New BBC job recruitment test

BECTU has agreed to a trial run for a new staff appointment system at the BBC, after management responded to union concerns by modifying the scheme.

The new system, called "BBC Talent" is designed to fill the 7,000 vacancies that occur in the BBC every year through a centralised database of people looking for new employment opportunities in the Corporation.

In recent years, vacancies at the BBC have been individually advertised, and applicants have been selected by competitive interview.

Under the proposals for BBC Talent, anyone seeking a new job, or promotion, would register only once on the database, stating which category they would be interested in applying for.

Whenever an appropriate vacancy occurs, the database will be queried electronically, and the names of suitable applicants would be forwarded for possible inclusion on interview shortlists.

Vacancies would still be advertised, usually in the staff publication "Ariel", and applications from individuals who are not registered with BBC Talent will also be considered for short-listing.

The union has agreed to a trial of the Talent system, limited to five distinct job categories: Researchers, Broadcast Assistants, Broadcast Journalists (in England only), PAs/Senior Secretaries, and Personnel Assistants.

Once the trial concludes, at the end of December 1999, the BBC will begin further consultations with the unions which could lead to extension of the system across the BBC.

The guarantee that all vacancies would continue to be advertised to staff, and a promise of traditional interviews rather than private selection behind closed doors, were included in the Talent scheme in response to union concerns.