AIBU To think I may actually get this job............

[fluffyfanjo]

I Have worked for the NHS (admin type roles) for 10 years.

Over the years I have applied for(probably about a dozen) various roles _ always getting an interview but never the actual job.

Anyway last year I was at last successful and got a temporary 12 month contract doing a role I absolutely love.

2 weeks ago I had an interview for the same role in a different department but was again unsuccessful - to add insult to injury it went externally.

I did receive positive feed back and was told I was indeed second choice out of 50 applicants but the successful candidate scored higher marks than I did.

I have just secured another interview (again the same role) but I really don't feel I have the "energy" to actually attend only to be disappointed again.

I know I sound really negative,but surely a time comes just to give up and accept I'm just not good enough.

Ps If anyone has any insider info on how to score max points in NHS interviews I'll be eternally grateful.

Don't give up. You are getting interviews, but you have been very unlucky not to get an offer. It sounds like you have been very close, and I can understand how you are feeling a bit disheartened & frustrated.

I might be able to give you a little bit of insider info on how we used to conduct interviews when I worked in the NHS, and I hope it will help.

I used to work in the HR department of an NHS hospital in London, but it was about 25 years ago (long enough for it to still be called a Personnel department) and I don't know if my advice will still be relevant or if things will have changed. Our department was responsible for recruiting non-medical staff, so mainly admin staff of all grades.

Applicants for jobs would receive a copy of the job description and also the person specification, which would list all the essential and desirable qualities the ideal applicant should have. We used to base our interview questions on each point of the person specification and score each interviewee according to how well their answers matched what we were looking for on each point. As a panel we would have worked out the 'perfect' answers we were looking for, and the successful candidate would almost always be the one whose answers at interview came closest to this. I later worked for a national charity which used pretty much the same system, and was on a lot of interview panels for them, so I have seen this model used a lot.

The idea behind this approach was that all candidates were treated equally by being asked the same questions, so the interview panel could score them against each other. We would give each candidate a score out of 5 for each answer and then total the scores up at the end. So basically, the interviewee whose answers came closest to fitting the person spec would get the job.

So if you go through the person spec and try to think of how your skills, knowledge & experience relate to each point, you will have a very good idea of the type of questions you are likely to be asked and can think about your possible answers in advance. You need to give as full an answer to each question at interview as you can to try to match what the panel is looking for.

As I say, this advice could well be out of date (I no longer work in the HR field) but I hope it helps in some way & I wish you the very best of luck.

I work in the NHS - the scoring DramaAlpaca describes is correct.

However, I would be concerned about not getting a job you have been doing for a year. Was your line manager on the panel? I would go back and ask her to explain in detail where you went down. After a year there being honest is the least she can do for you.

IME when candidates who you would expect to get the job don't get it there are often the following reasons:

1. you can just be unlucky and come up against someone who has better quals and excellent relevant experience and who is good at interviews

2. people in the role often don't answer the questions with enough detail especially if they are being interviewed by people they know. They think things are too obvious to be stated. You have to state the obvious so the panel can tick off that you know the answer to what you have been asked.

3. use lots of examples - as Drama says go through the person specification and think of concrete examples where you can demonstrate the skill required. So if you are asked how you would deal with a difficult patient on the phone don't just rhyme off policy, give a concrete example of how you have dealt with this type of situation.

4. are there any gaps in your qualifications and have you kept up to date with training? Most NHS jobs require evidence on 'ongoing professional development' even for admin. And mention in answers how particular training has benefited you.

5. prepare some intelligent questions to ask the interviewers - have a look at the most recent Board papers for the Trust and pick out something relevant to the area you work in and ask a question about it. Or use the opportunity at this point in the interview to identify something that you have noticed in your section that you would like to improve and ask if there would be the opportunity to develop yourself in the role by taking on an extra project.

If scoring is close the person who looks like they have gone the extra mile in terms of preparing for the interview or who came across as most enthusiastic about the role will edge it.

Best of luck with future interviews. Don't give up, the NHS needs good people.

Can I just add to this and say that with each job description there is a behaviour framework section which is also used to score points from. I have been told by an NHS interviewer that if you read through this and come up with examples for each point on there then you stand a good chance in the interview.

I also work for the NHS so know how the interviews work. Yes it is all done by a points system.

What feedback are you getting?

Get feedback from last time on where you scored lower than the person who got it and what you could have shown to get the job.

Wow Thank you so much for taking time to reply.

2) people in the role often don't answer the questions with enough detail especially if they are being interviewed by people they know. They think things are too obvious to be stated. You have to state the obvious so the panel can tick off that you know the answer to what you have been asked

This is definitely how I lost points in my last interview -for example I was asked "what patient confidentiality meant to you " I gave the standard answer about keeping information private,not discussing with others unless necessary to for fill my role etc but didn't mention locking my computer,using a safe haven for sending faxes - obvious stuff I do daily,just forgot to include it in my answer.

I was also asked How I prioritize my work load. My answer was,I make a list,prioritizing the most urgent tasks and then re evaluate throughout the day. I didn't score max points for that - I should have mentioned using the electronic diary.

pobble The feed back I got last time was basically that the successful candidate gave more detailed answers (as above) and scored more points.

I think that I've subconsciously tried to consolidate my answers to prevent me waffling and in turn not given enough detail.

I must admit I am getting pretty good at second guessing what questions I'm likely to be asked - I just need to make sure that I cover every conceivable point in the future.

In my experience in the NHS the jobs just aren't actually 'available' and somebody is already lined up for it for example somebody who has already been doing the job on a temp basis. I have seen this kind of thing happen a lot and it really angers me. I think it's fair enough to have somebody lined up for the job and understand the legality of having to advertise but it should be mentioned in the ad there is a preferred candidate.

I know my department once placed an ad for a post that had been promised to a trainee. There were open discussions about how the job description would be tailored to him regarding specific qualifications he had. There is nothing open of fair about it. People travelled from abroad for that interview .