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Help applying for jobs with the County Council

Applications for vacancies with the Council should be made online.

We do not accept speculative applications, all applications must be made via CV and cover letter or application in the system, depending on what the hiring manager has asked for. This helps us ensure that information from candidates is presented in a standard format. Exceptions can be made, for candidates with a disability for example.

Guidance on applying for jobs with the Council

Our Recruitment and Selection Policy [86.8 KB] [docx] sets out the procedure for recruiting and selecting staff at the County Council. The policy is designed to ensure the recruitment and selection process is fair, open and transparent and promotes equal opportunities to all groups throughout the local community.

All the key information about a vacancy will be available in the advert text, job description and person specification. You should read these in detail before applying. If you have questions about the job, there will be a person named within the advert text whom you can contact.

The ‘How do you meet the essential and desirable criteria’ sections of the application form are your opportunity to tell us how you meet the content of the person specification. You need to demonstrate how your skills, knowledge and experience match what we require. As well as what you have learned or acquired from previous employment, you can include details from other life experiences too. Remember, the shortlisting panel cannot guess or make assumptions about your skills, knowledge or experience.

We also advertise vacancies with other local organisations. Details about how to apply for them will be in the advert.

How we decide who to interview

The recruiting manager will look at the information provided in the applications to see how it meets the criteria identified in the person specification.

The Council is a Disability Confident employer. If you have a disability, this lets you know that:

  • we will make reasonable adjustments to make sure you are considered for the job on an equal basis with other applicants.
  • If the manager is satisfied your application shows you meet all the essential criteria, you will normally automatically be shortlisted for interview. However, in line with the National Disability Confident scheme, if there is a high number of suitable applications for a vacancy and its therefore not possible to interview all applicants, we will select those disabled candidates who best meet the essential criteria for a role. It may also be necessary to limit the overall number of disabled and non-disabled candidates interviewed for a vacancy.

Find out more about Equality and diversity at the Council.

Rehabilitation of ex-offenders and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

As part of the application process, you will be asked to declare information relating to previous employment dismissals and criminal convictions. For further details about why we ask for this and what you should or shouldn’t declare, you can visit the Disclosure and Barring Service or Ex-offenders and employment on GOV.UK.

The DBS decides who should be barred from working with vulnerable groups. We undertake DBS checks for our own staff where the nature of their role requires it.

DBS Policy [94.6 KB] [docx]

DBS Checks for contractors [95.4 KB] [docx]

We also provide a DBS Umbrella Body Service for other organisations.

Reference policy

For most roles we will not contact your references until after we have made you a conditional job offer and you have accepted the offer. For certain roles reference may be sought at an earlier stage. Find out more about how and when we seek employment references.

If you have previously worked for the Council and will be requesting a reference from your previous manager please email employee.services@eastsussex.gov.uk when requesting your reference.