Service leavers and veterans
If you’re an armed forces service leaver or veteran, we’re here to help you find career opportunities in NHSScotland. You already have the knowledge and skills we’re looking for.
Opportunities in healthcare
NHSScotland works to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of 5.5 million people here in Scotland. We provide safe, effective and person-centred healthcare that respects the needs of everyone we care for.
Our workforce is key to delivering modern and sustainable health services. We have over 167,000 employees working across the health service in more than 350 careers.
We're recruiting
The NHS is recruiting now and looking for people like you who can bring their strengths, skills, and experience to a career in the health service.
Our careers information may also be useful to the spouses, partners, and families of service leavers, veterans, and UK service personnel.
NHSScotland structure
There are 14 regional Health Boards that cover the whole of Scotland. They are supported by 8 national Boards that provide specialist and national services.
NHSScotland is a values-driven organisation. Our recruitment will assess your technical competencies and how well you align with our values.
Find out more about NHSScotland's core values.
Explore careers
There are lots of different clinical and non-clinical job roles in the NHS.
Explore our job profiles to learn about each role, including:
- pathways to start your career
- what the role involves
- who you’ll work with
- where you’ll work
- career development opportunities
There's a career in healthcare for you.
Armed forces qualifications
You may be unsure how your qualifications and experience will be recognised in the NHS. When you’re applying for a role, we may ask for specific qualifications or equivalent experience.
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) can help you understand your qualifications. You can learn more about the framework and the level of your qualifications on the SCQF Support for Veterans web page.
Using our recruitment website
When searching for vacancies on our recruitment website, you’ll see that each job description includes minimum criteria. Knowing the SCQF level of your qualifications will help when you apply. Your qualifications and experience could also be suited to jobs you’ve not thought about before.
Transferable skills
Transferable skills are the skills you can use in lots of different jobs. You’ll develop them at work, in education, and your social life.
Think about the skills you can bring to a role in the NHS. For advice, read our blog post on How to write about transferable skills for your NHSScotland job application.
Recruitment process
You may never have experienced recruitment outside of the armed forces. We want to give you the information you need to apply successfully.
To view NHSScotland vacancies, search our recruitment website. You can use filters to view job adverts based on job type, location, and grade.
You'll need to complete an online application form for roles you are interested in. Once you've found a role you'd like to apply for, set up or log in to your online account. Follow each of the steps to complete your application.
Ready to apply? View all vacancies on our recruitment website.
If you’ve been invited to interview, it’s important to prepare.
Think about the questions you might be asked. It’s essential to tell us why you want to work in the NHS and how your skills, knowledge, and experience are a good match for the role.
You may be asked to attend an online interview. To help you prepare, read our top 10 tips for your online interview with NHSScotland.
Learn more about the NHSScotland recruitment process.
NHSScotland Careers blog
Our blog includes how-to guides, case studies, and career resources.
Discover more
Explore careers
Discover the skills and qualifications you’ll need for each role and what the work will be like.
Explore careers