Recruitment and Selection Policy	

1. Introduction
1.1 Youth Cymru aims to attract, assess and appoint the best candidates for jobs, to promote equality of opportunity and to build a quality workforce to achieve Youth Cymru’s objectives.
2. Equal opportunities
2.1 Youth Cymru seek to encourage applications from all sections of the community, especially those which are under-represented in its workforce.
2.2 All selection decisions will be based on skills, qualifications and experience. Youth Cymru recognises that apart from job related qualifications and experience, other knowledge and experience may be equally valid in the appointment of a worker and are particularly relevant in the case of people from groups which experience discrimination.
2.3 Person specifications and job descriptions will be carefully drawn up to ensure that criteria are relevant to the job, and that they do not discriminate on any grounds other than the ability to do that job.
3. Person specification
1.3 The person specification is a statement of the specific skills, knowledge, experience and attributes required to undertake the tasks involved in the job.  It will be used as a basis for selecting candidates to be shortlisted and for decision-making during the interview itself by providing known, appropriate, justifiable and agreed criteria.
4. Job description
4.1 The job description sets out the responsibilities, accountabilities and scope of the job and itemises some of its main tasks.
5. Advertising the job
5.1 The advert will be designed and placed to attract as wide a group of suitable applicants as possible.  Care will be taken to ensure the language used does not discriminate unintentionally.
5.2 The advert should reflect the main elements of the job description and person specification and should also include:

•	The name of the organisation(s)
•	Job title
•	Salary details (if for a paid post)
•	Brief outline of duties and requirements
•	Method of application
•	Closing date, interview date (where appropriate)

5.3 Youth Cymru will also make provision for the job information to be available in accessible formats, if required.

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6. Job information pack
6.1 The following documents will be available for job applicants:

•	Covering letter, including date of interview and named person who can answer queries about the recruitment process
•	Job description
•	Person specification
•	Summary of terms and conditions
•	Background information relating to the post
•	Application form
•	Equality monitoring form
•	Information about Youth Cymru
•	Guidance notes for the completion of the application form
•	Access details for disabled people
•	Details of whether applications will be acknowledged or not
7. Dealing with applications
7.1 All applications should be treated as confidential.  All applicants will be kept informed of any significant changes to the recruitment schedule.
7.2 The monitoring form will be detached prior to the application forms being sent to the recruitment panel.  Monitoring of applications received will allow Youth Cymru to assess if a wide range of applicants have been reached and the success of the media used.  It will also be useful to compare the number of completed applications received with the number of application packs requested as this may indicate that an encouraging advertisement has not been backed up by an equally encouraging application pack.
8. Shortlisting
8.1 All applications received before the closing date will be considered.
8.2 Members of the shortlisting panel are obliged to declare an interest to the Chair of the selection panel if they do business with, are related to or are a close friend or partner of any of the applicants.  The Chair of the selection panel will decide whether the panel member should withdraw or continue to be involved in the selection process.
8.3 An applicant’s disability, irrespective of any need to adapt the building or facilities should they be successful, will not disqualify nor adversely affect the candidate’s chances of being shortlisted or offered the post.  This also applies where an existing employee has been newly disabled.
8.4 Each candidate’s ability to meet the requirements of the job, as stated in the person specification, should be assessed using a simple scoring system.  
8.5 Candidates shortlisted for interview will be notified in good time and will be asked if they have any special requirements for interview.
9. The interview
9.1 The aim of the interview is to assess the applicant’s suitability for the job in relation to the person specification.  All candidates will be asked the same initial questions and allocated the same amount of time for their interview.  Different supplementary or probing questions can be asked as appropriate depending on the response of the candidate to the initial question.  Candidates may also be asked specifically about a matter arising from their application form, e.g. unexplained gaps.
9.2 Panel members must give the most careful consideration to their assessment of candidates.  Each panel member is personally responsible for ensuring that they take adequate and legible notes of each candidate’s interview.
9.3 All candidates will be asked about their commitment to equality and how they will ensure their work promotes this.
9.4 Any test will be relevant to the job description and justifiable against the criteria in the person specification.
10. Recruitment of ex-offenders
10.1 Youth Cymru complies fully with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Code of Practice.
10.2 Specific posts may be exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants will be required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013).

11. Taking the decision
11.1 A simple scoring system will be used to establish how well each candidate meets the requirements of the job.  The interview panel should total their assessments before any discussion/comparison of candidates is made.
11.2 Any shortlisting notes, interview notes and the monitoring form should be kept for 1 year as they may need to be referred to if the panel’s decision is challenged.  An industrial tribunal will request that all notes of all panel members are submitted to support any decision that was made.
11.3 As well as letting the unsuccessful, short-listed, candidates know that they have not been successful, consideration should be given to feedback their strengths and weaknesses as appropriate.
11.4 The panel will aim to notify the successful candidate, usually be telephone, at the earliest opportunity.
11.5 All successful applicants who have professional status and qualification should be registered on a relevant professional workforce register. 
12 References
12.2 Referees for the individual will normally be contacted in writing after the successful candidate has given their permission for Youth Cymru to contact those people.
12.3 Checks required by the Asylum and Immigration Act 2006 will be undertaken.

13. Other related policies
13. This policy is to be read in conjunction with the following policies:

•	Staff supervision
•	Staff training
•	Diversity and Equality
•	Welsh Language Policy
•	Safeguarding Policy

* The DBS Code of Practice can be found at the website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-code-of-practice  

** Information on the checks required can be found at the website: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073981874 

Signed: .. ...............................................................  
Position: ...Acting Joint CEO......................................................  
Latest review/approved dated: .........7th July 2018.......................