Advising on the appointment of the new NSPAG chair — Jess’ view
Jess, from Shetland, is a member of Suicide Prevention Scotland’s Youth Advisory Group.
She was invited to be an adviser to the interview panel during the process to interview and identify a new chair for the National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group (NSPAG).
We asked her to reflect on the experience of being so involved in a key appointment.
I was an adviser to the interview panel for the new NSPAG chair, alongside Rose, who was the previous chair.
Being an adviser meant we were involved in the process from the applications to the interviews. We advised the interview panel and their decisions, giving our perspectives and insights to help guide their decisions.
Prior to the interviews I had received some information from Parisa and Chris at Children in Scotland, what the questions would be, the scoring system being used in interviews and what the interview panel were looking for in applicants.
I had also met the interview panel prior to this when talking through the applications, though this was over video call as I’m so far away!
But it was good to be able to meet everyone before the interviews, even if it was on a computer screen.
As I was an adviser and not a panel member I didn’t need to do any training on how to interview people, I also already had some prior experience of being involved in recruitment processes so this was helpful!
On the day of the interviews I met with Chris before heading to the building where the interviews were held so we could walk there together.
We were greeted and shown to the room that the interviews would be in and got settled in.
It was quite a busy day, while we were there all day it went by really quick.
There were four different people interviewed for the role, all with varying experiences and backgrounds. It was really interesting hearing about all of the work being done across Scotland and listening to why everyone felt passionate about suicide prevention in particular.
As I was an adviser to the panel I wasn’t actually asking any of the interview questions, it was more of an observer role, but the panel asked questions that explored the candidates existing experience and skills but also their motivations for this role in particular.
The questions opened up conversations around the candidates experiences of influencing change at a national level, what their leadership style is like, insights into why they felt suicide prevention was important and also discussion around the importance of voices of people with lived and living experience (LLE) and what experience they had with involving LLE voices.
This was a particular interest for me as that is why I’m involved and know firsthand why it’s so important to ensure our voices are at the centre of these conversations.
After all of the interviews were complete it was time for the panel to deliberate. The panel compared notes and scores, first giving their own views, then Rose and I would share any insights we had.
It was interesting to see how this all worked and the ways in which the scoring was done for this role which was different to any recruitment processes I had been involved with before.
After discussing as a group there was an agreement of who the panel would recommend as the new NSPAG chair!
This was the first time working with advisers to the panel, I don’t think anything “didn’t work” though I did feedback some things I felt could be improved when it comes to involving young people.
As someone with ADHD I often struggle processing just verbal information, so I found it quite hard in the meeting we had about applications only going off verbal information. It would have been great to have some information from the applications in written form.
Something that was great was being able to be involved, even from a tiny wee island 360 miles away, it’s so important that people from rural communities get these opportunities too, especially now that we have options like video calling!
I also fed back in the future they might think about involving people with lived experience in other ways, maybe having the formal interview with the panel and then a second interview with a lived experience panel.
While I felt okay being apart of these interviews I recognise I am an older young person who has experience of settings like this, I felt my younger self maybe would not have coped so well with it, but maybe a specific interview around involving people with LLE would give future interviewers the opportunity to have a more active role in the decision making process!
All in all I think it’s amazing that they brought in advisers for this process, and I’m glad I got to be apart of it.
It really is important to ensure LLE voices are involved at all levels, it would be great to see this as a standard for roles like this across the country!
If you are having thoughts of suicide, please reach out for help, speak to someone you trust or call one of these helplines:
- Samaritans 116 123 or use the online chat at samaritans.org
- Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87
- NHS 24 mental health hub on 111
If you are ever in immediate danger or have the means to cause yourself harm you should dial 999 and request an ambulance.
