Vacancy - IT Student Placement

19/10/2007

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

IT STUDENT PLACEMENT

1. Introduction

The Arts Council has a vacancy for a student placement as outlined in the attached Job Description.

2. Terms and Conditions

Appointment Period The posts will be for a period of one year from an agreed start date. The appointment may be terminated at a month’s notice by either side during the period.

Salary £10,000 per annum

Annual Leave 22 working days per annum.

Hours of Business

Flexi-time Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.30pm, 8.00am to 6.30pm

Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm 8.00am to 6.00pm

(including one hour for lunch every day)

The post holder may be required to work outside the Arts Council’s normal office and flexi-time hours.

Office Location The post is based at the Arts Council’s headquarters, 77 Malone Road, Belfast. This is a non-smoking building.

3. Closing Date

The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 5.00pm on Friday 30 th November 2007.

The completed Application Form and Recruitment Monitoring Form should be returned in an envelope marked CONFIDENTIAL and must be addressed to:

The Monitoring Officer

IT Placement (Ref 07/08)

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

MacNeice House

77 Malone Road

Belfast BT9 6AQ

Failure to complete and return the Application Form in accordance with the Guidance Notes contained on the reverse of the first page of the Application Form will result in your application being disqualified.

Canvassing will disqualify.

Electronic versions of the application form may be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Copies of this job application pack are available in large text or on disk, on written request only, from the Corporate Services Department, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, MacNeice House,

77 Malone Road , Belfast BT9 6AQ or by email from administration@artscouncil-ni.org

4. Shortlisting

Initial shortlisting will be carried out using the Essential requirements in the Person Specification. Should further shortlisting be necessary, the Desirable requirements will be applied in the order shown.

5. Interviews

The interviews for this post will be scheduled for January 2008.

The Arts Council will treat all information and documents supplied in support of this application as strictly confidential unless required to disclose such by a statutory body in connection with any claim which may arise out of the appointment.

PERSONNEL SPECIFICATION

A vacancy exists in the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s IT Section for an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who is keen to gain hands on work experience in IT. The applicant should be studying an ICT related discipline.

The Arts Council makes use of a Microsoft Windows network, which uses Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP Professional desktop. There are approximately 50 PCs, various peripheral devices ( scanners, cameras etc. ) and printers within the organisation. The Council makes use of a range of software through from Microsoft Office on the desktops through to server based software, such as SQL Server.

Essential

STANDARD OF EDUCATION Two years completed of a recognised degree programme which requires a year out placement as part of the final degree assessment. Good standard of education to at least ‘A’ level or equivalent plus English (Language) and Mathematics to at least GCSE (Grades A-C) standard or equivalent.
IT SKILLS Working expertise in the use of standard IT packages such as MS Office plus email and the internet.
DATABASE An understanding of database design and management techniques including sorting, extracting and exporting data.
WEBSITE An understanding of website design including the use of website development tools and languages.
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY An appreciation of equality of opportunity issues.
HOURS OF WORK The post holder may be required to work outside the Arts Council’s normal office hours.

Desirable

LOCAL ARTS An understanding of the issues facing, and knowledge of, practitioners in the local arts scene.
WEB BASED DATABASES An understanding of the design of databases / web pages for use on dynamic websites.

JOB DESCRIPTION

A vacancy exists in the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s IT Section for an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who is keen to gain hands on work experience in IT. Whilst the person appointed will be a member of the IT Team and would therefore gain valuable experience in a wide range of IT areas, including:

ACNI Web Sites

The Arts Council maintains a number of web sites, and is working on the development of new sites to promote the arts from Northern Ireland. Currently active sites include:

ACNI Web Site – www.artscouncil-ni.org

ACNI Art Collection - http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/collection/

International Arts - http://www.artsinfodesk.com/

Future plans include the enhancements of these sites with extra functionality and the possibility of the development of new sites based on data held by the Arts Council.

These web sites are being developed using HTML, ASP and SQL and the successful candidate would be given experience in working in this area of application development.

The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to develop skills in the areas of image, audio and video editing in order to prepare content for these web sites.

Document Management

During 2008/2009, the Arts Council will be introducing a new electronic document management system across the organisation. As electronic document management will be rolled out across the public sector over the next number of years, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop skills in an area of growing importance within IT in the public sector.

General IT Work Experience