Any ideas for interview questions for an nhs maternity support worker?

[Gracebeau89]

I'm extremely excited I have an interview this week, for a maternity support worker role at a local hospital. I'm getting rather nervous Ive wanted to do this job for a very long time but they are hard to come by. I don't have any hospital experience I'm currently a special needs teaching assistant. If anybody has any ideas on what I may be asked it will be greatly appreciated:)

Do you have a person specification with the job description? I imagine it will say things like "able to be empathetic, encouraging, understand and value cultural differences etc. Kindness and patience wiould be big things for me for women who may be frightened and in pain.

You need to think of examples from the past where you can demonstrate those skills. Safeguarding is going to be important too, and understanding when it may be appropriate for you to escalate concerns.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have read the job spec, I'm just getting nervous now I really want this job.

With public sector interviews you then to get questions like "tell me about a time when you have had to deal with someone who was difficult/fearful/whatever ... what were the challenges? How did you deal with it?

I wouldnt be surprised if you get asked about prioritisation too. What would you do if two women needed your help? What would be your decision making process about who to help?

They’ll likely ask you about confidentiality, data protection and what you’d do if you weren’t sure about something too. Good luck!

Thank you, there's some ideas there I haven't thought of yet.

Tell me about a time when:

You had to deal with someone who was very worried/scared/in pain

Had to deal with an emergency situation

Had to help a difficult customer /client /colleague

You were in a situation that was too complex to manage alone

Etc etc.

If you look at the skills/attributes in person spec or the 'values' of the organisation, you'll likely get a question on each of these, along these lines. It's worth thinking up some good examples and practising talking them through beforehand so you are well prepped.

Also, make sure you say 'I' not 'We' when talking about things you have done- so many people (women especially in my experience) say 'we' and it's v difficult to fathom out if it was the interviewee that has done what they're talking about and give full credit for it, rather than just being a participant in a team that did something.

Make sure you know the hospital “values” inside out and how you would demonstrate them in your working day

Do not say you like babies!

They will probably ask for awareness of signs of maternal mental ill health, and how you would respond

Many NHS interviews are now ‘values based’....l would check out the values on the Trusts website and also make sure you know the 6Cs as many interviews for clinical staff ( registered and support staff) are based around these.
Good luck

I recently had a competency-based interview (which is what it sounds like your interview might be) and while I was well prepared for the competency-based questions from looking at the person specification, I (stupidly) hadn't prepared for the age-old favourite "What are your strengths and weaknesses". So do also prepare for the more obvious questions (e.g. 'What attracts you to this job?' and 'What do you understand the role to be?')

Tell me about a time when you experienced conflict in your work? How did you resolve the conflict?

Wow, thank you there's a lot ideas here.

I'm so nervous, I'm thinking of every possible question and answer ;0

Safeguarding will definitely come up
Often diversity question as well
Transferable skills are really important to emphasise as you'll be up against other healthcare assistants as maternity jobs are very popular so think what will make you stand out

It’s never the wrong answer to say you don’t know but that you’d ask or pass it up to the midwife.

This is a list

Emergency crisis situations
Diversity
Skills and qualities needed
Safeguarding problems etc
Policies and procedures

Focus on developing answers that make sense. You need to be able to prove that you do have the skills and qualities required in the job description. I would also check the personal specification carefully and prepare a list of examples that can be used as evidence to demonstrate your skills and abilities.

How did you get on with your interview?
I have been invited for interview in a couple of weeks and like you, I'm so nervous. I was so shocked I even got an interview as I have no clinical/patient experience, but a huge interest and passion about being an advocate for women.
I've been looking at the trust policies, safeguarding, previous MSW interview questions and reading through the job spec over and over again.
Hopefully it is enough fingers crossed

I got the job! Still haven't started yet, all my checks are completed just waiting on contact in the post now:) wow so exciting, is is face to face or on teams the interview? They asked me what would I do if I saw two midwives having a heated argument in front of patients, am I flexible with shift work, tell me about a time I have demonstrated my skills in the workplace or in life, and then have I got experience with other out of agency bodies, that's all they asked me

Hey Hun I’m just reading over this post and I’ve seen that you had your interview in June and are still awaiting to start your job in August. I just wanted to enquire why the hiring process takes so long. Also how long did it take for them to get back to you etc. What was included in this time that you were waiting?

Hi, apparently that's how long nhs recruitment takes, just exchanging references dbs then occupational health etc I stated in September

@Greencauliflowers

They’ll likely ask you about confidentiality, data protection and what you’d do if you weren’t sure about something too. Good luck!

Confidentiality was my first thought also.

Sorry, didn’t realise it was an older thread, and congrats

hi all, ive got a interview in 2 days for a apprenticeship maternity support worker in my local hospital, im really excited but so nervous at the same time i really want the job but have no background in the medical field hence the reason applying for an apprenticeship, does anyone know what type of questions ill be asked?

They asked me about flexibility with shifts night/bank holidays, about conflict and what I would do in certain situations. Confidentiality and safeguarding hope this helps