Choice Support Expert by Experience, Javid talks about his experience on a CQC recruitment panel.
My name is Javid Khalique. I am a family carer and I do some work for Choice Support as an Expert by Experience. We work with the CQC as part of an important national partnership.
The last time I was on a recruitment panel was fifteen years ago, so it was a pleasant surprise to be asked to be on a panel to recruit to a CQC post. My curiosity got the better of me!
Due to COVID-19 all the interviews were going to be over three days and on Zoom. The world has changed.
My CQC colleagues were superb professionals, friendly and genuinely involving. They made it easy to work together. We discussed the questions to ask, scoring systems and the paperwork for recording candidate replies. This was all against the job description and person specification for the job. I felt very engaged and listened to in the interviews preparation process. This gave confidence and clarity to our roles and the teams working relationships. It was serious but also fun.
Thankfully the technology worked when we did the interviews (well, nearly all the time) and the candidates were all able to do the job. There was an outstanding person and after lengthy point by point discussion the panel agreed on that person. I don’t think the other candidates will find it hard to find employment as they were all highly capable. I am confident the panel made the right decision.
Choice Support trains us well in listening skills, observation, and questioning techniques including probing questions. I asked some relevant very probing follow up questions!
On reflection I think the CQC officers made this Expert by Experience very welcome. They respected the lived experience and insights we bring and I never felt a token member of the panel. In fact I was an equal partner. It was a good experience and I missed the CQC officers the day after the interviews as we had got to know each other.
In having a Choice Support Expert by Experience on their recruitment panel the CQC was putting into practice its commitment to involving the community, people who use services and carers in its operations.
Having an Expert by Experience on the panel gave a strong message to all the candidates about our diversity and that organisations are there to serve the needs of those who use the health and social care sector.
Our lived experiences and insights gave extra emphasis and focus in interviews to the importance of involving widely in public consultation and what best practice looks like to us. Intellectual ability and skills (if relevant) in candidates are important but so is emotional competence and empathy. Our panel was spoilt for choice with person centered, enabling and empowering candidates.
