How to apply

If you have any queries regarding your application, please contact the recruitment team on 0191 301 6085 / 0191 301 6557 or email recruitment@nwl.co.uk.

We would ideally like you to apply on line, this means that we can deal with your application quickly, if you want to apply for more than one of our vacancies you only need to key in your key information once and you can log in to this site to keep an eye on progress.  Please note we very rarely recruit using agencies.

To start – Search our vacancies to see which positions we are advertising and in what locations, you can do this by choosing a location, a salary range or just by typing in a key word to see what comes up.

If there is nothing suitable or of interest at the moment you can register, by defining your search criteria, to receive an email when we advertise a particular type of position.  (You can unsubscribe from this service at any time).

If you find a position that you believe you have the skills, qualifications and experience for you will initially be asked to register.  We suggest that you give us an email address that you or someone else will look at regularly.  During the recruitment process we will contact you by email.

The application process for each vacancy will vary, but we will ask you to complete a number of questions.  We ask these for various reasons including: to ensure we have key pieces of information from everyone that applies to a vacancy, to give candidates an idea of what is important to work with us or in a particular role and also to help us monitor how well we are doing at attracting under-represented groups.  It should take you between 5 – 15 minutes to complete an application, depending on the vacancy.  (Please note: the answers you provide to any of our equal opportunities questions, will automatically be hidden from anyone involved in making selection decisions.  We only use the data for reporting purposes, not at an individual level.)

For some positions we will ask you to submit a CV, for others we will just ask you to complete our on-line application form.  But as you go through the application process what you need to do will be made clear. 

What should you include in your application?

Evidence that you have all of the skills, qualifications and experience we have asked for in the advert and job description.  We won’t be able to second guess what you have done, so please make sure that you make it clear that you meet our requirements for the job.

You might also find it helpful to look at our capabilities and vision to see what we expect of people who work for us.

If we ask you to apply for a vacancy by submitting your CV, we would generally expect you to attach a covering letter too.  A covering letter gives you an opportunity to highlight (briefly) why you think we should shortlist you for interview.

Interview Process

If we invite you for an interview, you will typically be asked about specific experiences you have had which demonstrate knowledge and skills relevant to the vacancy you are applying for.  With the exception of senior, apprentice and graduate posts, appointment decisions are generally made after one face-to-face interview and testing.  For some roles you may be asked to demonstrate other specific skills or knowledge eg presentation or technical skills.

Please see below for maps and directions.

Testing

For most jobs we will ask you to complete some form of test.  This might be

Psychometric Testing

Psychometric testing is used to assist selection decisions within Northumbrian Water Ltd.  Psychometric tests provide us with an objective measure of a variety of abilities and characteristics which can then be reviewed alongside evidence provided in CVs, interviews and other selection methods.

We would suggest you have a go at some practice examples before completing the on line tests.

Please note when you take the online tests they are generally timed and need to be completed in one sitting, so you will need to ensure you won’t be interrupted whilst you are doing them.

Or

Job Related Tests

We might ask you to write a letter, do a task in Excel or explain something in a drawing or photo, for example.  Whatever it is, it will be directly relevant to the job you’ve applied for.

References

We will always take up references from previous employers, ideally by telephone.  Any offer of employment will be subject to us receiving satisfactory references.

Qualifications

If we have specified that you need a particular qualification(s) to do a job, we will ask you to provide us with original evidence that you have the qualification, before we will make you an offer of employment.

Eligibility to work in the UK

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 requires all employers in the UK to make basic document checks on every person they intend to employ.  We believe the most practical approach for both applicants and the company is to carry out these checks during the selection process.

Find out further information and details of the documents you need to supply us with.

Offer of Employment

Once we have taken up good references we will generally give you a call to let you know that we will be making you an offer of employment.  This will then be followed up by a formal offer letter and a contract of employment.

We will need you to read this through and if you wish to take up our offer of employment you will need to return the signed documentation to the Recruitment Team.

Individual Induction Plan

We will send you an induction plan shortly before you start work, to outline what you will be doing for the first couple of weeks.

Maps and directions

We have a number of locations throughout the UK where your interview could be held and you will find a map and directions below.

Location	PDF
Bran Sands
Broken Scar
Cramlington
Hall Street, Chelmsford
Hanningfield TW
Howdon
Kielder
Leat House, Washington
Lound
Lowestoft
Pity Me, Durham
Sandon Valley House, East Hanningfield
Thornaby