Guidance Notes for Completing Application Forms for Argento

GUIDANCE NOTES FOR COMPLETING APPLICATION FORMS FOR ARGENTO

Thank you for your response to our recent advertisement for a position of employment within Argento

In order to process all the applications we receive, we would be obliged if you would complete the enclosed application form in all parts. If there is insufficient space for your answer, please continue on a separate sheet.

Failure to complete the application form in full may result in the application being rejected.

Please ensure that your form clearly states which position you are applying for including the location of the job as we may be recruiting for more than one post at a time.

 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ALL DOCUMENTATION  COMPLETE ALL PARTS OF THE APPLICATION FORM  CVs WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED  PLEASE CHECK – DID YOU SIGN AND DATE YOUR APPLICATION FORM

Curriculum Vitae :

Applications will only be accepted on Formal Company Application forms so that the same type of information is received from all applicants. Attached CVs will not be considered, either in lieu of the application form or in conjunction with it. Attached sheets will not be considered, only where it states that attached sheets can be added.

Do not change the format of the application form

References:

Please give contact details for at least two people willing to act as referees. At least one of the referees should be relevant to your current or most recent employment. They should have had some managerial responsibility for your work although we accept that, for some employers, it is policy for Human Resource Departments to provide references.

Referees should not be colleagues, subordinates or friends. If you have dificulties in obtaining an employer’s reference eg. students or people returning to work after a long period of absence, please provide details in a covering letter. If this is your first employment, a tutor’s reference or similar will be acceptable. References regarding unpaid positions will be welcomed. Referees may not be relatives or friends. References will be sought for the successful applicant before any offer of employment is confirmed. Referees will be provided with a copy of the job description.

Monitoring Information (Northern Ireland applications):

Under the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998 the Company is required to monitor the Community Background of job applicants and employees. Consequently you are required to complete the attached Monitoring Questionnaire Form and return this with your completed application form.

Access to your Monitoring Form will be strictly controlled and will not be available to those considering your application for employment.

Eligibility to work in the UK:

Candidates who are offered employment will be required to produce proof of identification e.g. birth certificate, driver’s licence with photo, passport, and proof of eligibility to work in the UK. A check of these documents will be carried out prior to any formal offer or employment being made.

Criminal Records Bureau:

Applicants for positions which are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1978 will be asked to obtain a basic disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Argento uses the CRB Disclosure service to assess applicants’ suitability to work in positions of trust.

Closing Date: 28 th June 2017 @ 5pm

Application Forms received after the date of closing will not be accepted. CONFIDENTIAL for office use only Job Ref No: IT-JUN17 App. No: APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT Please complete Application Form in CAPITALS, black ink and write clearly throughout. Short listing will be based solely on the information given on this form. Completed applications should be sent to Monitoring Officer, Argento Head Office, 12-14 Corn Market, Belfast, BT4 1DD or via email to [email protected] Position applied for: IT Support Assistant Location: Head Office Full-time ALL ABOUT YOU Title: (Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms) Address: Surname:

Forename:

Home Telephone Number: County: Post Code:

Mobile Telephone Number: Work Telephone Number:

National Insurance Number: PPS Number (ROI):

Email Address: May we contact you at work: YES/NO

Do you require any special requirements to be made for interview? e.g. reasonable adjustment in relation to a disability.

Please state:

Dates of any Holiday/other Commitments: Notice period required by present Employer:

Do you have secondary employment that would continue if If yes, how many hours do you work per week: Argento employed you? YES/NO

Please indicate your expected salary

REFERENCES – please refer to the guidance notes - First reference should be current or past employer; referees should not be colleagues, subordinates or friends, they should both have had some managerial responsibility for your work. First Reference Second Reference

Name: Name:

Company: Company:

Address: Address:

Occupation: Occupation:

Tel No: Tel No:

Email: Email:

May we contact prior to interview: Yes/No May we contact prior to interview: Yes/No Education & Qualifications (Continue on a separate sheet if necessary)

Name Of School/College/University Dates Subject and Grade attained Level (e.g. GCSE or equivalent, Degree etc) From To

Membership of Professional Body:______(If you are studying towards membership please state which one)

Future training courses/plans (give details of any training courses you are currently pursuing)

Driving Licence (only candidates applying for positions where travel is required should complete this box) Date Full Licence Issued: Date HGV Licence Issued: Current Driving Licence: None/Provisional/Ordinary (please delete) Asylum and Immigration Legislation Please refer to the separate enclosed sheet called Guidance Notes for Completing Application Forms for further information. Do you have proof of your entitlement to work in the UK/Republic of Ireland (as appropriate)? Yes/No (please delete) If yes, please attach photocopies of two documents (eg passport, birth certificate, Home Office documents, work visa etc) Criminal Offence Have you ever been convicted of a Criminal Offence? (Which is not spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (N.I.) Order)? YES / NO (please delete) Please note: Argento is a company that uses the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosure service to assess applicants’ suitability to work in positions of trusts. Applicants therefore may be asked to obtain a basic disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Employment (please list chronologically, starting with current/last employer) If required please continue on a separate sheet

Name and Address of Dates Position & Duties Salary and Employer Benefits Please describe the work you did and include Please also include your Reason for leaving/wanting to leave name of Manager From To

YOUR EXPERIENCE Please demonstrate by providing examples of how you have previously supported people remotely

Provide an example of how you have previously been involved in networking and cabling

Provide an example of a time when you have worked outside of normal working hours to help get the job done

Provide an example of how work as part of a team under stressful situations

YOUR EXPERIENCE Thank you for your interest in joining our team. To support your application please tell us a little bit about your experience to date. Please carefully read the essential criteria for this role and provide details of the relevant skills, abilities, experience and knowledge that you have which will enable you to carry out the role. Where possible, please provide examples of how you have put your skills and knowledge into practice and to what effect. Please make sure you complete this section fully as it is important in helping us establish your suitability for the vacancy. Continue on a separate sheet if necessary.

Do you have any commitments, which require absence from the business? For example. If you are a member of the Territorial Army, carrying out part time study, pre-booked holidays etc

Are there any dates on which you will not be available for interview?

Would you be prepared to work additional hours when required to do so? YES/NO (Please delete)

Would you be prepared to work flexible hours, including weekends and Holiday/Sickness cover? YES/NO (Please delete)

DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT As a requirement of current Data Protection legislation, the information that you provide on this form and that obtained from other relevant sources will be used to process your application for employment. The equal opportunities information that you give to us will be used in a confidential manner to help us monitor our recruitment process. Once the recruitment process is completed, if you are unsuccessful, the data will be stored for a maximum of 12 months and then destroyed. If you are a successful candidate, relevant information will be taken from the application form and used as part of your personnel record and stored for the appropriate time period.

Declaration

All if the information I have supplied in this application is a true and complete statement of the facts and, if employed, any false statements will constitute sufficient cause for dismissal. I further authorise you to contact all of my previous employers or referees for full information regarding my employment history if necessary.

Signature: ______Date: ______

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Reply letter: Not to be interviewed/ Reason not to be interviewed: To be interviewed

Decision made by: Date of First Interview: Date of Second Interview:

Result of Interview: To be Completed by Interviewers Successful/Unsuccessful Accepted Job Offer/Rejected Job Offer Start Date: Contracted Hours: Date Unsuccessful Letter sent: Date Successful Letter sent:

FAIR EMPLOYMENT MONITORING QUESTIONNAIRE PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL TO BE COMPLETED BY ALL JOB APPLICANTS CONFIDENTIAL for office use only Job Ref IT-JUN17 App. No: MONITORING QUESTIONNAIRE Argento is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, colour, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, perceived political opinion, race, religious affiliation or sexual orientation.

Argento monitor the applications it receives for jobs in order to ensure that its recruitment practices promote equality of opportunity and to comply with our duties under the Fair Employment & Treatment (NI) Order 1998.

This information will be treated in the strictest confidence, protected from misuse and will not form any part of your application. It will be used only for the purposes of monitoring our equal opportunity employment policy. PLEASE COMPLETE ALL SECTIONS IN FULL COMMUNITY BACKGROUND

Regardless of whether they actually practice a religion, most of us in Northern Ireland are perceived to be members of either the Protestant or Roman Catholic communities. We are therefore asking you to indicate your community background by ticking the appropriate box below.

Please indicate the community to which you belong to by ticking the appropriate box below:

I am a member of the Protestant community:

I am a member of the Roman Catholic community:

I am not a member of either the Protestant or the Roman Catholic communities:

If you do not answer this questionnaire, we are encouraged to use the residuary method, which means that we can make a determination as to your community background on the basis of the personal information provided on your application form/personnel file.

Note: If you answer this questionnaire you are obliged to do so truthfully as it is a criminal offence under the Fair Employment (Monitoring) Regulations (NI) 1999 to knowingly give false answers to these questions.

GENDER Please indicate your gender by ticking the appropriate box below:

Female:

DISABILITY Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 a person is considered to have a disability if he/she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day to day activities. Do you consider that you meet this definition of disability?

If Yes please state the nature of or the effects of your disability______

ETHNIC ORIGIN

1. Please indicate your ethnic origin by ticking the appropriate box below:

White Indian Irish Traveller Pakistan Black-Caribbean Bangladeshi Black-African Chinese

Mixed Ethnic Group (please specify) ______

Black – Other (please specify) ______

Other (Please specify) ______

2. Nationality (Please specify) ______

How did you find out about this Position? Please tick appropriate box

Newspaper

NI Jobs

If the answer to the above was Newspaper, please indicate which one: ______

If the answer to the above was Other, please specify:______

ARGENTO ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER

Founded in 1997, Belfast based multi-channel retailer Argento, are the fastest growing jewellery department store in the UK and Ireland while also being the UK and Ireland’s single biggest Pandora retailer. With currently 52 stores nationwide we continue to grow with new stores planned for 2017. We are currently seeking to recruit an IT Support Assistant to join the busy IT Team in Head Office for a 1 year Fixed Term Contract. This may suit a recent graduate or someone seeking a placement year.

Further Details: Job Title: IT Support Assistant Contract: 12 month Fixed Term Contract Responsible to: Head of IT Location: Argento Head Office, Belfast (travel will be required) Hours of work: 40 hours per week & weekend rota (plus additional on-call hours to meet operational need) Salary: £19,000 per annum

Job Duties:

To provide 1st line IT Support via the telephone, email and in person to Argento’s Head Office and Stores located throughout the UK/Ireland and Isle of Man.

Travel will be required to our stores across the UK and Ireland for new store set ups / deal with IT issues that cannot be resolved remotely.

You will work directly under the guidance and supervision of the Head of IT and the Senior Support Team on day-to-day IT support related tasks. You will also liaise with the Head of IT regarding all aspects of the day-to- day running of the department.

Your other duties will include:

 Shop install and upkeep including installation of CCTV and audio systems.  Being the first point of contact for incoming support requests and logging them on the helpdesk system and scheduling as necessary  Installation and configuration of IT hardware and software including PCs, Printers, Networking equipment  Testing of hardware and software releases and upgrades  Resolving IT support issues, monitoring the progress of support issues through to resolution or escalating where necessary  Providing basic advice/training to users regarding IT equipment, printing, applications, telephony systems and network access  Ensuring data integrity and security  To be involved in the department out of hours support rota  Help the company sustain it compliance in all aspects of IT security & best practices.

Essential Criteria: Must have a minimum of Degree level in IT / ICT / Computing Experience in SQL advantageous but not necessary Good knowledge cabling Experience in Windows Server, Active Directory and Exchange Experience working to tight deadlines with a highly pressurised and change orientated environment Ability to diagnose faults over the phone and to provide advice to users remotely Motivated, pro-active, enthusiastic and friendly disposition Full clean driving licence and access to a vehicle Flexibility to travel and work on call to meet operational need (evenings and weekends on call rota)

Candidates with experience with some of the following would be advantageous but not necessary: Experience with Windows Server and Desktop operating systems Experience of working with LAN and WAN technology, including routers and switches Experience in Virtualisation Active Directory and group policy Database technologies using SQL SonicWALL devices EPOS solutions and equipment Cabling

Job benefits and perks: ARGENTO's mission is to encourage a high-performing culture so that we can be the most loved brand to work for. We value and respect all our employees and to thank them for all their hard work, dedication and passion we offer a generous benefits package, to highlight only a few:

 Annual Leave & Family Friendly Policies

 Auto-enrolment pension scheme (Employer 1% & Employee 1% contribution)

 Employers for Childcare Voucher Scheme

 Generous staff discount

 Excellent training programmes

 Opportunity to progress How to apply:

If you are talented & passionate about our brand and have the drive to contribute to our success, please request an application pack from [email protected].

Completed application forms must be submitted before the closing date.

CLOSING DATE: 28th June 2017 @ 5pm