Emergency help required for interview tomorrow!

[Diddlum]

Just some general tips/hints would be great please, I'm feeling ok at the moment but know I'll be SO nervous when the time comes.

Are there any 'trick' questions they ask at interviews these days?!! Or is it just the same old stuff: why do you want this job/what can you bring to this role/strengths and weaknesses etc etc?

Apparently I've got to get there 20 minutes before the interview time because I'll need to "write answers to some written scenarios"! How weird is that?

I just know I'm going to make an idiot of myself but I really want this job. I haven't done this for five years!:cry:

[sunshine]

I guess they might ask what have you learned from your studies/ career so far that would make you suitable?

I wonder if you have a rationale as to why dietetics has an important role to play in the NHS- I dont know the answer but would guess at reducing heart disease/ stroke/ diabetes through obesity etc

I wonder if they will ask anything about how would you work with someone who was finding it difficult to get motivated to change their eating habits etc. Perhaps you can think of past examples where you have facilitated change in difficult circumstances.

One thing I have found in NHS interviews is that interviewers dont mind if you dont know the answer, just dont try and blag it and say what you would do or who you would go to in order to find out the answer.

You might also have a question about supervision- this is an important part of NHS working. eg how would you get the most out of it- being prepared, having a list of topics to discuss beforehand, being open to how clinical practice can impact upon you personally etc

Multidisciplinary working? Also a biggie in the NHS, where lots of disciplines work in combination with a particular client group. There are strengths and weaknesses to this which if you do a google search something should come up.

Also (I dont know if this is such an issue where you live but is a massive one in Birmingham which always gets asked), how do you work with people from different cultures? Also I think that an awareness of cultural issues is going to be so important with respect to food, eg Halal meat, fasting in Ramadan etc etc.

How do you manage stress? (v important in NHS working lol)

Hope this helps and I havent frightened the life out of you! If you need any help PM me.

Good luck!

[Chickenlips]

Always the - Strengths/weaknessess question!

[Diddlum]

Hope this helps and I havent frightened the life out of you! If you need any help PM me.

Good luck!

OMG yes I'm absolutely terrified now!!:lol: But it is very helpful - I'll have to print this out in the morning and have a proper think about it all.

Although I'm obviously completely stupid - I'm not really getting what you mean at all in your paragraphs about supervision and multidisciplinary working?:oops: Can you expand please?:grin:

[sunshine]

Not at all chicky, I have been in the NHS too long and sometimes forget that I havent explained myself properly!

Multidisciplinary working is where you have lots of professionals from different disciplines working in a team. So in my team we have psychiatrists,, psychologists, nurses, support workers, social workers and support staff. this can work really well because there are lots of different skills and experineces that can be brought together, as a clinician it is good as you can learn new skills from others and share your own. Cons are there can be a blurring of professional boundaries or duplication for the client, which is frustrating. Also can be competitive if people are on different pay scales. Clients often dont know the difference between professionals and can find it confusing.

Supervision- all NHS staff are entitled to supervision from a more qualified member of staff. For me it is every 2 weeks but as a newly qualified member of staff I would guess it would be weekly. You could ask about this. Basically it is a chance to talk about the cases you have seen, any difficult or challenging cases, perhaps you might want to learn more about theories etc. It is also a chance to reflect on your own practice- what you did well, what could be improved.

[Diddlum]

Well, I failed.:cry: And now I'm going to be really lazy and cut and paste the email I just sent to my mum so you can see what happened:

My own stupid fault.
The interview was with the Diabetes Team Leader and the Head of Nutrition and Dietetics, but the job description didn't really say that there was a lot of work with diabetics involved - I found out when I got to ask questions at the end that it's half working with diabetes and the other half split amongst other dietary problems. So the first 3 questions were about what I know about diabetes - which isn't a lot! I stupidly didn't think that they would actually ask me questions about diabetes - I thought that was something I'd learn. And I was SO nervous. I think I didn't answer the questions fully enough. So they rang me this afternoon, and said that I was obviously nervous at first but then relaxed as the interview progressed, and that I should research the job more thoroughly, using the job description. She said I was "appointable" but they had stronger candidates. She also said that I showed a great deal of enthusiasm, and not to let it put me off applying if something similar comes up. She suggested if I see a similar job advertised in the NHS that I should contact them and ask if I can "shadow" someone, before the interview, so I can find out what it's like.

So that's that. I'm thoroughly miserable tonight!

[silverpod]

Didds you did NOT fail :spank:

I'm sorry I didn't see this last night and was able to write anything.

I understand how disappointed you must be feeling, you have psyched yourself up, had a gruelling interview and sadly you didn't get it. But you have done so well to get to this point and the practice will help you in the next interview, I promise. Would it be worth trying to arrange that 'shadow' or some voluntary experience to try and find out more now?

This very situation happened to a friend of mine a few weeks back, they were also appointable (which meant you met the criteria, yippee, and showed that with the interview questions you were asked to to identify these) but someone else had more specific expertise and experience, for them it was in drug use.

Look at what you achieved today, you got an interview. You learned how to cope with your nerves at the interview. You were able to demonstrate that you are employable in that sort of job. You gained some valuable feedback (and listening to that is damn hard) about what extra to do next time to edge you further to that job.

:bow: to you as I think you have done terrifically.

[sunshine]

Oh Didds I'm sorry it didnt go as well as you had hoped :higgies:

It takes a lot of guts to put yourself up for something so completely different. Obviously they saw something in you or they wouldnt have invited you to interview. And the fact that they have said you are appointable is really good.

Getting your foot in the door of the NHS is really tough. It is a different culture and I think once you have been through a few interviews you relax and start to get a feel for what they are after.

If it is any consolation I had 3 absolutely shockingly bad NHS interviews before I got offered a job-largely due to nerves, feeling like a fish out of water and not knowing what was expected of me. One interview I lost it so badly I started laughing hysterically for about 5 minutes! And no I didnt get it:wink:

Dont stop putting yourself up for these jobs. You took a very big step today and learned some valuable lessons. You have a lovely calm manner and will make an excellent clinician. The offer to shadow is a good one, try and take them up on that.

[chuckle_monster]

Oh Diddlum, sorry it didn't work out :higgies: I do sincerely believe that they wouldn't point you to another ball if they didn't think you would be capable :happyno: It sounds as though you'd just need to read up on whatever this one is and you'd be perfect :grin: I'm learning pretty much everything on this job, I didn't know much about it before. It's a slow process but everyone is very supportive :nod:

Loads of luck for the other application, you should definately ring up and have a chat with them. :fingerscrossed: xxxxxxx

[Diddlum]

Thanks ever so much all of you, the support means a lot as I feel really down tonight!

I will try and see if I can do some shadowing before another positition comes up - I did read somewhere on the NHS website that volunteering to work in the area you're interested in goes a long way.

Now - I HATE doing this, I think it's really wrong but I've got another interview with the NHS, just as a secretary. It's not really what I want to do but is it worth going for it just to get a foot in the door? Or doesn't the "foot in the door" thing work like that?

[sunshine]

What department is it in Didds? Is it something you are interested in?

It's hard to say about the foot in the door thing really. Certainly you will know more about the NHS politics and systems and you will get to read clinical reports/ see notes etc. I guess that if you were going to do it you could do another course and arrange to shadow one of the team?

[sunshine]

Actually I think you have to be really special to work in NHS admin, as you can sometimes have to deal with very distressed clients, families and stressed out clinicians! The admin staff in both of our teams play a massive role in helping the team work as a whole and are a great sounding board if we have a bad day.

To me they are the most important part of the team and without them we would collapse in a matter of days.

[fluffymonster]

I am sorry to hear it did not work out. As the others have said, you most definitely did not fail. Believe me, we have all been there and worn the t-shirt so to speak. I didn't get two big interviews this year and felt down too. I know I was not at my best for a whole host of reasons and could see how I could have done better, but it did nt stop me feeling down. Please don't give yourself a hard time.

Experience in the area in the NHS does indeed go a long way. It shows commitment to the area and also an understanding of how the NHS works to some extent. As sunshine has said, it really is a very different beast. I don't work for the NHS directly but have very close links and have worked in NHS settings for a Uni employer.

Good luck, we have faith in you! You will make it. I am not sure about the secretary thing. I don't know what you do now to be honest so it's hard to comment. I would be hesitatant about jumping just for the foot in the door thing but it would give you an understanding of NHS working etc. I imagine others will be able to give you a more helpful response on this.

You did good today whatever you think. :higgies: It takes guts to face these things and it is onwards and upwards I promise.

[Diddlum]

What department is it in Didds? Is it something you are interested in?

Not really - Patient Safety & Clinical Governance. I don't even know what that means really!:oops:

Thanks again to everyone, I think they reason I feel so low is that jobs like this probably don't come along very often, so I could be sitting on my hands for a long while. On the other hand, it turned out that the working hours would be 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, and my childcare arrangements are just for 3 full days a week so that would've been really difficult to work around. So I'm thinking maybe it's for the best, because if they'd offered me the job I would've had a really difficult decision to make! I might just sit tight until Niamh starts school (another year) and I think things will be a bit more flexible then.

[Gemiloch]

Clinical governance is all about the patients right to a safe, effective and transparent service Didds. It's not riveting but it is pretty important, if you decide to go for the interview give me a shout as I've got some good notes about CG that I could email you.

Please don't feel that you've failed today, it sounds as though you did really well, NHS interviews are really tricky, even getting one in the first place is an achievement in itself.

As for the shadowing I think it's a great idea, maybe arrange some regardless of whether another potential job comes up. It'll give you way more insight than a job description could.

Gemx

[sunshine]

Clinical governance is a bit boring really, lots of audits:oops: , as Gem says it is important but I get the feeling you want to get into a more clinical role.

[Diddlum]

I do, sunshine, and it's the nutrition/dietetic side I want. I'm really interested in nutrition, have just passed my course and I'm fed up of boring, repetitive jobs looking at spreadsheets and numbers all day long!

[Roo]

I'm so sorry you didn't get it, but reading what they said to you when they called I'd say you should be really chuffed, because they were obviously impressed enough to call and give you all that info (they could have just written and said 'sorry, not this time'), and the fact they've suggested things to do for next time suggests to me that they are keen that you apply again in the future and they you are exactly the sort of person they want - they just had better candidates on the day this time round. Their feedback is really positive and reflects how well you did in the interview, that you were nervous but you overcame that and that they feel with a bit more background to the role concerned you'd have been in with a strong chance. That's ace! :nod: :thumb: :ellie:

[Diddlum]

Oooh thanks Roo! That's what I need, a bit of a boost to my confidence! :flowers: I can't see anything of that nature coming up very often though.:sigh:

[Diddlum]

Just thought I'd update you about this.:smile:

Well, I emailed one of the ladies who interviewed me asking if I could go in and shadow someone, and that I'd like to do it sooner rather than later, and she emailed me back this morning and said yes, and asked me for convenient dates which I've given her.

I know this doesn't mean I'm going to get a job from it or anything, but it will let me know for sure whether I do want to do something like this (I found out at the interview that there's a lot more patient contact than I realised, and only about 10-15% admin), and might help to have a bit of an insight for any future applications.
So I'm feeling quite :woohoo: just now. :grin:

[fluffymonster]

Brilliant, that is a really positive thing! I hope you enjoy your experience. :grin:

[chuckle_monster]

Brilliant Didds, you've done absolutely the right thing :nod: I made the journey here to visit before I applied and almost certainly wouldn't have go the job if I hadn't made the effort and got on so well with the boss etc. :luck: xxx

[Hello Kitty]

Just thought I'd update you about this.:smile:

Well, I emailed one of the ladies who interviewed me asking if I could go in and shadow someone, and that I'd like to do it sooner rather than later, and she emailed me back this morning and said yes, and asked me for convenient dates which I've given her.

I know this doesn't mean I'm going to get a job from it or anything, but it will let me know for sure whether I do want to do something like this (I found out at the interview that there's a lot more patient contact than I realised, and only about 10-15% admin), and might help to have a bit of an insight for any future applications.
So I'm feeling quite :woohoo: just now. :grin:

Yay that is fab news, I don't think it will be long before you find your niche in this area. You might even inspire me to look for a job I would like to do too :nod:

[Diddlum]

Right, I've had to come back to this thread for tips etc, re the NHS.

Not an interview this time (yet!) but I'm applying for a job as a Community Nutrition Assistant. I applied for the same post last year but didn't get an interview, but have since shadowed someone for a morning doing that job.

So, I'm just looking for any inside info about the NHS that I can put on my application form. I know I have all of the 'essential criteria' but not the 'desirable' so I need to really work hard on my application I think.
Thanks. :fingerscrossed: