Band 6 Nurse Interview

[rosesh]

Just wondering if anyone has had a recent band 6 interview and what kind of questions were asked? Obviously expect certain ones related to the area I've applied for, but guessing there would be some generic ones asked at every interview?

Hi, NHS HR person here, there have been a few previous threads on the topic so you might find more by searching? You are right, I'd expect a mix of normal interview questions like 'why do you want this job', 'what are your strengths and weaknesses' type things, specific ones about the specialist area and generic competency type ones based on the skills and experience listed on the PS for the role. For a Band 6 nurse it could be things like team working, leadership, safeguarding, information governance/data protection, quality and safety, service improvement, problem solving, line management and supervision, teaching, communication and liaison with families, equality and diversity? Not all of these would come up at every interview or be asked in the exact same way but these would be common topics so worth preparing a set of examples in the STAR format that you can use to answer a variety of questions (so e.g. an example about how you dealt with a difficult family situation where the family didn't speak good English/seem to understand what you were saying could be an example about communication, equality and diversity or problem solving skills, an example about how you helped a colleague who was struggling could be about team working, leadership, quality and safety etc etc)? Don't worry about trying to make your examples seem hugely impressive, at Band 6 level you are not expected to be delivering large scale service improvement projects or leading a whole team as you just wouldn't have done that at Band 5 usually, a smaller example is fine (e.g. you may not have been a full line manager before but you may have supervised or mentored students), it's about showing you understand the requirements and can demonstrate the skills, if you see what I mean?

Good luck!

That's such an amazing and helpful reply. Thank you so much!