Applying for jobs while you are still employed

Most people who move between public sector jobs apply while they are still employed, and recruitment is set up for it. Outside schools, your current employer is usually asked for a reference only after you have a conditional offer, and you can say on the form that you do not want them contacted before then. You have no general right to time off for interviews, so expect to use annual leave or flexi-time. The main risk is resigning too early, so wait until the new offer is unconditional before you hand in notice.

Who to tell, and when

You do not have to tell your manager you are applying elsewhere. Many people tell no one until they have an offer. Others mention it early, depending on the relationship, especially when they are applying for promotion within the same organisation or when their manager has encouraged them to move on to develop.

There are two situations where telling your manager early helps. The first is applying to a school, where references are usually requested before the interview. The second is an internal vacancy, where your manager may hear about it anyway. In both cases it is better that your manager hears it from you first.

References and when your employer finds out

Public sector applications almost always ask for your current or most recent employer as a referee. Most NHS employers, councils and Civil Service departments take up references once they have made a conditional offer, and the form has a tick box or question asking whether your current employer may be contacted before then. Say no if you would prefer they were not.

Schools are different. Under Keeping Children Safe in Education, schools in England seek references before interview so any concerns can be explored with you on the day. If you apply for a school post, your current head or line manager will normally hear about it before you are interviewed, so plan for that.

Our guide to references in public sector recruitment covers who counts as a suitable referee and what they are asked.

Getting time off for interviews

There is no general legal right to time off to attend an interview for another job. The exception is when you have been told you are at risk of redundancy and have enough service, in which case you have a right to reasonable paid time off to look for work or arrange training. Everyone else has to make their own arrangements.

In practice that means booking annual leave, using flexi-time if your employer has a flexi scheme, swapping a shift, or asking your manager for unpaid time. Many councils and Civil Service departments have flexi schemes, and shift workers in the NHS can often swap with colleagues. Teachers have the least room, because interviews happen in term time; most heads release staff for interviews, sometimes unpaid, and expect to be told in advance.

Some first-stage interviews are now held by video, which can be fitted into a lunch break or after work. If you are offered a time that is impossible, ask whether another slot is available.

Keeping the search separate from your job

Use your own phone, laptop and email for applications. Do not download your employer’s documents, policies or data to use in an application. Write your examples in your own words without naming patients, pupils or service users. Public bodies treat misuse of information and systems seriously, and it is the kind of thing that turns a routine move into a disciplinary matter.

Be careful on social media and professional networking sites too. Updating your profile to say you are looking is fine. Commenting on your current employer’s problems is not.

Timing your resignation

Wait until the new offer is unconditional, or at least until the checks most likely to cause delay are complete. A DBS check or a missing reference can hold things up for weeks, and resigning early could leave you without pay in the gap. The conditional offer letter lists the checks still to be done.

Your notice period is in your contract. The statutory minimum for an employee is one week once you have been employed for a month, but public sector contracts usually ask for more, often linked to your band or grade. Tell your new employer your notice period when the offer is made so they can set a realistic start date. Notice periods covers the statutory rules.

Teachers in maintained schools have fixed resignation dates under the Burgundy Book. To leave at 31 August, notice must be in by 31 May; to leave at 31 December, by 31 October; to leave at 30 April, by the end of February. Academies often copy these dates. If you are applying for teaching posts in the spring, the 31 May deadline will set most of your timing. See Teacher resignation deadlines.

Pay, holiday and service when you move

You are entitled to be paid for statutory holiday you have built up and not taken when you leave. Some employers ask you to use it during your notice period instead. Check your leave balance before you agree a leaving date.

Moving between NHS employers usually keeps your NHS service for annual leave and sick pay under Agenda for Change, and moving between councils or schools can do the same for some local government terms. A gap between jobs can break continuity for some purposes, so check before you agree a start date that leaves days in between. Continuous service in the public sector and Moving between NHS trusts explain the detail.

Your pension usually carries on if you move to another employer in the same scheme. If you move to a different scheme, your existing benefits stay in the old one unless you choose to transfer.

If your employer makes a counter-offer

Some managers respond to a resignation with an offer: a regrade, extra hours or a promise of development. In the public sector, pay is tied to bands and spines, so a counter-offer usually means a move up the band, an acting-up arrangement or a change of role. Ask for any counter-offer in writing and compare it with the new post on pay, pension, hours and travel before you decide. The take-home pay calculator can show what each salary is worth once tax and National Insurance come off.