NHS Interview scoring

[LaLaLaLaLolaaa]

Hi Mumsnetters

I had an NHS interview early this week, I felt like it went well in general and I got on really well with the interview panel, however I was nervous and could have answered some of the questions a bit more comprehensively

NHS interviews are done on a score basis I think? But are there any NHS recruiters on here who know if they would ever hire someone who hadn't necessary scored the highest during interview?

Thanks in advance from an anxious MNer!

[Mummyoply]

I work in the NHS and recruit for the team I lead. I'm looking for someone who can answer questions clearly in a way that others can understand. Someone with good communications skills and empathy . An understating of how the medical condition impacts our patients and their families is more important than getting the answer 100% factually correct. With training I can teach the facts and you can learn the information. Empathy and a deeper understanding of how to engage with people is much harder and takes much longer to teach. I do not use a points system nor do any of the colleagues I work with (in a very large NHS) organisation.

I once interviewed someone who gave text book answers but was rude to one of the interviewers and gave questionable personal opinions about certain groups of patients . They did not get the job.

Hope this helps a little and good luck for a positive outcome

[maxelly]

Hiya, NHS HR manager here, try not to worry, it's normal to go back over things in your head but everyone gets nervous and no-one ever answers any question perfectly, or if they did TBH I'd be a bit worried that they clearly know so much about the job and how to do it already that they'll be bored as soon as they arrive and/or wanting my job next .

NHS interviews pretty universally are done on scoring and the highest scorer gets the job (so long as they meet the basic pass mark of course). We would never really pick someone that scored less than another candidate simply because we liked them, as that's how bias and unfairness creep into your processes, although on occasion certain questions are weighted heavier than others so a candidate who did really well on the most important part and not so much on another bit can come out higher than someone that was more consistent across the board. But anyway (a) I don't know why you assume that because there were a few things you could have answered better that means you won't be the highest scorer, other people will almost certainly have messed up somewhere too (b) even if you are 2nd choice, other things can happen, sometimes the highest scorer/1st choice gets offered a better job elsewhere or changes their mind, sometimes we are able to make more than one offer or offer our 2nd choice candidate an alternative similar role if we have one, or put them on a 'reserve list' for the next time we have a job if we really liked them. So all is certainly not lost! Good luck!

[LaLaLaLaLolaaa]

@Mummyoply Thank you so much for responding, that's good to hear that you'd pick certain qualities over textbook answers

My interview was for a Band 3 admin job and I reeeally want it, I prepped so much beforehand but they asked a couple of unexpected questions and I felt I rambled a bit through those and may not have particularly hit on the right points. I was so nervous!

I'm very empathetic though and conscientious and I think I managed to get those across. Fingers crossed anyway, just a waiting game now

[LaLaLaLaLolaaa]

Thanks @maxelly for taking the time to reply! The position is actually in HR, I'm doing my level 3 CIPD at the moment and am so keen to find a HR entry level position to help me along. I'll be so gutted if I haven't got the job but I know there may be others with more comprehensive experience/knowledge. That's good to know that certain questions may have been weighted differently - I did answer most of them well hopefully. Just the waiting is so awful where you spend hours going over everything you could have answered better

[Ginfilledcats]

Similar to PP I have before now hired the person who scored 2nd highest based on their personality/how they would work with the team. But 9/10 it's the highest scorer. For me it's not just answering the question correctly as in a = b, it's giving a good relevant example and linking back to the job.
For example, "what is one of your strengths" - "my biggest strength is my attention to detail, I'm really detail oriented and take time to ensure data is entered correctly, I double check my work before submitting. This would be really useful in this role of x because it involves a lot of patient data entry which needs to be correct and accurate" rather than just listing the qualities listed in the job spec

I'm sure you'll have done great, and really hope you get the role you're clearly passionate about it.

[Mummyoply]

@LaLaLaLaLolaaa I can't comment on how admin posts are recruited to I'm afraid. I'm in a deferent field. However, I agree with PP that it's easy to over analyse interviews. I'm sure it went better than you think it did

[LaLaLaLaLolaaa]

Thank you so much to everyone who commented with advice - I got the job, hooray! I obviously didn't score as low as I'd convinced myself that I had, oh to be an anxious dweller lol

[sirensscreech]

Well done!

[NotMineToTell]

In the admin department I worked in (moved dept this January) all the questions had equal weighting. We expected candidates to use the star format for answers. We awarded 1 point each for the situation and result part of the answer and 8 points for explaining what you did and why. We would always give a point if you mentioned you stayed calm in the situation. Good luck OP.

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

oh well done op

[LaLaLaLaLolaaa]

Thank you so much @MrsLargeEmbodied and thank you for your advice @NotMineToTell - I got the job

[Furcoatandnoknickerz]

Can I ask all of you who are NHS recruiters/ team leads etc. In my county there are only two trusts, there’s a lot of jobs advertised, but not really enough to recruit new blood. This results in most of the jobs going out externally, but with internal candidates that are known to the recruiters and are guaranteed the job.
Problem is, and I have witnessed this myself on at least two or three interviews, you ask the same questions to the externals with no chance of being successful, the same scoring questions, but those questions will have a slightly weird spin or be missing some words, or some words added, to make them impossible to answer. Therefore, resulting in the external candidate having no chance in being able to score very well as the questions have been made made impossible to answer very well.
Why even bother to short list candidates who have no chance, waste their time and get their hopes up for absolutely nothing.
I now know within two minutes if I’m in with a fighting chance.
I had two interviews this week, the first went great, the recruiters wanted to get to know me chatted with me , the questions made sense and was able to answer them. I was offered the job.
Next day another interview, absolute opposite, the recruiters introduced themselves, reminded me of the job I was being interviewed for and launched straight into weird question scenarios, didn’t ask about me or chat in any way shape or form . By the third inane question I’d subconsciously given up, knowing carrying on was pointless, I was then asked if I had any questions. They didn’t like the questions I was asking as they could only answered in negative, unless the nhs have suddenly been given billions!
I knew the second interview could be tricky as know a lot of staff from community nursing would apply as it’s less visits, a specialist service and 9 to 5 Monday to Friday.
So, why even send the job out externally when you know you have to give externals a hard time and waste their time?
I think it’s about time NHS recruitment had complete overhaul .
Sorry for the long comment!

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

hmm, i wonder if they are advertising posts for jobs that are being done anyway? and so those applying who are in the job have an unfair advantage - at least this is what i used to think - and i remember someone applying internally for a job and the question were very specialist
more research i think is needed

[Ginfilledcats]

Meh, I've never prioritised or made simper the questions for an internal candidate. Granted some questions will be easier if you have insider knowledge but there's absolutely nothing stopping an external candidate having a call with the department/recruiter to find out about the job/what's going on where I would make sure they were made aware of the pressures/what's going on. I encourage it - for both internal and external candidates and do it myself to prepare for interviews.

@Furcoatandnoknickerz I think perhaps you've just been unlucky/not prepared enough. You can absolutely ring the recruiters and ask the questions you guess you'll be asked in an interview - what's the main challenges in the dept, what's the ethos like, what are the key skills they want in the successful applicant, what is the dept working towards/what's the 5 year plan, how does escalation work etc.

However @MrsLargeEmbodied is right - this does happen a lot - people are seconded into posts or they are fixed term that then become permanent posts but have to go out to advert as per good and proper process. But obviously the person who has been doing the job for x amount of time will have a significant advantage. But not always. Just recently I interviewed a member of my own team who had been covering someone's Mat leave but the original post holder got a new job and left. She had to apply for her own post essentially. She thought she was a shoe in. She interviewed terribly! She was mortified and distraught. Someone external interviewed faaaaar better, had been for a chat about the role, had clearly researched and prepared, had amazing examples and used the STAR approach really well. Had insightful and challenging questions back at the end and they gave us a really good vibe. They got the job. And rightly so, they did better on the day. The lady doing the mat cover wanted to see her interview notes - which is allowed and she did and we went through why she didn't score well and she understood. Was gutted, but understood!

Have you asked for feedback from interviews @Furcoatandnoknickerz ?

[maxelly]

I can't say I recognise this to be honest, sorry. It's perfectly possible and allowable in the NHS to advertise jobs internally only so if it was the case that recruiters have an existing employee in mind I don't know why they would put themselves through the hassle of an external ad, shortlisting and interviewing loads of extra candidates (I guess there are some trusts that maybe mandate external advertising but those trusts are stupid IMO - even then though a biased recruiting manager can just choose not to shortlist externals). And I don't think I've ever witnessed managers doctoring the questions to favour internal candidates, the reverse can be true that they're conscious of the unfairness in that externals may not have the knowledge/familiarity of the internals and so they may try and 'help out' a bit by phrasing or explaining questions differently but def not with the intention of making it impossible to answer. I

Sorry to hear of your troubles though, it does sound as though the jobs you're applying for are over-subscribed and there's no real way of getting over the inherent bias towards an internal/known candidate (pretty much everyone given the choice will incline towards someone they already know and like plus of course there's the disinclination towards having to disappoint someone already part of the team) apart from using strict scoring criteria. I'd persist if I was you, get feedback from every interview and implement any suggested changes, practice hard ahead of every interview and I'm sure you'll succeed, surely even if lots of the jobs go to internal candidates, every time someone moves jobs that creates a new vacancy?

[Loreloren]

Hi can you let me know what questions they asked you? I’m going for a band 3 admin role and I’m trying to prepare and I need help! Thank you

[Estheroge]

What was your score?

[butterfliesss]

Hello!

I have applied for an occupational therapy assistant role within the NHS which will involve a lot of admin duties alongside clinical and I have an interview in a few days. I just wanted to know if anyone knows of any questions that come up in NHS Band 3 admin/ota roles?? 🙏

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

i would say what systems can you use
give examples

[Bobsicles]

@butterfliesss

Hello!

I have applied for an occupational therapy assistant role within the NHS which will involve a lot of admin duties alongside clinical and I have an interview in a few days. I just wanted to know if anyone knows of any questions that come up in NHS Band 3 admin/ota roles?? 🙏

OT is so wide we can't really say; eldercare? Rehab? Fracture clinic?

[butterfliesss]

@Bobsicles Sorry for being vague! It’s for a neurological rehabilitation unit :)

[Zeerayo]

Hello @butterfliesss how did your interview go and I hope you got the role. I am also interviewing for the same role and I would appreciate any insight you can provide to help me prepare better for my interview. Thank you.

[Ritchie2023]

I was asked to apply for a secondment into my previous post in which I had worked for 20 years prior to taking semi-retirement; however, the job was offered to another applicant with minimal experience and lesser qualifications as they interviewed better and scored higher on the questions. This seems incredibly unfair; do I have a right to complain or ask for this to be investigated?

[maxelly]

@Ritchie2023

I was asked to apply for a secondment into my previous post in which I had worked for 20 years prior to taking semi-retirement; however, the job was offered to another applicant with minimal experience and lesser qualifications as they interviewed better and scored higher on the questions. This seems incredibly unfair; do I have a right to complain or ask for this to be investigated?

Hi, you might be better off posting this as a new thread about your specific situation, this an old one and is mainly about interview advice really. That being said, I'm sorry you didn't get the job. That must be very frustrating especially as you were encouraged to apply. Yes you can of course complain if you want, unfortunately I doubt you'll get very far as it's highly unlikely the result will be overturned at this stage - you can ask to see the scores from the panel and their notes from your own interview but unless you can find some kind of glaring error made or evidence of discrimination you'll be in a tough position to prove the panel have made a wrong decision as they won't give you the notes from someone else's interview for privacy reasons. So even if you can show you were scored too low that still won't necessarily prove you were the best candidate on the day. And if you're going back a step further and saying the interview scores should effectively be disregarded and you should have been offered the job regardless due to having done it previously, I'm afraid that argument is highly unlikely to wash. I do have a lot of sympathy with the argument that interviews aren't the best or fairest way of assessing suitability but if you commit to advertising and running a open selection process for all roles (as the NHS pretty much universally does) rather than just choosing who you/the manager likes and making direct offers, you really do then have to stick to that process. It would be very unfair to put candidates through an interview, score them but then say oh well A did better than B but we like B so we'll go with her anyway. A would have a very legitimate ground for complaint in that situation.

Might I gently suggest that rather than pursuing a probably futile complaint you allow yourself some time to feel angry, perhaps write what you'd want to say to the recruiting managers in an email but don't send (or sleep on it and decide whether to send depending on whether maintaining a positive relationship with these people), and then refocus your energy on what you really want to be doing, if that entails more interviewing in future you look at developing interview technique? It is really annoying to know you have all the knowledge and experience to do a job and not be able to express that in the very specific way required to score highly in interviews, but since you're largely powerless to change the 'rules' of the game you have to play along really. The good news is that for most people it's very possible to massively improve your technique through preparation and practice.

[Anxiousandfrazzle]

Hi all! Sorry for intruding on this thread.
Me and my boss are both 8b locums (but he joined the trust a couple of years before me and I only moved into the same dept under him 7 months ago). The role for one 8b has been released on trac and we both applied and got interviews (i had to keep reminding him to apply, up until deadline day). Then when we got the interviews, they kept forgetting and putting off accepting claiming to be too busy. And we had a week to prep for the interview, he kept saying it's not enough time and is busy and then on the week of the interview, called in sick every day, probably got sick from work... anyhow, day of the interview, it's chaos, opening a new ward, patient surge, I'm by myself, new doctor in and needs help using the systems so i was asked to assist closely all day and do some of their jobs to help. Then jumped straight into the interview- i had prepared, but became totally nervous and blank and didn't give the best answers/was fumbling my words a little and visibly nervous throughout. But I did answer everything and I think I didn't answer badly, but not as optimally as I knew I could because I'vedone the role and experienced every scenario listed. i know they also have 2 other external applicants so added nerves.

In relation to me and the other internal, I do all the leg work at work, everything operational to clinical, also, end up having to redo his work and fix errors and efficiently. I am also doing uni part time and come in early and stay late to get the work done so I can slot in clinical uni work around it and ensure I attain the minimum hours of work to get a pass in my degree.
I have good relations with everyone in the panel, but in the interview that definitely did not show across because i was too nervous and not as confident and bubbly as normal.
Also, tasks and development projects that have been asked of him for years, i implemented within my first few weeks-months on the role.

Problem is, no one seems to see it in the director team, management do, staff do, but the directors interviewed.. and once in the past mentioned "he is the lead, you have done well to help him deliver" and "he is very efficient" when LITERALLY took my work and claimed it as his own and said with my help we will do xyz.. and then fudged all the details and numbers and i had to correct and explain. I even sent all the data and info via email for further info as requested.

Sorry, long story short, i know they need to apply a fair objective process when interviewing and scoring, but will they consider the fact that, I had a hectic day and have been managing a hectic week of work, alone without the team, and have not struggled, complained or delayed and he has postponed by a week.

If he performs well verbally in the interview.. is that it for me? Or do you think they MAY think about other work, efforts we've made and efficiency and feedback from others across the directors and teams etc? Will they also, consider how no datixes have ever been related to me, but have to him..

Or
Shall I cut my losses and be prepared to leave? Because the interview is marked independently and objectively...

Thanks again,

TotallyNervousAndDemoralised

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