Applying for jobs 

Familiarise yourself with the application process

Most NHS employers ask for a supporting statement rather than a CV. Other non-NHS employers may also use this format. Always check the application instructions.

There is a very specific technique for writing a successful supporting statement. Familiarising yourself with how to write a strong supporting statement early on will ensure you are better prepared when you start to apply for specific vacancies.

You can look at our sample supporting statements and watch our tutorial on writing supporting statements on the writing a job application page.

Informal visits

Try and arrange an informal visit before you apply for jobs. Not only can it make you stand out, but it's a perfect opportunity to get a real feel for the work culture and environment.

Prepare some questions to ask for when you do visit. You could ask people what they like about working there, or ask questions about your training and preceptorship.

See our page on Informal Visits for more information.

Research your employers

Always research potential employers. They’re often involved in specific projects, pilots, or new initiatives, and will have their own strategic priorities and goals. You can also study their organisational values. These give important insight into what they’re looking for in candidates and often underpin their recruitment scoring framework.

Discussing these during informal visits, applications, or interviews will reflect well on you and help you stand out.

RCN Career Coaching

RCN career coaching can support you in identifying your values, recognising your strengths, and reflecting on what matters to you as you begin your nursing career.

If you’re unsure about your next steps, you may find it helpful to talk through your ideas and explore any challenges. See our page on career coaching for more information.

Keep up to date with healthcare initiatives

Employers may ask you about current healthcare policies and initiatives in interviews and expect you to be informed. For example, could you comfortably discuss the duty of candour, integrated care systems, the NHS long-term plan, or recent patient safety and workforce wellbeing priorities?

You might also be asked about digital health, sustainability in healthcare, or equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.

Use the RCN’s news and events, magazines, publications, campaigns and professional networks to help you keep up to date and in the loop.

Consider picking a strategic dissertation topic

If you're doing a degree route that involves a dissertation, you may want to think strategically about your topic choice. Selecting a topic relevant to your future career goals can give you a unique selling point. 

If you’re certain about the specialty you want to work in, choose a topic related to that area to deepen your knowledge and demonstrate genuine interest and commitment to impress employers. If you’re unsure, consider topics with broad relevance across healthcare, such as patient safety or communication which could still strengthen your application in any field.

Join the RCN's Early Career Nurses (ECN) network

The RCN ECN Networkbrings together new registrants and student nurses approaching graduation. The forum aims to support you for up to 5 years post NMC registration.

Check your social media presence

Social media can be a great way of keeping up with news and initiatives, networking, or finding jobs. It’s important however that your social media presence is professional and appropriate. 

Double check all of your privacy settings and make sure that any photos, content, and views expressed are in line with the NMC code and local policies. It’s recommended that you run your name and any usernames through a search engine to check what comes up.

Applying to the NMC register after more than six months 

If you anticipate a delay of six months or more between completing your nursing or midwifery programme and applying to the NMC register, be aware that you'll need to provide a further reference from a registered nurse or midwife (depending on your qualification). See the NMC's page applying to the register after more than six months for more details.

Job applications - Do you need to write a CV or a supporting statement?

The process for submitting a job application will vary depending on the job and the employer. 

If you're applying for jobs in the Independent Health and Social Care sector (e.g. general practice, nursing home, private hospitals), it's likely you will be asked to submit a CV and maybe also a covering letter. Your CV and covering letter should be carefully tailored to the job you're applying for.

If you’re applying for jobs in the public sector, you will usually be asked to write a supporting statement rather than a CV. To write a supporting statement, you will first need to read the Person Specification, which lists the essential and desirable criteria (the skills, qualifications, and experience the employer is looking for in a candidate.) Your statement should give specific, real life examples that show how you meet that criteria. 

Before you start

Make sure you read everything carefully. As well as examining the job advert itself, there may also be documents you'll need to read such as:

• A Person Specification (PS)
• A Job Description (JD)
• Company / Organisational values
• Instructions on how to apply

Leave yourself plenty of time to do your application because it may take a few hours. Furthermore, employers sometimes pull applications before the deadline if the job has had a lot of interest.

If there is no person specification 

If you’re applying for jobs with smaller companies in the private sector, or independent employers, (e.g. general practice, nursing homes, etc) then there may not be a person specification or job description. There might not even be a formal job application process at all. Instead, the job advert may contain very limited detail, or small paragraph about the job and ask you to send in a CV.

In this instance you’ll need to study the job advert to identify any skills/experience/qualities the employer does mention, so that you can evidence them in your application or covering letter. If you have particular skills or qualities that haven’t been mentioned in the advert, but you think would be attractive or useful to the employer, then you can of course include them.

If information is scarce, contact the employer to ask for an informal chat, or to arrange an informal visit. This can be the perfect chance to get more information about the job which you can use to your advantage when you later apply. You might want to ask questions such as:

• What sort of skills or experience would the ideal candidate have?
• Can you tell me a little more about what the role would entail?
• Can you tell me a little about the company/home/practice?

Arranging an informal chat or visit can also make you come across as enthusiastic or proactive, not to mention you'll be more memorable later on when the employer is shortlisting.

If you have to submit a CV, you should attach a covering letter as well, explaining why you think you're a good candidate for the job. See the CV writing page for advice on both CV writing and covering letters. 

If the job advert includes a person specification

If you’re applying for jobs in the NHS or larger private sector organisations, you should find a person specification and job description included within the advert. 

You'll be expected to submit a, "supporting statement," as part of the application, in which you'll need to demonstrate how you meet the requirements for that job and essentially convince the employer why you'd be a good candidate for the job.

Your suitability for the post will be judged on how well your application and supporting statement tally up to the person specification, and to some extent, the job description. 

Writing your supporting statement

Essentially, think of the person specification as a checklist for your supporting statement. Candidates who can demonstrate they are the best or closest match will be the ones shortlisted for the next stage of recruitment, so make sure you've covered all the criteria listed.

You could draw examples from: 

• Current or previous roles within the healthcare industry 
• Current or previous roles from outside the healthcare industry 
• Volunteering roles 
• Previous learning / shadowing 
• University modules / essays / placements 
• Research / project work 
• Engagement with professional networks / forums / events / RCN congress 
• Advocacy / activist experience 
• Life experience (e.g. caring for a relative, personal experience as a patient yourself, doing a personal project, fundraising, etc)

Don’t be tempted to just leave something out because you’re struggling to think of an example, or don’t think you have the skills or experience required; it’s really important that you think about your transferable skills.

As an absolute last resort, if you really can’t evidence something listed in the person specification, it's better to address it somehow than not at all. Write a small paragraph to convey your understanding of this particular point, identify how you would develop in this area, convey any desire, interest or passion you might have for learning this skill / acquiring this qualification / gaining this experience, list any steps taken to address any gaps, or talk about any research / preparation you’ve done.

Introducing your supporting statement

Aim to write a strong, punchy and meaningful introduction to start your supporting statement. Ideally it will excite and engage the reader, encouraging them to want to read more.

An employer wants to know that you are enthusiastic about the role, and not just applying for any job. Try and make sure your supporting statement conveys why this particular position and employer appeals to you, along with any personal reasons you have for applying. If you have been on placement there or arranged an informal visit, mention this and say what you gained from the experience. 

If you're not sure what to write about, you may want to ask yourself:

• Why you're applying for the role
• What inspired you to become a healthcare professional
• What your nursing philosophy is
• Why you've chosen this particular employer or organisation 
• Why you'd be the best person for the job 
• What experience/skills/knowledge you have 
• What your strengths are
• What you're like as a colleague 
• What you could bring to the role or job

Structuring your Supporting Statement

It’s recommended that you write your supporting statement so that it follows the same order as the person specification as much as possible.

Make it clear which attribute within the person specification you’re addressing and demonstrating and consider using headings. Not only will this make life easier for the person shortlisting, but it will avoid the risk of them accidentally missing something.

Be aware

As well as the content of your statement, employers may also be looking at things like: 

• Written communication skills (grammar, spelling, punctuation, language, etc)
• How your application is organised
• If you’ve followed the instructions properly
• Your ability to present your examples or evidence in a meaningful but concise way 

Evidencing you meet the criteria  

The majority of the job applications within the healthcare industry will be "competency based." This means employers want to see practical examples or evidence that show you meet the criteria and competencies outlined in the job advert and person specification.

When you address the criteria within the person specification make sure you have given specific examples to demonstrate how you have the skill / competency / knowledge in question. 

Don't make unsubstantiated statements like, "I have excellent communication skills." Instead, explain why and how, using examples and evidence to back up your claims.

It’s also important that wherever possible you make your examples directly relevant to the duties, responsibilities or tasks listed in the job description.

Examples

Using the example Person Specification and Job Description below, let's look at the different ways in which an applicant could evidence the criteria, "Experience of delivering presentations," within their Supporting Statement.

Example 1: No examples or evidence

"I have excellent presentation skills and am proficient in using presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint."

• This is a bad example because it's vague, non-specific and wouldn’t give the employer much insight into the skills and experience of the candidate. Effectively, anybody could write this, and there’s no evidence or examples to back up the claim.

Example 2: Evidence of competency 

• This is a good example because it's backed up with examples / evidence that show the applicant possesses the skills required. 

Example 3: Evidence of competency that relates to the job description 

• This is a good example because it's backed up with examples / evidence. In addition, it's also relevant to the job description. The job description specifies that that whoever gets the post will be expected to deliver presentations to colleagues and the multi disciplinary team. By using examples that are relevant to the job, you are showing the employer that you are the best match.

Job Description - A list of the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the role. This could also include the scope, working conditions, reporting relationships, and purpose of the role, etc. 

Person Specification - A list of criteria (skills, qualifications, experience, personal qualities, knowledge, etc.) needed to do the job. Commonly presented in the form of a table, or sometimes as a list of bullet points. (Could also be called 'selection criteria,' or, 'role specification.')

Job application - The application or process where you're required to complete and submit information in order to apply for a job. E.g. personal details, qualifications, educational institutes attended, details about past jobs and employers, your immigration status, criminal record, declarations, etc. You may also be asked to write a supporting statement.

Supporting Statement - A written statement where you as the candidate demonstrate to the employer how and why you meet the requirements for the job. (Could also be called 'personal statement' or 'supporting information.')

Supporting Statement checklist

• Have you addressed all criteria listed in the person specification?
• Have you provided examples or evidence for each criteria listed?
• Where possible, are your examples relevant to the job description?
• Where possible, do your examples tie in with the organisation's values?
• Have you made your statement as concise as possible?
• Have you proof read and spell checked your statement?

Different employers will have different instructions or expectations with regards to supporting statements, but generally they'll be looking to see if you're applying for the right reasons and that you meet the essential criteria.

If you haven't already done so, read the general advice on writing job applications first.

To help give you an idea, have a look at our sample supporting statements which have been written to correlate to a sample Person Specification.

In particular, pay attention to the way the sample supporting statements:

• Cover all the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification
• Use examples or evidence to demonstrate how the criteria is met
• Follow the order of the Person Specification as much as possible.

The samples should be used as a guide only. Your own supporting statement should be structured around the job and person specification you're applying for.

You may also want to watch the Supporting Statements tutorial below.

Top tips

• Apply for jobs that are right for you
• Never write a 'one size fits all' supporting statement
• Try to let your passion, interest and personality shine through where possible
• When writing your statement, always imagine you're being asked the question, "Why should we hire you?"
• Always run a spelling and grammar check and get someone to proof read it for you

You may undertake a health care support role while you are a student, but you must not undertake any role which is beyond your competence/skill base. Please see our information on accountability and delegation to help you in your role. 

All staff should clearly understand that you are working as a health care assistant and not in a nursing student capacity. It is beneficial to undertake your health care support work in an alternative ward or area, although we appreciate this is not always possible.