Insolvency Service Recruitment

Salary is paid 1 month in arrears. Trainee B3 examiners start on a salary of £23,000 rising to £25,000 whilst undertaking The Services qualification. Upon qualification (after 3 years), this rises to £26,300 with the further potential to rise, with service, to £35,767 (current pay levels).

Existing civil servants will become trainee examiners on promotion or lateral transfer. If the pay consequences of such a move mean that the starting salary is higher than quoted above, the higher salary is retained on mark time. Prospective applicants currently earning more than the quoted salary should seek advice.

Pensions

As soon as you start your new job, you are eligible to join the Civil Service pension arrangements. We offer you a choice of two types of pension:

Nuvos: this is an occupational pension scheme that currently has a 3.5% member contribution rate. As your employer we meet the rest of the cost of the scheme.

Partnership pension account: This is a stakeholder pension with a contribution from ourselves. How much we pay is based on your age. We pay this regardless of whether you choose to contribute anything. You do not have to contribute but, if you do, we will also match your contributions up to 3% of your pensionable earnings. The contributions are in addition to the age-related contribution mentioned above.

Other benefits

There are also certain organisations for civil servants such as the Civil Service Motoring Association, the Hospital Savings Association and the Benenden Healthcare scheme that offer a wide range of benefits.

Leave entitlement

Leave entitlement is currently 30 days per year. Staff also receive 10½ public and privilege holidays. The Service also operates a flexi-time system.

Working hours

Full time officers normally work a 5-day week of 42 hours (excluding a 1 hour lunch break per day). The Service does offer some opportunities to work part time, provided it is operationally viable. For trainee examiners it may be possible for part time working of a minimum of 25 hours. However, if someone wishes to work less than 25 hours, if offered a post they will need to liaise with the Official Receiver of the office to which they have applied and inform them how they propose to meet the requirements of the qualification and the job within the hours proposed.

There may be opportunities for flexible working at the appropriate stage in an examiners career, but this cannot be considered while you are training.

Transfers and promotions into posts within our headquarters provide an opportunity to specialise, for example in other areas such as policy, enforcement or technical support.

A B3 examiner is considered a mobile grade. This means you will be liable to transfer to anywhere in the United Kingdom or abroad. Should a compulsory transfer situation arise, The Service would provide help with transfer expenses. Part time staff are not considered as mobile grades.

VACANCIES FOR TRAINEE B3 EXAMINERS EXIST IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

ANGLIA REGION

Cambridge
Ipswich
Northampton
Norwich
St Albans
Southend

MIDLANDS REGION

Birmingham
Leicester
Nottingham

NORTH EAST REGION

Hull
Leeds
Stockton
Sheffield

NORTH WEST REGION

Blackpool
Chester
Manchester
Stoke

SOUTH EAST REGION

Bournemouth
Brighton

SOUTH WEST REGION

Bristol
Cardiff
Gloucester
Plymouth

How to obtain an application pack:

You may download an application pack from this site by clicking on the links below

Guidance Notes for Application Form

Form 1: Application & Ethnic Monitoring form

Form 2: Health Declaration form

Form 3: Character form

Glossary of insolvency terms

Please note the application form, health declaration form and character form are presented in Portable Document Format (PDF) .

To read them you will first need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader software if you do not already have it installed on your computer.

For more information regarding PDF documents and how to download the software, please click here

If you are unable to download the PDF software, or do not have a printer, you may also obtain an application pack by:

e-mailing b3.recruitment@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

telephoning 020 7291 6706 or 020 7291 6837

Please clearly state your name (spelling your surname), address and postcode, the office you are applying for and how you became aware of the vacancies. An application pack will then be sent to you as soon as possible.

Please note that if you telephone for an application pack, lines are expected to be busy and it may therefore be easier for you to e-mail your request.

Returning your completed application form:

Application forms must be signed and submitted in hard copy only. Applications by e-mail or facsimile will not be accepted, nor will incomplete or improperly completed application forms.

THE CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATION FORMS IS FRIDAY 22 JUNE 2007. PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE WILL BE REJECTED.

Where to send your application form:

Please complete your application form, together with your character reference and health declaration forms and send it to the contact address for the office to which you are applying. A list of contact addresses is set out below. Please mark your envelope Personal – B3 examiner recruitment.

Please note that if you are applying for more than one office, you should send your application to the contact address for your first choice office.

Please also ensure that you pay the correct postage to send your application to us. Applications sent with the incorrect postage amount will be rejected.

Applications for offices in Anglia Region (Cambridge, Ipswich, Northampton, Norwich, St Albans, Southend)

The Insolvency Service
2nd Floor
Abbeygate House
164-167 East Road
Cambridge CB1 1DB

Applications for offices in Midlands Region (Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham)

The Insolvency Service
4th Floor
Wellington House
Wellington Street
Leicester, LE1 6HL

Applications for offices in North East Region (Hull, Leeds, Stockton, Sheffield)

The Insolvency Service
3rd Floor
1 City Walk
Leeds LS11 9DA

Applications for offices in the North West Region (Blackpool, Chester, Manchester, Stoke)

The Insolvency Service
7th Floor
Boulton House
17-21 Chorlton Street
Manchester M1 3HY

Applications for offices in the South East Region (Bournemouth, Brighton)

The Insolvency Service
2nd Floor
Kings Wharf
20-30 Kings Road
Reading RG1 3ET

Applications for offices in the South West Region (Bristol, Cardiff, Gloucester, Plymouth)

The Insolvency Service
3rd Floor
Senate Court
Southernhay Gardens
Exeter, EX1 1UG

The recruitment process and eligibility for B3 examiners

The guidance notes to completing the application form set out the eligibility criteria.

The process will be in three stages and will be competence based. The first stage includes completing the application form, character reference and health declaration forms. Here applicants will need to demonstrate their competence in investigation, judgement and planning and organising as well as providing standard information. The applications will then be sifted. If your application does not pass the sift stage, feedback will not be provided.

The second stage involves applicants undertaking psychometric tests. If invited to this stage of the process you will be required to sit two psychometric tests and will be required to attend for a maximum of three hours. The two tests to be undertaken will be a Critical Thinking Appraisal test that looks at how well you are able to reason analytically and logically and a Financial Appraisal test that demonstrates some of the skills involved in analysing financial information and other business statistics. More information on the tests including practice papers, will be sent to applicants who pass the application sift.

If you are invited to the psychometric tests and cannot attend on the dates provided, no alternative date may be available.

The third stage is an Assessment Centre, which will last approximately three hours. The Assessment Centre will seek to reinforce the evidence provided on your application form and identify evidence of competence in interacting with others, communication and responsibility. At the Assessment Centre, candidates will be expected to:

Carry out an interview with a bankrupt;

Complete a written report (on a PC in Word format);

Provide verbal feedback to a manager;

Carry out a further interview with the bankrupt;

Complete a final written report (on a PC in Word format)

The Assessment Centres will be held from mid-July to mid-August and further details will be sent with the letter inviting candidates to the Assessment Centre. Special arrangements can be made for applicants who have a disability and may have difficulty in completing the exercises.

The Assessment Centre is designed to assess whether you have the right qualities to become an examiner and technical expertise is not necessary. Unfortunately. There can be no flexibility on the dates of the Assessment Centre.

Your psychometric scores will be considered alongside your performance during the Assessment Centre, to determine the most suitable candidates for the trainee B3 insolvency examiner positions.

It is expected that subject to satisfactory references having been received, successful candidates will be expected to take up post by the end of September 2007.