Applying for public appointments

Every year, the Government makes thousands of appointments to public bodies – yet many of the great people we meet at Civic Future have not heard of these roles or don’t realise they’re qualified to apply.

Britain has plenty of talent: leading scientists, entrepreneurs, creatives, doctors, lawyers, accountants, technical experts, engineers, community organisers and more. But we do a poor job of harnessing this national talent pool for public service.

Civic Future organises regular events for people interested in public appointments. If you’re at a senior level in your career, interested in serving the public good, and looking for a new challenge, read on.

There are over 400 public bodies in the UK, covering a wide range of interests and responsibilities. They include government departments, industry regulators, standards bodies, grant-making organisations, human rights bodies and statutory commissions.

People often think of the Government as one single entity but, in fact, much of its work – funding for the arts, setting food standards, governing national parks, regulating industries etc – is done through arms-length, independent organisations.

To ensure these organisations are well run and draw on wide expertise, ministers appoint non-executive directors (or “board members”) for fixed term periods of usually 3-5 years. There are around 5,000 public appointees and the government appoints around 900 each year. These are part time roles and the commitment can be anything between 2-3 hours a week to several days a year.

The legal responsibilities for roles vary. In the private sector non-executives usually have legal and fiduciary duties but in the public sector bodies are accountable to ministers and Parliament, either directly or indirectly. Non-executives may play more of an advisory role, with the bulk of time spent offering ideas, challenge, and support to senior teams. You can check the responsibilities before you apply.

The rules for appointments vary, but they follow the same principles: appointments must be advertised; they must be awarded according to clear criteria; candidates must be interviewed by a panel which includes one independent member; roles are non-party political so one’s political affiliation (or lack of) is not relevant but you may be asked to declare it; and all public appointments require the final approval of the relevant minister, the Prime Minister or even The King.

The Government also appoints non-executive directors to government departments in Whitehall, plus many organisations it funds or oversees, such as museums, the BBC and sports bodies.

Separate from the Government appointments system, there are many public bodies such as universities, museums, local authorities or NHS Trusts that appoint non-executive directors directly. These are advertised on their websites.

More details about criteria and who can apply can be found on the Cabinet Office site.

Some people are passionate about certain areas of public life, and getting an appointment can be a springboard for influence. For example, many board members for arts organisations are lawyers or accountants by day, but art or music-lovers by night. Many other appointees enjoy the opportunity to work in an entirely new area, learning new skills and knowledge, whilst adding value with their specific professional expertise.

Board appointments offer prestige and enhance your CV, of course, but they also introduce you to new people and give you a privileged insight into organisations or services. Some people who serve on boards simply want to improve things in their local area and see this as an important way of giving back. Employers are often very understanding and will allow a certain number of days to ‘volunteer’ in such positions.

Many roles are paid and expenses and travel will be covered in all roles. Where there is a high level of responsibility, time commitment, or public scrutiny (e.g. appearing at parliamentary select committees or in the media), remuneration can be as high as £100,000 per annum for one day a week.

All government-sponsored public appointments are advertised on the Cabinet Office website. You can search for appointments filtering by location, skills, pay, etc. If you’re interested in exploring a range of roles, it’s worth registering for regular alerts.

In addition, organisations in search of the broadest range of applicants might also use headhunters or ‘put out feelers’ through relevant networks.

If you know anyone in a government department or organisation that covers your area of interest and expertise, you can let them know you’re interested in applying for roles. The more information you can give the better – how much time you have, your specific knowledge and skills.

It definitely helps if you’re recommended by someone on the existing board, or are ‘known’ in the field because you’ve held similar positions before. Organisations often need specialist expertise or people who can hit the ground running. But the best recruiters know there is a danger of only recruiting in their own image which risks groupthink. So a chair will sometimes deliberately look for new faces to freshen the board a bit. Ministers also often want to appoint outsiders willing to challenge the status quo or support reform.

There’s no point pretending that networks don’t matter. We know one person who applied for a role after he met a junior government minister at a dinner (although he still had to apply, like everyone else). You can think about which social or professional events you attend where you might meet such contacts. We host events at Civic Future, as do many think tanks in London and other cities, but relevant networking opportunities happen all over the country – industry awards evenings, conferences, etc. If you are already involved in public life at a local level, this can open up opportunities to meet people in national bodies.

Some government departments are quite proactive about finding people and occasionally hold their own events – you can follow the relevant departmental public appointments accounts on LinkedIn. Government

If you’ve spent twenty years in commercial retail you don’t just have commercial knowledge, you understand risk, and management, the economy, and technology as well as human behaviour, ‘nudging’ and marketing. Every government department and agency values and needs those skills.

Don’t feel inhibited about applying for something in an area outside your immediate professional circle. One senior lawyer we know sits on the board of a university regulator: he’s not professionally involved in the sector, but has children in higher education so brings a parental perspective, as well as important commercial skills.

Organisations often need people with up-to-date digital skills, or professional accountants and lawyers who can chair audit and risk committees. People already performing these roles professionally often welcome the chance to utilise their skills in a completely different sector.

The best way to judge this is to look at existing board members and compare your experience. Are you at a similar level of seniority? Do you think you could hold your own in conversation about the organisation? Would you be adding any value they don’t already have?

Try to be realistic about your level of experience and understanding of the sector. If you are early on in your career, perhaps aim for the board of a local or medium sized body and earn your stripes before applying for something at the national level.

The competition for some prestigious roles can be stiff, but in other cases, departments are desperate for more good candidates to apply. There is no centralised, “VIP” list for appointments in government yet many people imagine there is a magic circle to which they don’t belong. Even if you aren’t successful the first time around, you will be on the radar for the next time.

Do some research.
Once you see a role you’re interested in, look at the organisation’s website, check out the annual report, read any relevant speeches by the leaders or relevant ministers, try to understand the history of the organisation and its priorities today. Government documents aren’t exactly light reading, but you will get a sense of the nature of the relevant body: its structure, ambitions, purpose, culture, and whether it might be a good fit for you.

Ask around.
See if you know anyone who does or has ever worked there, through LinkedIn or similar, and drop them a line. There’s nothing improper about this, and people are usually only too happy to share their experience and answer your questions. There will usually be a named contact in the recruiting pack with whom you can chat informally about the role.

Adapt your application and tailor your CV to the style of the organisation.
Of course, this is not unique to the public sector but there’s a language of recruitment and often a ‘competency-based’ process. Familiarise yourself with some of the terms used, and don’t forget to cover everything listed in the role and person description. It might feel lacking in finesse but take the time to set out the evidence of how you meet each of the essential criteria. Asserting that you do is not enough and you can’t rely on the person reading your application to understand how your CV links to the criteria. You need to give examples of when you have demonstrated that skill in practice. Again, if you know someone in the system, ask them to read through an early draft and give honest feedback.

Understand the Nolan Principles for public appointments.
Do you have any conflicts of interest? Might your Twitter feed or other social media make it look like you have? Is your tone appropriate for someone holding a public position? Don’t hide anything, but be ready to answer questions about it. Ask yourself honestly if there’s anything about your career or life that might contradict any of the standards you, or any reasonable person, apply to people in public life. Google yourself – others will.

Prepare for the interview.
Again reflect the language of the organisation. Ideally have a practice session with someone familiar with the format. If you are only used to private sector recruitment you might find it quite alien – it’s not ‘a conversation’, it’s a list of set questions linked to the role and person description. There are many online guides, see for example. Set out your experience and career achievements in the ‘STAR’ format: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Also, remember to show your passion for, and understanding of, the organisation you’re applying to join. We know of one highly qualified candidate who applied to a prestigious gallery but didn’t mention art once in their interview. They didn’t get the job.

Take the opportunity to ask questions.
The more you know about the role, the better you will be at it.

Be patient.
If the role is high profile or senior, it is likely that the process will take longer than predicted (possibly months). If you don’t hear anything, it doesn’t mean that you haven’t been successful. Government is a bureaucracy: ministers change, multiple stakeholders need to be informed and consulted, people have holidays, lists need to be compiled, sent to the Cabinet Office and Downing Street and back again. Sometimes there is disagreement over who to appoint. It’s fine to ask for some indication of timings, and to chase for an update. Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear anything for an extended period and then get a call explaining you’ve been appointed.

Political affiliation or activity is not a bar to public appointment. Nor are appointments dependent on membership, loyalty to a party or patronage of an elected office-holder. If they were, these roles would have to change with every election, which would undermine the strong governance and consistency they bring.

However, a minister is fully entitled to appoint board members who share his or her overall policy goals, or agenda for the organisation. Ministers are also entitled to question the efficacy of Boards or individuals who appear not to share these goals. Indeed, the power to appoint (or not appoint) is one of the few ways in which the elected government can ensure public bodies reflect the democratic will.

Departments can stipulate policy positions or expertise in the criteria, as long as it’s defensible. So, for example, a minister can say they want to appoint someone to an NHS-related body who will champion public sector productivity or bring expertise in that area. Or they can place a high value on candidates’ commitment to free speech when appointing to the board of a university regulator. The department may look at people’s past public comments to help judge this. However, for most roles, your political views will be largely irrelevant and unlikely to be of interest unless you are high profile or controversial.

Once someone is appointed to a board, they are independent and cannot be instructed by a minister to make certain decisions. Their obligation is to serve the organisation and the public good according to the Nolan principles.

Public bodies are required to think about diversity of characteristics (gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc) when recruiting, but also increasingly, diversity of opinion. Does the board understand and empathise with different strands of public and stakeholder opinion in their area? Are their appointments London-centric? Ministers have in the past urged cultural bodies to widen their boards to include more diverse opinion, and avoid groupthink when making decisions.

If you’re successful and appointed, do the induction (insist on one if it’s not offered). You may be bombarded with papers, acronyms, and introductory meetings. Don’t get swept along, speak up if something doesn’t make sense, and ask for anything you need or want that isn’t being offered.

Over time, you’ll get a sense of the demands of the role and be able to offer feedback to the chair. If you get eighty pages to read three days before a meeting, you might gently ask for them to be sent out earlier, or be written more concisely. If you think massive powerpoint slide packs are an inefficient way of conveying information or prompting serious discussion, explain why, and suggest an alternative.

Spend some time in the organisation outside the formal meetings, meeting more junior people, or shadowing someone for a day. After your first few months, spend some time thinking about what your priorities are and agree these with the chair. Keep returning to them (repetition never spoils the prayer!).

The reason to have external people appointed to boards is to challenge, scrutinise, offer expertise, and bring a fresh perspective. You can suggest innovations, make new introductions, and give people an insight into life on the ‘other side of the fence’; consumers, suppliers, audiences.

Roles in public life are rewarding. You will be part of governing the country: making public services better, using public money well, planning for the future, and ensuring our democracy is trusted.

Do look at the Cabinet Office website for appointments. From time to time, Civic Future hosts events for people who are interested in applying for public appointments and talking to those with this experience. If you’d like to find out more about these, please email us at info@civicfuture.org with some background information about yourself.