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Our anonymous recruitment process

We are working hard to become an anti-racist and truly inclusive employer.

We have an anonymous recruitment process in place to help reduce unconscious bias within our recruitment process.

We only want to shortlist and hire candidates based on ability.

This means our shortlist will remove names, employment and education history and LinkedIn profile links. The people at Platypus who communicate with candidates to arrange tests and interviews are not the same who shortlist, interview and decide on the successful candidates.

The application questions, task and interview questions will focus on your technical skills and alignment with our values.

The whole process

  1. Candidates complete the online application form before 8 am on the closing date.
  2. We hide personal information before the hiring team reviews the applications.
  3. The hiring team reviews the application answers to create a shortlist (we aim to do this within one week of the job closing time).
  4. We contact the shortlisted candidates to arrange for a task to be completed at a time of the candidates’ choice.
    • We may ask for a short phone call by our HR to check details on the application.
    • The task will be typical of the role but not be related to any active clients.
    • Candidates can request any changes to the recruitment process at this point.
    • We ask candidates to choose a time to complete the task. Task slots before 9 am and after 5 pm are available.
    • We schedule an email with the task at the chosen time.
    • Candidates must complete the task and return it at the agreed time.
  5. The hiring team reviews the completed tasks once the last one is received (this will usually happen within one week of the task invites being sent).
  6. We contact the candidates to either invite them to interview or to offer feedback (we aim to do this within one week).
  7. The interview will take place on a time and date agreed upon by the candidate and Platypus.
    • The interview will last around one hour for assistant and executive roles and one and a half hours for manager roles and above.
    • The interview will ask you to talk through your task, then ask questions designed to test technical ability and alignment with our values.
    • They will be scored individually by the panel.
    • Further details on the interview are in the next section.
  8. After the interview, the panel will gather the completed sheets and agree the final decision.
  9. Finally, we will contact the successful candidate to offer the position. We also offer the unsuccessful candidates feedback (we aim to do this within one week).

The hiring team

The hiring team will consist of the hiring manager and a team member who will work with the post holder.

Communication with candidates is done by someone outside the hiring team, so the hiring team doesn’t know who the candidate is.

The interview panel will be the hiring manager and a team member working with the post holder.

The interview 

The interview will be either virtual via Google Meet or in person at our offices in London Bridge and last approximately one hour for junior roles and one and a half hours for manager roles and above.

The interview will follow these stages:

  1. Introduction to the process and timings for the interview.
  2. We will ask you to talk us through your task.
  3. Up to three questions about your technical ability as related to the role.
  4. Up to three questions aimed at understanding your alignment with the organisation’s values.
  5. Questions asking if there is any extra information you think would be useful for us to know.
  6. The opportunity for you to ask us any questions you may have about the role or organisation.
  7. Clarification on notice period, next steps and any other details.

 

Questions format:

  • Details of how well you meet the technical requirements:
    • These questions will be weighted to represent two-thirds of the total score.
    • A typical interview question will follow the STAR format and include follow-up questions aiming to understand the situation, task, action and result.
    • As an example, you may be asked to detail a time you completed an action typical to the role, what the situation was, the tasks related, any actions and then finally, the results.
  • How well you would adhere to our values.
    • These questions will be weighted to represent one-third of the total score.
    • As an organisation, we have four key values. We ask you to demonstrate your alignment with at least two of these values.

 

The panel won’t have seen your LinkedIn profile or CV beforehand so they’ll be coming to the interview without any knowledge of your prior experience. 

Decision criteria

The interviewers will score each answer 0-5:

  1. No answer given or answer completely irrelevant. No examples given.
  2. A few good points but main issues missing. No examples/irrelevant examples given
  3. Some points covered, not all relevant. Some examples given.
  4. Some points covered. Relevant information given. Some examples given.
  5. Good answer. Relevant information. All or most points covered. Good examples.
  6. Perfect answer. All points addressed. All points relevant. Good examples.

 

Technical skills answers will be weighted at x2 the score, values questions will be weighted at x1.

We will compare total scores to find a candidate who demonstrates the highest ability to do the job.

Where ability scores are equal, we will go with the candidate with the best values scores.

To hear about new opportunities to work with us, please sign up to alerts on our CharityJobs page. All new vacancies will be posted on CharityJobs and the application process will follow our anonymous recruitment process.