And you can get interesting and rewarding experience of public life. Qualities required Widely different experience and qualities may be required for different tasks. But there are some common factors. Many appointments involve committee work, so an ability to chair or contribute to group discussions and decision making is essential. So is a capacity to analyze problems and assess evidence impartially, and take or help take well-judged decisions.
Some appointments call for recent senior executive experience in a company or public authority.
But many appointments are open to people who have either retired or have limited recent full-time work experience, perhaps because they are having a career break while bringing up a family. The Public Appointments Unit assists Ministers in making appointments and to ensure that a range of candidates of both sexes and from different ethnic minority backgrounds are available for consideration for public appointments. It does this by maintaining a register of people willing to be considered for public appointments. This register is a computerized database currently containing around 5,000 names of people who have either nominated themselves or been nominated by others. Your experience, interests and other relevant information will be recorded and these details will be made available to departments requesting candidates with your background and experience.