Featured jobs… with Cygnet Health Care

Vicky Linstead, Specialist Recruiter for Psychology, says 'Whatever job you do within Cygnet it will provide the advantages of both a large organisation and a local team'. Founded in 1988, Cygnet has grown to run 150 services round the UK. 10,500 employees work with 7500 individuals of all ages on 15 different service lines from autism, mental health issues and eating disorders to PICU, personality disorders and supported living. Units in turn range from hospitals to secure units to houses offering independent living.

'Across these services we employ around 100 psychologists including assistants. So you can see that there’s support drawing on a very wide range of experience. But our regional structure makes employees’ experiences “homely”, if I can use that word. There are regular meetings within the regions and between the lead psychologists in each region. We are committed to supporting psychologists in their work and to CPD. So, you will get all the advantages of being part of a large organisation combined with a small team feel.’

Not that the psychologists at Cygnet see themselves as a separate group. ‘The jobs involved genuinely multidisciplinary working with occupational therapists, social workers, psychotherapists, and others, depending on the clients you are working with. Successful candidates must be able to communicate with and work with their colleagues in a collegial way.’

What else are you looking for in successful candidates? ‘We are advertising three jobs here and precise requirements will vary. If you are interested, check out the fuller descriptions. But one consistent quality we are looking for is that we want people who are genuinely passionate about working for their client group. Happy service users make for happy staff and our first priority is the service user. We’re here for them.’

‘We want to employ people who stay with us. We offer competitive packages, but do look at detailed descriptions of particular roles. These may include generous relocation packages. Then we will offer real opportunities for career development: one example is a trainee who joined us four years ago who has just become a principal psychologist.’

So, if you had a great candidate for any of these jobs in front of you, what would you say to them? ‘There are two things I would emphasise. First, we will work with you to build a satisfying career within the organisation: I’ve been here for seven years and love it. And second, perhaps, most important, your work will make a difference every day, and every day will be different.’

Cygnet’s psychology microsite is at https://join.cygnethealth.co.uk/psychologist/

- Find out more on our Jobs in psychology website