NHS Job interview

[ivfbabymomma1]

I have a job interview tomorrow with the NHS & I am so petrified! Like I'm quite confident normally but situations like this send me in to a panic! Probably more so than normal! I'm terrified of being asked a question and drawing a blank! I don't want to come across nervous or shy!

Any tips? It's for an admin job if that helps!!!!

Thank you!!

Hi OP, congrats on the Interview. I’ve worked for the NHS for 6 years and honestly you’ll be fine . They’ll ask you things like ‘what is important to you about working in this department’ , about the values of the hospital /trust , experience of typing , and for two admin jobs I’ve done at the hospital after I did nursing , we had to do a typing test. Just be yourself , make sure you’ve done your research, arrive early and don’t pretend to be something you’re not 💕

I'm interviewing for NHS admin post later this week. My tip, remember they want you to do well - they're not trying to catch you out. What sort of admin role is it?

Could have written this myself only mine is friday! (I work in NHS but same job for 13 years). Have you got an understanding of 18 week wait? Its one we always asked when I have interviewed people. Im going to just make sure of anything I keep it patient focused! Good luck :)

Thank you so much for the replies & advice so far! It's an admin/typist roll in the women & child department!

I don't have knowledge of the 18 week wait so I will investigate this now! - thank you! I've looked up the NHS values so far!

I really appreciate it! I imagine the interview to be brutal for some reason! 😭

Good luck!!! @Ffsnosexallowed @user

NHS organisation I work for has a 'bank' of stock questions - you're certain to be asked what you know of the organisation's values (not just being able to recite them but explain in your own words what they mean). Then lots of 'can you tell us about a time when...' you had to defuse a difficult situation, manage a number of deadlines or urgent jobs, prioritise your own workload, deal with a difficult colleague etc

Good luck! They’ll be wanting you to do well. If you do go blank it’s ok to say so...have a sip of water and take a deep breath and move on to the next question.

They might ask you some “scenario” type questions, eg how would you prioritise between these two tasks? I presume you will have access to patient data so they might ask you something about confidentiality (the trust will have a policy - you don’t need to know every detail before the interview as long as you don’t say you’ll share sensitive info with all and sundry you’ll be fine!)

18 weeks is the maximum amount of time that patients should wait for treatment, so if your role involves booking appointments for patients they might want you to book them in in order of how long ago they were referred. This info would all be on the patient system you’d be using. The department might run reports on patients on their waiting list to check for any potential “breaches” (patients who have waited longer than 18 weeks or are coming up to 18 weeks). Again this would all be part of your training, but helpful to understand the terms so you don’t look too blank if you’re asked about it!

You’ll be fine - good luck!

Honestly they wont be scary questions. Ive sat in on a few interviews and like others say there will be a bank of questions they use. I am trying to tell myself this!! Im nervous because I'm relocating and want a new job so much!!

I had one not long ago. Learned all the values etc. Wasn't asked anything about them 😂

How would I send an email to a large number of recipients?

How would I tell my manager I had too much work?

How would I create a database?

These are the only questions I can remember.

I do a lot of interviews. Interviews are on a point based system. The more you say, the more points you will get. Prepare lots of examples of good work you have done in the past and how you have learnt lessons from mistakes. Also how you have dealt with difficult people. And there is an expectation that you will escalate anything you don't know or unsure about to a senior so say that if you don't know the answer. Prepare an answer to a question about confidentiality and information governance. Look up caldicot guidelines because everyone needs to know that and then get them in anywhere you can. Look up the trust and have an idea of the structure, any awards the team has got or news items about them. Above all be friendly. Good luck

Thank you so much for your really helpful replies!!!! Just going through some the points before tomorrow!! I'm literally so glad I asked!!!!

I'd also recommend taking a quick look at information governance and confidentiality as its so very important.

@Ffsnosexallowed @user just thought I would report back as to what they asked me incase it comes up in yours

How do you deal with a stressful situation?

Is there any questions we have asked that you would like to answer?

Tell us about yourself?

What skills do you have that would suit this job

Why do you want the job

How would you prioritise if 2 people came to you at once with a question

It went well! It was about 25/30 mins in total

Good luck!! X

Thank for update OP! Thats really helpful.

Looks like we are all in for nhs admin jobs this week, hope youre not the same one as me 😁 this thread will be very much bookmarked for tuesday night prepping.

@ivfbabymoma1 What did they mean by "is there any question we have asked that you would like to answer?"

Also, i found they took ages to offer interviews after applying, are they equally slow at offering jobs or sharing the result?

Sorry I meant is there a question we haven't asked that you would like to answer! So they hadn't asked me about a particular internal promotion I had received in my old job so I offered that! They got back to me in about 3/4 days so not too bad! I did get the job wahooooo

Congrats OP. I had one on Friday and got on wednesday too!

In case anybody else needs it:

Tell us about yourself
What research did you do for the job
What would you do if somebody rang for results
Where have you had to meet targets and why

I got the job!

I got mine too, even though i was ages late because the queue to get in the carpark was horrific. She said i was the only one to have read the job description and i had a brain so id fit in 😂😂😂 questions i had were how would i handle a person demanding treatment but who hadnt paid, questions about how id keep info confidential, bow would i prioritise who/what is dealt with first. And whats your weakness. It wasnt at all daunting and after i figure out a way round the stupid parking I'll be happy there i think.

Congratulations @DiscardedTool

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My daughter has been offered a job in the NHS but she doesn't have loads of ID to pass their identity check, she has a passport and a council tax statement, but as she is renting a lot of her stuff is in our address as she not long moved out.

How stringent is this process? Surely there is some leeway for people living in rented accommodation?