive one offer of appointment from a competition which, if not accepted, will result in the candidate being withdrawn from the competition.

This charter outlines:

  • The standard of service you can expect during the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment process;
  • What you can do to help the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Team to help you;
  • The process to be followed should you feel that you have not received the standard of service that you expect, i.e. the complaints process.

1.    The PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Team will help you by:

✓   Dealing with your application as quickly as possible and keeping you informed about progress and decisions;

✓   Giving you accurate information throughout the recruitment process;

✓   Being polite and easy to talk to - our staff will treat you with respect and will do their best to understand your personal circumstances;

✓   Being fair - how we treat you during the recruitment process will not be affected by your community background, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, domestic status, age, political opinion, whether or not you have a disability, or whether or not you have dependants;

✓   Treating everything you say to us as confidential;

✓   Complying with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and GDPR laws;

✓   Asking for your views and using them to improve the service we provide;

✓   Responding to issues within our control at assessment events immediately, and if this is not possible, noting what was at issue in case of the need for further review;

✓   Responding to any formal queries or complaints by email within ten working days. If we cannot deal with query fully within the ten working days of receipt we will tell you why and advise if there is anything you need to do;

✓   Ensuring that your Equality Monitoring Form is held securely outside the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment administration unit. We will ensure that neither administration staff nor assessors have access to these forms. This information will not be used in deciding your progress through the recruitment process or in determining your suitability to be appointed.

2.    To help the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Team we need you to:

✓   Take responsibility for your own application and follow all instructions (either written or verbal) fully and meet deadlines/attend appointments when they are set;

✓   Give us complete and accurate information;

✓   At application stage, provide a valid, working email address, to which you have ongoing access for the duration of the recruitment process. If you have several different email addresses, you must consistently use the one specified at application stage;

✓   Tell us about changes in your circumstances as soon as they occur, such as a change of address or email address;

✓   Give us the correct Unique Identity Number (UID) if you contact us about your application;

✓   Understand that, so we have a detailed documentary written record of all your transactions, and for security reasons, the primary form of communication with candidates is via email. All correspondence will be with you only (we cannot enter correspondence with any third party unless we have received your instructions permitting this in writing);

✓   Check all email folders for communication with us. This includes 'junk' folders, as some email providers filter emails from us. Once an email has left our system, it is your responsibility to ensure that you read it, and take appropriate action. Please check your email folders frequently;

✓   Provide photographic identification when attending for assessments - please note that only a driving licence (with photograph), passport, Northern Ireland electoral identity card, EU National identity card, HM Forces identity card, or Citizen Card will be accepted;

✓   Provide evidence of qualifications that form a part of your application within the deadlines required by carefully following your instructions that will be provided and using official forms of documentation;

✓   Raise any concerns that you have regarding the recruitment process immediately (and not later than seven calendar days) after the issue happens. In the case of an issue arising at assessment stage, you must raise the matter with the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment team immediately so that we can deal with it on the day. Any concerns must be submitted formally by email. Please note any appeals lodged after results have been issued will not be considered; 

✓   Be respectful to our staff and your fellow applicants in all dealings. Unacceptable behaviour contrary to PSNI's high expectations of its employees may lead to automatic disqualification.

3.     If things go wrong during the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Process:

✓   The PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Team strive to get things right first time, but if you think we have made a mistake contact us. We will look into matters straight away and correct anything that we find to be wrong. We shall investigate any complaints arising from your application and respond accordingly. N.B. Complaints must be sent by email to PoliceStaffRecruitment@psni.police.uk and received by PSNI within seven calendar days of the incident arising. Your complaint will initially be reviewed by an experienced PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Team Administrator, and as necessary by the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Manager.

✓    Please remember you should raise any concerns that you have regarding the recruitment process immediately (and not later than seven calendar days) after the issue happens. In the case of an issue arising at assessment stage, you must raise the matter with the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment team immediately so that we can deal with it on the day. Any concerns must be submitted formally by email. Please not any appeals lodged after results have been issued will not be considered.

✓    If you are not happy with the response provided by the PSNI External Police Staff Recruitment Manager, an escalation process is in place whereby complaints will be reviewed by the Head of PSNI External Recruitment.

✓    You can help by giving us the information we ask for as quickly as you can.