Public Sector Contractor Work
Public Sector Contractor Work – Two UK Contractors tell us of their experiences of tendering for it.
Contractor 1’s Experiences with Public Sector Work
I have applied for a couple of jobs in the public sector recently, not specifically Government, but similar:
Public Sector Experience 1
The process and timetable was mapped out, so having heard nothing and wanting to plan my time as interview dates approached, I phoned to check it out.
I was told that they had not received enough suitable applications and the position was going to be readvertised.
2 days later I got a letter saying that they had received a lot of high quality applications and I had not been succesful.
Another 2 days and it was in the paper again!
Staggering!
Public Sector Experience 2: Online application
No response, either by email or post. I managed to make contact to confirm that my application had got through.
5 weeks later I phoned to find out what was going on.
Response was ‘if you haven’t heard anything then it means that you have not been successful’.
Kind of think that my 20 years experience might have come in handy to help them with their business processes!
We all know you get no response from agents, but you would expect a personell department to do the right thing.
Public Sector Contractor Work – Reader 2
I’ve had two frustrating interviews with Central Government depts in this last year for PM contracts. I was more than qualified to do the job in each case but wasn’t succesful at either.
At the first, I answered their scenarios and hypotheticals but they moved the goalposts. They seemed to want to catch me out.
At the second one, similar scenarios and would be reporting to Programme Manager with 28 years experience (same as me).
The job spec stated 3-5 yrs exp. as PM. I I have 10 including one year as Programme Manager for a public sector department.
The feedback was that I didn’t have enough experience. Agency reassured me that it wasn’t the only “bizarre” feedback the client gave them. What is going on?
I also agree with the views on public sector contractor work for the NHS.
As one agency said to me a while ago, “The first rule of working for the NHS is that you’ve already worked for them before”.
Its always a closed shop and I’ve often wondered why?
Are they scared of change, being ‘found out’ or what? It’s the well-worn line of justification (excuse).
I’ve heard is that the candidate “would need to be able to communicate with consultants and GPs who use a lot of medical terms”. The jobholder would get slaughtered by them if they didn’t understand.
Surely the best way to modernise the NHS is to install good business practices that work by people that have the appropriate experience, not by merely throwing money at the problem and recycling staff?
Is it any wonder?
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