What can be done to prevent half of the British population from becoming obese by 2050? How can Europe’s largest single organisation reduce its impact on UK carbon emissions? How will the credit crunch affect the provision of healthcare services in the UK?
These are exactly the sort of questions managers in the NHS are tackling.
Employing 1.3 million people and responsible for an annual budget of £100 billion - career opportunities really don’t get much bigger than with the NHS. If you have or are expecting at least a 2:2 degree, join our award winning Graduate Management Training Scheme and you’ll receive the training and development you need to prepare this world-class organisation for the demands of the future. Whether you choose to work in Finance, HR, General or Informatics Management, you’ll also get all the support you need to attain postgraduate and professional qualifications too.
My main reasons were to improve my employability and gain valuable experience in a foreign country. I also wanted to make international friends and find out more about different cultures and mentalities
The NHS takes a broad view of diversity and is working in partnership with Rare and EmployAbility, aiming to increase the diversity of its graduate programme intake.. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) recognise this, awarding the NHS the ‘Best Of The Best’ and the ‘Graduate Selection and Assessment’ awards in 2007, competing against the 700-strong membership of graduate recruiters and employers from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
I am currently working at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where I mainly manage the day-to-day running of the Orthotics department and its staff. I’m the budget holder for the department so I assist with financial management, and I’m heavily involved with the service improvement within the department and the more strategic issues.
I joined the NHS Graduate Scheme in October 2007 after studying Psychology at the University of Manchester. Although I enjoyed my degree and the psychology-related work experience I did whilst at university, the opportunities available with the NHS seemed too good to pass up ? the chance to help people and give something back to society were really important to me.
I chose to apply for the NHS because I felt that, although I wanted to go into finance, I also wanted to gain leadership experience that would allow me to take on managerial roles. The training offered is exemplary and being supported and funded through a professional qualification, CIMA, is invaluable. And, of course, the experience of working in the third largest organisation in the world offers unique challenges and experiences and the opportunities vary so widely that there are no restrictions on where you can drive your career.
I am currently working as an HR advisor for a large acute teaching hospital. There are around 5000 staff and I provide HR support to managers and advice to staff on a daily basis. I also spend a lot of time helping to develop policies and procedures and other smaller projects, such as a new starter handbook.
"I think some people perceive finance managers in the public sector as sitting in a box room, telling the people that work in the organisation not to spend any more money. But that couldn't be further from the truth"
"I think my three-month placement in Australia has been one of the highlights of my traineeship with the NHS," reflects Andy Williamson who works in recruitment at Guy's Hospital in London. "That and seeing a baby being born by caesarean during my first week's orientation, which was pretty amazing - I think I was more proud than the father."
Zoe, graduated in 2001 from the University of Cardiff with an MEng in integrated engineering; she became interested in rehabilitation engineering during her final year. Gait analysis is a highly competitive field, but Zoe's final grade - a first - and the fact that she carried out her final project at Cardiff's bioengineering department gave her the edge to get the job.
After university I did some temping in a financial consulting company. I realised there was much more to finance than just numbers, and the people were interesting. Then I temped for the NHS, and decided that accounting would be for me. I specifically decided to go for the NHS, as I feel the public sector is really interesting.