Interviews and getting a job "The elusive scary Scarecrow"

I was lucky enough to be involved in the interviewing panel in my trust. It was such an interesting experience to see things done from the other side and on what basis selection or points are being awarded. I am mainly going to be talking about medicine but it might be applicable to other specialties, also I have to say this is for non-training jobs which generally are less competitive and more flexible.

The tricky bit is to have your application shortlisted. There are obviously some requirements that are out of your hand as an applicant as having GMC registration, it is going to be more difficult in the meantime to get the job and the reason is understandable, the trusts want to appoint doctors for rota gaps and it doesn't make sense to take a gamble in the COVID time and then risk having issues later. A way around it is to email the HR person mentioned in the application and express your interest in the job and the city, be honest and tell them why your registration has not been done and what are the current steps you are doing to finish your registration and that you are still interested in the hospital or the area, they will definitely keep you in mind and let you know if there is an opportunity.

One important piece of general advice is never to write the application, particularly the free text boxes, in continuous sentences with no spaces or paragraphing! Try to use a lot of spaces and use capital letters to emphasize what you want to emphasize. As an example, this is an excerpt from Pulitzer prize winner Ben Taub, called Thirty-six thousand feet under the sea.

Sea level—perpetual flux. There is a micro millimeter on the surface of the ocean that moves between sea and sky and is simultaneously both and neither. Every known life-form exists in relation to this layer. Above it, the world of land, air, sunlight, and lungs. Below it, the world of water, depth, and pressure. The deeper you go, the darker, the more hostile, the less familiar, the less measured, the less known. A splash in the South Pacific, last June, marked a historic breach of that world. A crane lowered a small white submersible off the back of a ship and plonked it in the water. For a moment, it bobbed quietly on the surface, its buoyancy calibrated to the weight of the pilot, its only occupant. Then he flipped a switch, and the submarine emitted a frantic, high-pitched whirr. Electric pumps sucked seawater into an empty chamber, weighing the vessel down. The surface frothed as the water poured in—then silence, as the top of the submersible dipped below the waterline, and the ocean absorbed it. Most submarines go down several hundred meters, then across; this one was designed to sink like a stone. It was the shape of a bulging briefcase, with a protruding bulb at the bottom. This was the pressure hull—a titanium sphere, five feet in diameter, which was sealed off from the rest of the submersible and housed the pilot and all his controls. Under the passenger seat was a tuna-fish sandwich, the pilot’s lunch. He gazed out of one of the viewports, into the blue. It would take nearly four hours to reach the bottom.

This is how the application looks, it is very difficult to read word for word and the important things get missed! Even a Pulitzer prize winner piece would be indiscernible in that format, on the other hand, you can really appreciate it when it is like this.

Sea level—perpetual flux. There is a micro millimeter on the surface of the ocean that moves between sea and sky and is simultaneously both and neither. Every known life-form exists in relation to this layer. Above it, the world of land, air, sunlight, and lungs. Below it, the world of water, depth, and pressure. The deeper you go, the darker, the more hostile, the less familiar, the less measured, the less known.

A splash in the South Pacific, last June, marked a historic breach of that world. A crane lowered a small white submersible off the back of a ship and plonked it in the water. For a moment, it bobbed quietly on the surface, its buoyancy calibrated to the weight of the pilot, its only occupant. Then he flipped a switch, and the submarine emitted a frantic, high-pitched whirr. Electric pumps sucked seawater into an empty chamber, weighing the vessel down. The surface frothed as the water poured in—then silence, as the top of the submersible dipped below the waterline, and the ocean absorbed it.

Most submarines go down several hundred meters, then across; this one was designed to sink like a stone. It was the shape of a bulging briefcase, with a protruding bulb at the bottom. This was the pressure hull—a titanium sphere, five feet in diameter, which was sealed off from the rest of the submersible and housed the pilot and all his controls. Under the passenger seat was a tuna-fish sandwich, the pilot’s lunch. He gazed out of one of the viewports, into the blue. It would take nearly four hours to reach the bottom.

Now general things about the application itself, first make sure you read the PS and JD and that the application itself is based on those. List all the Qualifications particularly RCP exams even the parts you have done, yes not common but some people have done one or more part but don't put them in writing there or list them somewhere else which is less obvious.

For the "previous experience" section, make sure you mention why you are leaving your current position and why. Write your current duties in a list or paragraph like, to make sure they are readable. Be organized is one tip to have your application picked up or shortlisted.

Gaps in employment, that is always a worrying bit for most applicants. First, by Gaps in the application for non-training jobs, I am talking about long gaps longer than 3-6 months even a year. Mention why you took the Gap and that it was an important thing that you wanted to achieve and now that you have done, you are in a position to focus on your career. Basically, it is all about selling out your reason for taking the Gap, which I am sure you had a good reason for. Just don't come in as someone who took plenty of gaps and is planning to take more.

Now for the interview itself, points were on graduation whether it was a UK graduate, just after FY1 or 2-4 years after graduation.
The UK experience less than 6 months, more than 6 month or clinical attachment in the UK
Any part of MRCP
Interest in the trust/city, clinical attachment in the trust or visited or just made inquiries
Reply to the clinical question
Presentation and interview general impression

By far the most important is how keen is the candidate is interested in the hospital/city. Did they ask about the city? about the hospital? did they visit? do they have any strong ties around?
or are they interested in the specialty? or just planning to leave short term. How committed are they to this specialty? are they planning to do any of the RCP exams? when? do they have a timeline for their career progression? If you are someone from a non-medical job, surgery, or Obs/Gyn then you have to have a reason why are you seeking a job in medicine? if you come on as someone who is applying as plan B then that doesn't reflect well or compare well to someone who is committed.

As I mentioned before, the whole recruitment is to avoid rota gaps and more pressure on the current hospital staff and affecting the service to the public. If you have a good CV and very good presentation skills BUT not committed to joining the hospital, not that interested, and don't show enthusiasm in your application then you are not going to be considered as someone else who does.

The hospitals are not a prison, so you don't have to say "oh I am going to stay till the end of the contract" but have a sensible plan, like "I am new to NHS and I think I need a year to understand the system before I apply into training" or for someone who is more senior "I still want to work more as an SHO to work on my skills before I apply into specialty training". If you applying for specialty position which is permanent then it will be expected that you are going to be staying for longer.

Just to summarize
Nice neat application!
Look composed and enthusiastic!
Show interest in the place and job by doing your homework about the place!

That's on the top of my mind just after finishing the interviews but I will keep updating. In the meantime, if you have a question just let me know!