Combining roles in one process: the equal opportunity trap
Same word limit, different roles, unequal opportunity.
The MPC has reviewed cases where a single selection process was used to fill multiple roles, with candidates required to provide statements of claims within a fixed word limit, regardless of whether they applied for one role or both. Candidates applying for both roles argued they were given the same word budget as candidates applying for one, which meant less space per role to demonstrate suitability.
That is a real defect. When one process fills multiple roles, the assessment must give all candidates genuine opportunity to address each role’s requirements. Shared word limits, shared questions, and shared assessment tasks need to be designed with the multi-role context in mind, or the process needs to be split.