How to apply for an

Operating Department

Practitioner Post

CC 27 Careers Centre

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Introduction This guide has been produced by the Careers Centre to help you make high quality effective applications for Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) posts. It is offered to our ODP students in conjunction with Application & Interview workshops arranged with your tutors within the teaching timetable. This guide contains information on:

Completing application forms Producing a targeted CV

Putting together a letter of application / personal statement

Addressing person specifications

Effective marketing of your skills & abilities

Useful websites for ODP vacancies

Contact details of some local trusts

Good luck with your applications!

Des Hope (July 2013)

Making Applications

The purpose of completing an applications form is to achieve an interview. Your aim is to convince the employer that you are worth selecting for interview because you seem to be a suitable candidate for the job and the sort of person the organisation/Trust likes to employ. The only information that the selectors have about you is that contained in your form and/or curriculum vitae and the accompanying letter. So, emphasise the positive and let them spot the negative. Convince them that they need to see you. Remember that presentation is as important as content. It is reasonable to assume that if you are invited for an interview the employer has decided that, on the basis of the information you have provided on your application form, you are appointable. The interview will be used to confirm whether this is actually the case.

Application Form: Application forms usually need to be completed on line. Do read through any instructions, e.g. use of block capitals, order in which you present previous employment / qualifications. Save a copy of the form into Word and use the copy to draft your initial application. It is important to submit a clear, concise and legible form to the employer. Check thoroughly for spelling and grammatical errors, including punctuation. Remember – spell check is not infallible. Complete all sections of the form. If a question does not apply to you, write ‘N/A’ to show that you have seen and considered what they are asking for in that question. If using N/A be sure that the question does not apply to you Respond to all questions as asked, giving details of your interests, activities and achievements as required. Include previous employment or work experience, paid or unpaid, however unrelated or routine they seem to you. The skills you have developed through other experiences may be transferable to your work and employers will look for evidence that you recognise these skills. For example:

Communication/customer service skills can be an important part of patient care;

Organisational skills can be important in the theatre and as part of health and safety procedures;

Teamworking skills are important to the role of the ODP;

Ability to work to tight deadlines applies to most fields within the health service;

Flexibility of working can also be an important part of the role.

Note that these are only examples and it is important to think carefully about the skills that you have developed and the way that they are transferable to the role. Always tailor your responses to the particular post for which you are applying.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

What a CV does. A CV is used to persuade an employer that you are the right person for the job. A CV is not always the most appropriate medium to use, as organisations will often require you to complete an application form and personal statement. If this is the case, they are unlikely to also want a CV and they are unli8kely to thank you for giving them more information that they have to read. It is important that you present your CV, as professionally as possible and, with this in mind, use good quality paper and use a clear, consistent layout. Try to keep your CV as succinct as possible, not more than two pages if you can. What should the CV include? A CV for an ODP post would tend to include information under the following headings:

Personal Details

Name, address, telephone number, your registration number once known.

Skills Profile

You may decide to include a skills profile. This is where you highlight a few key skills and illustrate them by brief examples. It is best if these reflect some of the skills asked for in the person specification. Some people decide to include a career objective near the beginning of the CV, a short statement describing yourself and your career aims.

Education (in addition to professional practitioner training)

It is usual to use reverse chronology which means you should start with your most recent qualification, as it gives the reader the immediate exposure to what you are doing now. It is normal to include details of the courses and qualifications that have given you access to higher education - secondary education, access courses etc. When including a degree course, it is a good idea to include a brief description of modules relevant to the post. This might also include

a few details about your dissertation or project.

Professional or Practice Experience

You may not be able to detail all the placements undertaken, but you could include a sentence to explain the wide range of experiences the training has given you and anything innovative/unusual/relevant that you have done / achieved as part of your course or clinical placement.

Other Work Experience

Brief details with dates of other types of work experience, skills gained and duties. Try where possible, either here or in the covering letter, to look for the relevance of any previous work experience to its use in the professional ODP role e.g. counselling skills or, perhaps, involvement in the training of others in a previous job. Non relevant employment experience should be dealt with as briefly as possible.

Interests and other activities

This section enables the employer to discover a little more about your personality. Other information/additional skills (if appropriate) can be included. This section can also include special skills or qualifications that you can offer on top of your other, more formal, qualifications e.g. administrative skills may be useful and could have been demonstrated through your involvement in clubs or societies. Voluntary activities could also be highly relevant.

Referees

Two referees need to be included here – one to be an academic/professional referee from the institution where you are about to complete your training. Your second referee should also be someone who can comment on your work and professionalism – many people choose perhaps a theatre manager/practitioner with whom they have worked closely on one of their placements. Remember to include e mail addresses

An example of what an ODP CV might look like:

Gillian Steele

17 Water Lane Aintree Liverpool L9 4 SH

Tel: 01523 636 4500 Mobile: 074832 465461 Email: g.steele@btinternet.com

CAREER OBJECTIVE Upon qualification as an operating department practitioner, I am eager to undertake a post within the Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust, having spent successful placements in this Trust.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

BSc / Dip HE Operating Department Practice

Edge Hill University September 2012

You could now include here a few brief bullet points on 1. Details of any special projects/studies/seminars led 2. Any areas of special interest to you 3. Achievements whilst on the course 4. In the future add postgraduate or post registration qualifications and

any relevant professional activities

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

A wide range of placements undertaken over 3 years including: Now here again you could include some bullet points highlighting specific placements with relevance to the post for which you are applying, whether it be within the anaesthetic, surgical or recovery phase..

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS NVQ Level 2 & 3 in Care Hugh Baird College

2009 A Levels in Biology & Maths Liverpool Community College

1998 GCE O Levels at Grade C or above English Language, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, History

Deyes Court High School, Liverpool 1996

ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE Health Care Assistant Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust

2007 - 2009 Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide quality care and a support role for qualified staff within the surgical ward. Responsible for maintenance of the ward, assisting with patient care, washing and dressing patients and ward clerk duties. Care Assistant Holly Lodge Residential Home

2005 – 2007 Day to day duties of caring for 20 residents including ……. Administrative Officer Northern Construction Services

1998 – 2005 Responsible for providing high standards of customer service, general administrative duties, dealing with the public and suppliers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Student member of the Association of Operating Department Practitioners

Guide leader for local guiding group for the past 5 years

Distance runner – up to half marathon

Competent with a wide range of computer packages including Microsoft Office – Word, Excel. PowerPoint and Access

REFEREES The first of these needs to be an academic reference at this stage in your career – so choose your tutor for this one.

The second one needs to be a theatre manager or someone of a similar rank who can comment on your ability to do the job and on your ODP skills

The Job Application Form (Supporting Information) Most job application forms come in two parts. (1)The section where you are required to provide factual information about yourself – contact details, qualifications, employment experience. (2) The section where you are required to show that you meet the employer’s requirements for the job. This is sometimes called “Supporting Information”, “Personal Statement” or “Letter of Application. It is crucial that you use this section to market yourself and provide evidence of your ability and willingness to do the job by describing your experience, skills and knowledge. This is the hardest part of an application form to complete and it will require time and several proof checks.

There is no single correct way to write this part of an application but there are some rules which will help.

Make sure that your supporting statement / letter of application directly addresses the PERSON SPECIFICATION. (An example of a person specification is provided in the next section of this booklet). The person specification will list the qualifications, skills, abilities, and experiences required for the post. You must take each of the criteria and clearly demonstrate that you have got the skills experience, knowledge from your ODP programme or from work experience. Tell the organisation that you have got what they are looking for and give evidence of that. Tell them what you have done, what you have achieved, how you did it and what you learnt from the experience. If you do not show that you meet the essential criteria in the person specification, it is unlikely that you will be called for interview so your task is to clearly and simply demonstrate that you have got the stated requirements

The person / people doing the shortlisting will probably find it helpful if you address the person specification criteria in the order they appear on the person specification. It will help because it will make it easier to identify the criteria you are referring to so that they can be ticked off on the shortlisting check list.

When you are providing evidence be SPECIFIC. The use of vague and evasive vocabulary such as “a number of” “some”, “several” will come over exactly as that – vague and evasive! If you can, quantify your evidence e.g. “on four occasions I……….” “I spent twelve weeks gaining experience on a recovery ward and during this time I did….achieved….learnt….” etc.

Avoid “weak” or “negative” vocabulary. Your instinct may be to be modest about your strengths and achievements but think about the impact of your choice of language on the reader – “I try” = “I sometimes fail”, “I aim = “I sometimes miss”, “I endeavour” = “I work hard to succeed but I don’t find it that easy”. Instead use phrases such as “I always”, “I will”, “I did”.

You are NOT writing an essay neither are you required to present a series of reasoned arguments to the reader. You are simply presenting

evidence that you can do and will do the job. The most effective way to do that is to say as much as possible in as few words as possible and never use two words where one will do. More words do not equal more clarity. More words are likely to obscure the point you are making and is, in any case, bad English.

Keep your sentences short. Long rambling sentences are hard to follow and make very tedious reading and you need to have the reader on your side! Recommended length of sentence for this type of document is 12- 20 words.

State clearly why you are applying for the post e.g. familiarity with the area which may mean that you would relate well to clients, their families and carers.

Why you wish to work in a particular department.

You might want to indicate an interest in the particular ethos, or aspects of the organisation.

When you have addressed all that is required in the person specification, state clearly any other skills or experience that you feel you can offer and which would make you an asset in the post.

Your evidence should include examples of good practice that you have taken part in, experience of caring in a context that is related to the job for which you are applying. If you are applying for an area/specialism in which you haven’t to date had a lot of job specific experience, think about all the skills and knowledge you have gained that can transfer to that new setting.

Quotes from positive feedback (written or oral) will carry credibility.

You might be able to demonstrate how assignments you have undertaken link into the job you are applying for.

Look at work experience you have had – including things you have done before your ODP programme as there may well be skills you can bring out of this that are relevant to the post. It might be communication skills, team work, management skills. Again, link this in with the person specification. Emphasise your ability to work effectively within a team while also being able to act upon your own initiative – both important to the work of the ODP. But don’t just state it - you have to back it up with evidence drawn from your own experiences.

What else can you contribute to the organisation beyond the obvious? E.g. you might have done a particularly relevant piece of project work, unique to yourself, have experience of audit, voluntary work, involvement in self-help groups, teaching experience, counselling qualifications or experience, equal opportunities training or initiatives

If you get the chance to go on an informal visit, prior to completing your form, try to do so as you will be able to pick up clues and information which may help you complete an personal statement/covering letter. Point out also in your information that you did visit as the person who showed you round won’t necessarily be the person who sees your form. If you do arrange to make a visit you can be fairly sure that how you present yourself on the visit will be noted – treat it as part of the selection process.

Market yourself in a friendly manner. Beware of sounding arrogant or threatening – always support what you say you can do, with evidence. Remember you want to come over as a friendly, caring professional person who will be an asset to the organisation.

SAMPLE: PERSON SPECIFICATION

CORE PERSON SPECIFICATION (& SHORTLISTING FORM)

POST: THEATRE PRACTITIONER

CANDIDATE: REF NO:

CATEGORY CRITERIA Weight (a)

Score (b)

Total (a x b)

HOW ASSESSED

EDUCATION,

QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING

Registered Nurse/Operating Department Practitioner. Evidence of CPD

3 2

Application form, certificates at interview

E, Q &T total score

EXPERIENCE

Evidence of minimum six months working as team member caring for patients within last 5 years.

3

Application form and questions at interview

Experience total score

SKILLS, ABILITIES &

KNOWLEDGE

Evidence of ability to practice as competent practitioner

Demonstrates an understanding of the attitudes and behaviour that support an effective team working

environment

Evidence of an ability to manage

time effectively using own initiative

Demonstrates awareness of the need to be reliable, flexible and adaptable within the work environment.

Understanding of clinical governance and its requirements

Demonstrate an understanding of confidentiality/discretion

Demonstrates ability to work under pressure

3

3 2

3

2 3 2

Application form, questions at interview and/or test

S, A & K total score

Total shortlisting score

WEIGHTING: Criteria in each section are weighted in order of importance 3 - 1, with 3 being the most important SHORTLISTING CRITERIA: Each candidate will be scored against the person specification as follows: 3 points = fully meets or exceeds the criteria

2 points = significantly meets criteria although falls short on minor aspects 1 point = partially meets criteria but falls short on key aspects 0 points = does not meet criteria Applicants will need to attain a minimum score in each of the following categories in order to be invited to an interview: Education, Qualifications & Training – minimum score of 13 Experience – minimum score of 9

Skills, Abilities & Knowledge – minimum score of 36 Total shortlisting score – minimum score of 58

Typical Preparation for Interview Questions Think about:

Why have you chosen this Trust?

What do you know about the Trust?

Have you experience within the Trust?

Consider the experiences developed on the course.

Consider if you are keen on a particular area and why.

What skills will you bring to the area?

Consider how you will have to adapt in your first post i.e. from student to independent practitioner

How much do you know about :

Agenda for Change

Clinical Governance

Risk Management

How long do you want to spend in each area if it is a rotational post?

Be prepared for scenario type questions, i.e.

lost swabs,

instruments,

consent forms,

positioning of patients in theatre,

incident forms,

team problems,

be prepared to talk about your career plans,

continuous professional development,

prepare questions to ask them, these can include what sort of training will be available during first year.

Finally

Good luck in your job search and your future career from all at the Careers Centre at Edge Hill University. Do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further help regarding your future career plans.

You might want to access our website at: www.edgehill.ac.uk/careers You will be contacted by the Careers Centre at Edge Hill around 6 months after completion of your course to find out your career destination and also whether you are undertaking any further study. This is important information that we will feed back to your tutors. Please help us by completing the form and returning it in the prepaid envelope. Once again, good luck in your job search!

Useful ODP Websites Association of Operating Department Practitioners: www.aodp.org/ Association for Perioperative Practice http://www.afpp.org.uk BUPA http://www.bupa.co.uk/careers NHS jobs www.jobs.nhs.uk NHS Careers: www.nhscareers.nhs.uk NHS Employers: www.nhsemployers.org/ College of Operating Department http://www.codp.org.uk/ Practitioners Department of Health: www.doh.gov.uk The Guardian: www.jobs.guardian.co.uk Internurse: www.internurse.com Health Professionals Council: www.hpc-uk.org/ Nursing Net UK: www.nursingnetuk.com Nursing Times: www.nursingtimes.net Nurse Serve: www.nurserve.co.uk Voluntary Service Overseas: www.vso.org.uk Nursing Abroad: www.nursingabroad.net Nursing in Australia: www.nursingaustralia.com/ Directory of Canadian www.canadianrn.com/directory/assoc.htm Nursing Associations: Nursing Council of New Zealand: www.nursingcouncil.org.nz Geneva Health International www.genevahealth.com (Recruitment): Overseas Jobs http://www.oesworld.com/ Prospects website: www.prospects.ac.uk Working in Health: www.workinginhealth.com/

Links to local and national health care trusts can be found on the Edge Hill University Careers Service web site. Go to:

http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/careers/HealthZone/#findingwork

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