How to apply for jobs at Oxfam GB

Oxfam encourages you to spend time reviewing your current skills, achievements and experience. By doing this you are more likely to apply for positions that you will be suitable for. Your previous experience, interests and skills should help direct your job search. Once you know more about what sort of opportunities you want to apply for why not view our current vacancies or sign up to receive job alerts match your interests.

Alternatively find out more about how the Humanitarian department resources emergencies.

We aim to ensure that pay and benefits always reward our staff fairly for their remarkable work. Find out more about pay and benefits for United Kingdom and International based roles here.

Read the job description. This will provide you with detailed information about the position. It should include basic information such as the role title, location and salary. It will also include in-depth detail about what the job will entail and the skills and competencies that Oxfam is looking for in the successful candidate.

Think about your achievements in the past, whether at school, at work, in the home or in social settings to see if they will have provided you with sufficient knowledge and skills that the role requires. If you believe you have the skills, experience and knowledge you could consider applying. If you feel you don't, why not search for other opportunities.

Once you are confident that you have the skills and competencies that the role requires you can start the application process.  Read more about the application process and guidance on how to use the online application tool.

Please be aware that although this guidance is written in English the job you’re applying for may expect you to complete your application in another language. Our core languages are English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. If you are not sure what language you should complete your application in please contact the recruiting manager for guidance.

Here are some explanations about some of the difference aspects of the process:

• Screening questions
  These ensure that potential candidates have the very essential skills that the role requires or to ensure that you have the correct right to work requirements for the country in which you are applying. Find out more about Work Permits.
• Criminal Records Checks
  Not all roles in Oxfam require individuals to have a criminal record check, but where a post will involve unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults we take our obligation to protect them very seriously. If the post is subject to a check it will notify you in the job description
• Personal Details/Main details
  As part of the application process Oxfam collects some basic details from you. These are stored so that we can contact you about your application. To find out how to keep these up to date go to our recruitment FAQ’s.
• Completing your CV or application form
  Oxfam allows candidates to either upload a personal CV or to complete the Oxfam CV template. Here are some hints and tips on how to complete your Oxfam application form or tailor your CV. Oxfam wants you to take this as an opportunity to emphasis your suitability for the position your applying for.
• Don’t be too broad in how you describe a specific skill or competency; we advise that you give us an example to demonstrate how well you meet each one.
  
  For example if the role states:
  - ‘Good IT skills, especially strong knowledge of Microsoft Word’
  
  Your response could be:
  ‘I use Microsoft word and excel in my current job and have used other similar packages over the years. I am confident at writing, formatting, merging and editing word based documents; I frequently do this when writing letters to our supporters’
  
  Recruiting Managers will want to see a concise and informative application. For example ‘I am an experienced manager having been responsible for monitoring and controlling expenditure against a budget of X’
• Plan your time – application forms and CV’s can take time to write. It’s always a good idea to save a copy of your work in progress. Once your happy with the content present it neatly and review it one last time before you submit.
• We want you to briefly state why you think you are suitable for the role and why your want the job. You need to be able to convince the recruiting manager that you will add value to the team and appointing you will make a difference to Oxfam.
• Application Questions
  Some positions may also ask you to complete some specific application questions. For example, it could ask you more about specific languages you speak. These questions will all relate to the skills and competencies that are needed for a post. We suggest that you use the hints and tips around demonstrating skills and competencies above to complete these questions.
• References
  As part of the application process Oxfam normally asks you to identify two referees of which one should be your previous/current manager. These individuals will help the recruiting manager to make a final decision about an individual’s suitability for a position.
  
  Please note that referees are usually contacted only if Oxfam wants to offer an individual a position. Any offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references.
• Equal Opportunities
  Oxfam GB's commitment to equality applies to everything we do. Externally it is at the heart of our work on poverty and the relationships we build. Internally the values of equality are at the heart of how we accept, respect and value people with diverse identities and backgrounds. Oxfam GB sees Diversity as a description of the visible and invisible differences that exist between people, such as, gender, race, ethnic origin, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, age, economic class, language, religion, nationality, education, and family/marital status. Oxfam recognizes that these visible and non-visible differences between people can also lead to differences in experiences, values, attitudes, ways of thinking, behaving, communicating and working.
  
  In order to implement and monitor our commitment to Equal Opportunities and Diversity, we kindly ask the candidates to fill in our Equal Opportunities Form. I would like to reassure you that the Recruiting Manager does not have access to this form at any stage. It is used confidentially by HR to monitor the diversity of our candidates.
  
  More details on how to apply and submit your application can be found on our faqs page.

Once the deadline for an application has passed, the recruiting manager will assess all the applications and short list candidates based on how clearly they have demonstrated the skills and competencies for the position. Oxfam will contact you to let you know the result of your application. Please be aware that, due to a high level of applications this can sometimes take several weeks.

If you are short listed for one of our opportunities, you will, in the majority of circumstances, be invited to an interview. You will be given at least a few days to prepare.

How do our interviews normally work?

• Often there may be an initial telephone interview followed by either a face-to-face or videoconference interview.
• You will be interviewed by at least two members of staff.
• The panel will usually take turns to ask you questions about the skills and competencies that the role requires.
• The panel will normally take notes to record what you say and ensure that they can make an informed decision and have a record of the discussion.
• At the end of the interview you will be given an opportunity to ask any questions you might have.

Here are our top tips for being interviewed:

• Prepare –Ensure that you are familiar with the role profile. Recruiting managers will want to ask you questions about how far you meet the skills required. Thinking about your key achievements, skills, knowledge and expertise that you can offer will be helpful.
• Think about what the recruiting manager might want to ask you, in relation to the skills that are needed for the post and how you might demonstrate these.
• Arrive on time.
• Dress smartly but comfortably.
• Be friendly, try to be positive and show confidence.
• If you are not sure you understand a question, ask the interviewer to repeat or rephrase it.
• Try to answer the questions to the best of your ability.
• Provide examples to support your answers where appropriate.
• It’s a two way process – what questions have you got for us?
• Research the Organisation – people who are passionate about our work and understand our business stand out more.

As well as an interview you might be assessed in other ways. As part of the assessment process you may also be asked to undertake a case study assessments, presentation, verbal and numerical reasoning tests, personality questionnaire or group exercise. You will always be told in advance if you will be asked to complete one of the above assessments. These assessments are designed to give the candidates the best opportunity to demonstrate their skills and experiences in relation to the position.

• Apply for the right post based on your skills, knowledge and experience.
• Draw on your strengths and personal abilities.
• Make explicit in the job application how you demonstrate the qualities required for the post.
• Prepare for your interview.
• Anticipate some of the questions you might get asked.
• Think about how you present yourself thought out the whole application process.

• Other guidance and support can be found on our faqs page