Library Graduate Trainee
3 x positions available: 2 in Customer Services Team, 1 in Collection Development Team
RCN UK HQ Office, 35 hours per week, 12-month fixed term contract with start date of 5th August 2024.
There is more to the RCN than you might think. We’re a trade union with a membership of over half a million nurses, midwives, nursing support workers and students. We support their practice, represent them, lobby on their behalf, and develop them. We exist to make a positive difference – to the working lives of our members and ultimately to standards in patient care. Our employees are drawn from many walks of life – we are nurses, marketers and communicators, administrators, IT professionals, policy and finance experts, lawyers… together we are so much more. We couldn’t do what we do without our people.
Our Library Service has been awarded the Customer Service Excellence standard.
We're accredited with Investors in People Gold Standard. Our people are our greatest asset, and we want people who can contribute to our purpose in line with our values.
As a Graduate Trainee in our Library you’ll use your enthusiasm, your positivity, and your customer service skills to deliver an exceptional service to our members. In this varied role every day will be filled with possibilities. You will get involved in anything from helping nurses access our resources and putting on events to conducting family history searches and working with our unique collections. We'll look to you to work with and represent all aspects of the library service, fielding front line enquiries, dealing with journals, assisting with exhibitions, assisting with member training, and supporting long-running and short-term library projects. It's a great way to build your skills and experience and your understanding of the library profession and the many varied roles within it.
To join us you’ll need customer service skills and, ideally, a background in a relevant area such as libraries, retail, or the service industry.
Whatever your background, you'll be a strong team player, efficient, accurate and show a real customer focus in all you do.
To succeed at the Royal College of Nursing all you need to do is think bigger, better and brighter. And with an attitude like that, anything’s possible.
What we offer you
We expect you to look after our customers, and we expect you to be rewarded for it. We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of learning development opportunities and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme. We offer annual leave of 28 days plus bank holidays and three additional days for the Christmas break.
Balancing work and life commitments is important to us as an organisation. We are a diverse organisation and understand everyone has different needs. All employees can ask for flexible working and when personal circumstances change we will work with you to find a smarter working solution that suits everyone.
Our selection process
Please answer the supporting questions demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. If you wish to submit a CV, please ensure it is in a simple format with minimal tables and sections. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes.
We want your experience applying for a job with us to be the best it can be. We’re having to be more flexible about how we hold interviews and assessments. If you foresee any problems, including financial, with attending an interview in person in London, please let us know in your supporting statement.
As a proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme, we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities. We particularly welcome applications from individuals who identify as People of Colour, BAME and/or part of Black and Global Majority racial and ethnic groups.
Contact details
For more information or for an informal discussion please contact Diane McCourt, Collection Development Manager on 020 7647 3606, or Hannah Slater, Customer Services Information Specialist on 020 7647 3768.
For more information on the recruitment & selection process, recruit@rcn.org.uk
Opening date: 19 April 2024
Closing date: midnight on Tuesday 28 May 2024
Interview date: w/c 17 June 2024