Organised, pro-active go-getter, never had sex before

On Tuesday, Sally and I will interview for two new ARV counselors. The role is extremely important in keeping HIV positive people alive by teaching and supporting the drug taking regime. We do not pay them a great deal, because we cannot afford it. R1000/mth is all. We are trying to find funding for more. The current situation means that counselors can be promoted to become hospital cleaners. Not cool. I hope to get back to you on that one.

But in the meantime, we recruit, and we got 35 application forms last week. It was very interesting reading them and deciding how to sift. First time my DfT experience has come directly to bear as I did a bit of recruitment before leaving London, but the process has to be different here. Most people are long term unemployed and badly educated. Memories of competency based interviews fade into the distance. The hardest thing to test for is initiative. We want someone with good English, who is organised, can learn processes and can take the initiative.

The form was fairly simple and largely tested written English skills, with some questions to tease out knowledge of the role and motivation for going for the job. Many attached CVs, education records and training course certificates. Sal made it clear that attendance at these courses counts for pretty much nothing, so we ignored them for the most part.

I suggested that we use a test of some sort to help our chances of finding someone fit for the job. On Tuesday night I will know if it was a silly idea. We are going to get one of the existing counselors to teach them how to do a simple diary task, before asking them to replicate it in the interview. It basically consists of them making a mock follow-up appointment with a pretend patient and ensuring that it is recorded and the patient understands. I am pretty excited to see how it goes. If we get some good potential people we are going to earmark them for future jobs. If we find a few with good English, we can use them as interpreters.

Another part of the sift is about asking them to turn up on time. We have said that if anyone is late we are not going to interview them. This is the right theory but in practice we may have to be more flexible. The whole Africa time thing means we are unlikely to get everyone there on time.

Ideally we want someone who is HIV positive, admits it freely and believes in the programme, has been through it and knows how important it is to take your drugs on time every day for the rest of your life. Not ruling out anyone else, but it would be a bonus.

One dude stood out from his application form. He attached certificates. I do not know how to set this one up for you, so I am just going to say it. The guy has successfully completed a virginity test. Twice. And he has the paperwork to prove it. (Doctor) Sal does not know how one would test for a man’s virginity. How we laughed. I am not in Kansas anymore.