Local Recruitment for the National Graduate Programme – London Borough of Waltham Forest Council
Graduate scheme

Vacancy Reference: 002397

Location: Graduate scheme

Closing Date: 05/01/2022

Salary: at least £25,991

Employment Type: Graduate Programme

Department: Graduate Scheme

Hours Per Week: 35

Welcome to the application portal for local campaigns in association with the National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP).

It is likely that you have been directed here from a local authority who is participating in local recruitment for the NGDP and have read their advert detailing their criteria for what they deem to be a local candidate. 

Please read the following very carefully before applying.


1. Before applying – the requirements

Each council participating in a local recruitment campaign have set their own unique  definition of what a local candidate is to them. Please ensure you read the councils advert and/or refer to this table outlining the councils definition of local/eligibility criteria.

Only candidates who meet both the council’s criteria and meet the following essential criteria will be shortlisted for a local campaign.
•    You will have obtained a 2.2 undergraduate degree in any subject by summer 2022 
•    You have the right to work in the UK without employer sponsorship (successful applicants be required to provide documentary evidence of their entitlement to work in the UK (in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006). The NGDP is unable to apply to sponsor a visa for candidates.  

If you do not meet the council’s criteria but have the above, and you wish to participate in the NGDP please apply to the national programme here. Please note you cannot proceed with an application to both the national and local campaign and if you submit two applications you will be asked to choose one to progress. 

2.    The application 

You are applying to be considered as a local candidate for your chosen council. The council you choose must be participating in the local recruitment process under the NGDP. You can find out which councils are signed up and their definition of a local candidate in this table. 
This is an opportunity for local candidates to apply to become a National Management Trainee on the national graduate development programme (NGDP) on a fixed term contract until August 2024.

Those who apply through the local route go through all the same assessment stages alongside the national candidates and if successful at interview stage, you will become a part of the national NGDP cohort and learning and development programme.

3.    What is different for me as a local candidate compared to if I apply via the National application portal?

1.    Your application will be shortlisted by the council that you are applying to. They will not see your personal details during the shortlisting or assessment process, but will see the details that enable them to determine if you meet their local criteria.
2.    For those successful at assessment centres (stage 3) you will interview exclusively with the council you have chosen to apply to. At this point the council will receive your personal details (name, contact details) so that they can invite you to interview.
You will receive your assessment invites and outcome emails in line with the dates in the national timeline. Your support email during this time is the ngdp.support@local.gov.uk team - please do not contact the council directly as they do not administer your assessments.  
As a part of the application process for stage one, you will be required to take one online test (Situational Judgement Questionnaire). The NGDP uses online tests to help evaluate a large number of candidates fairly and equally at the start of our assessment process. Our online tests are designed to measure the skills and behaviours that are required for the NGDP.


4. How is my data stored and shared?

Should you choose to apply to a local campaign via this application portal please note that your application will be held by the Local Government Association (LGA) who host the National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP). 
After your application has been submitted, the LGA will provide access to your chosen council. The council will have access to view essential details that allow them to shortlist against their selection criteria for local candidates.  
It is important to note that by applying for a local campaign you are accepting that the local authority you select as your desired employer will have access to view your application in order to shortlist effectively against their criteria.

The LGA uses anonymised recruitment for all applications. This means that the local authority will not be able to see the personal details of the candidates applying to their campaign at shortlisting stage. Instead, they will be able to see the unique candidate ID of each candidate. After shortlisting and assessments have taken place the council will be able to view your name and will have access to contact successful candidates at interview stage unless you choose to withdraw.
You have the opportunity to withdraw your application at any time during the process and can do so by logging in to jobtrain.
You can find more information regarding the LGA’s privacy statement on the application page (follow apply link below).

For further information please visit www.local.gov.uk/national-graduate-development-programme or contact the NGDP support team at ngdp.support@local.gov.uk


Before you apply - be prepared for the Situational Judgement Test

As part of the application process, you are required to complete a Situational Judgment Test which is the only assessment you will need to complete at this stage.

The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) you are about to complete presents you with 16 realistic scenarios that someone might experience in a role on the NGDP, along with multiple ways of responding. The SJT will appear after you have completed your application question and you will need to complete the SJT before you can submit your entire application.

Instructions for the test:

This test is untimed and it should be completed in one sitting. You will be taken to the assessment page after answering your application questions.

You will need to organise each scenario into the order of response, depending on what you are most likely or least likely to do for each of the 16 questions. There are detailed instructions within the form.

If you experience any difficulties and require an accessible version of the application and test please contact ngdp.support@local.gov.uk who will provide this to you.

For further information please visit https://www.local.gov.uk/national-graduate-development-programme

Closing date: 12.00pm midday, Wednesday 5 January 2022

Interview Date: May - June 2022 (interviews will be held after the outcomes of the assessment centres and no later than the end of June)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

This vacancy is now closed. We are no longer accepting applications for this position.

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