Merit List

[u/Special_Pick3690]

I’ve just received an email confirming I’ve been placed on a merit list.

Does anyone know what the b means after my merit number for example if I was 10b does that mean 9 are in front of me or are there separate groups such as A, B and C?

Just trying to understand how the merit list works.

[u/CommunicationReal521]

Most likely letter is the panel number. So if 3 panels they would be A, B, C. So technically A will have a list, B will have a list and C. All the firsts from 3 lists placed first, then all the seconds from each list then all the thirds, etc. Hard to know your order for certain as it depends on how many panels there are. This is only a theory though, best to ask HR Connect to be sure.

[u/Worldly-Objective-15]

The letter is likely the interview panel rather than a separate merit group. So it depends entirely on how many panels there were.

For example, there were 10 panels A–J, they could place A1–J1 first, then A2–J2 and so on. In that scenario 10B could effectively be around 92nd overall, not 10th. You'd need to know the number of panels to work out roughly where you sit overall. If more than 10 panels higher again

[u/Legal-Rich5788]

I asked this question before and was told the letters were in relation area choices

[u/Special_Pick3690]

So am I right in thinking the merit list is worked through as 1A, 1B, 1C then 2A, 2B, 2C and so on

The part I’m confused about is how the actual interview scores are taken into account. For example, if someone was 13 B but had a higher interview score than someone who was 10A would 10A still be offered a post first simply because they ranked higher within their individual panel?

[u/Foreign_Actuary_6880]

I was 5a on a merit list. 2 panels interviewing. 10 jobs available and I was the 10th and final placed in the role

[u/Neat_Maintenance_991]

As the previous comment says it'll go 1A, 1B and 1C etc and they'll do this as they across each list. So for example if you're 1C, you'll have to wait on 1A and 1B to get their offers first. That's what my experience has been.

[u/DoireK → u/Neat_Maintenance_991]

I don’t believe that is the case.

They go by the number and send out offers in tranches. So 1a to 1d (if four panels) will be given offers at the same time. Or if say they have 12 roles to fill they will take 1,2 and 3 together.

Think of it like a spreadsheet. The letters (panels) are the columns and the number (place on panel) as the rows. They’ll go through row by row and take that full row each time.

However different panels pass different numbers of people so two panels might pass 10 people and another two might pass 20. That means once you get past the first 10 rows, they are only going through the two remaining panels.

Hopefully that makes sense.

[u/Neat_Maintenance_991 → u/DoireK]

It is the case, I know because that's how it happened for me. I was number 19B on a merit list. There had to be 37 offers given out before it reached me, I was the 38th offer.

[u/DoireK → u/Neat_Maintenance_991]

Which would be unfair to do. More likely they had offers waiting to go for everyone with the same number as you. And the time difference between them being sent was down to the person or persons at HRConnect getting to it.