Help - NHS interview!!

[OchAyeTheN00]

I have been out of work for a long time raising my children, I mean like 10 years. But I’ve been selected for interview at a local hospital as an admin assistant. I feel a bit thrown because it’s online and not face to face. I’m from the world where you turn up in a suit, give a nice strong handshake and sit demurely answering questions.

what do you wear for interviews these days? I no longer own a suit!
especially an online one? Any experiences to share of this?

also anyone who’s had an nhs interview recently, particularly for an admin role, can anyone help me prepare? It’s been a long time, I’m not sure I can come up with examples of x and y on the spot, my memory feels shot to shit since raising 3 little people took over my full mental capacity.

financially I really need this.

thank you 🙏

I don’t work in the NHS but bumping for you!

Clothes wise don’t stress - a nice shirt or dress - smart casual that you feel good in!

You could use chat GPT to ask ‘give me examples of interview questions for an admin job in x department’ ‘give me examples of how a SAHM has transferable skills for an NHS admin job’ to give you starting promots!

good luck 😊

First of all- make sure your background is plain and your webcam/microphone is working. Wear a smart top look at the screen - make sure there are no distractions in the house.

online has an advantage as you can have some notes on the side

A smart top is fine for online interviews.

Go through the application pack and for each person specification have an example of how you have demonstrated that quality.
eg time management - an example of how you assess and prioritise tasks etc. Do this for every one, the questions will be based on those person specifications.
The beauty of an online interview is you can tape crib sheets to the wall in front of you to jog your memory if you go blank.
Give lots of detail, what you do and how you would do it, not just, I prioritise my daily tasks, but more, I look at my workload and decide how long each task will take and what the deadline is for each one. I also bear in mind if I am collaborating with another colleague on these tasks and factor this into my planning.
Ex NHS HR here, feel free to PM me if you want any help.
Good luck!

Yes interviews and indeed work-wear in general these days is way, way more casual. Suits are out, any vaguely smart dress or top will do (bonus of online interview is you don't have to worry about your bottom half!). In the workplace itself you may find people even wear jeans or leggings to work which used to be a no.

For questions search NHS interviews on here, there's loads of threads, bottom line is you can usually work out what they're going to ask from the person specification so scour that, good call to use chat GPT. Def don't try and come up with examples on the spot, write out 5 or so using the STAR model, again bonus of online is you can stick them around your screen using sticky notes or have a discrete notebook just out of shot.

controversial opinion, be careful about how you use examples from your time as a SAHM for interviews, you absolutely can do it but you have to be even more careful about structuring the answers than if it was a work-based example, not less. So for e.g. I recently interviewed someone and asked for an example of when she'd used persuasion and negotiation skills and she giggled and said well I get my 2 year old to eat his breakfast everyday so I think I have great skills, and that was it. That would have been fine as a jokey intro but as a whole answer no good (unless I'm employing someone to work in a nursery!) - I can think of plenty of examples a SAHM mum might have e.g. navigating the system to get a support for a special needs child, voluntary work or being on the PTA, organising an event, or even if it came to it yes negotiating with your own kids, if you gave some thought and detail to the principles of negotiation and how you demonstrated skill/ability there but I'm not going to give you points just for being a parent...

Thank you all that is all so helpful. I really appreciate you all taking the time to help. I’ve got plenty I can work on now to make sure I’m completely prepared, luckily I’ve got a couple of weeks to swot up.

I wasn’t intending to use any of my SAHM skills as examples I must confess, I come from an admin background it was just a long time ago! But those examples still stand I would think… I was very good at my job and I know I’d be good at this one, I just really lack confidence being out of the game for so long. Tbh I’m grateful to have been given the chance to even go for interview!

I didn’t even think how helpful it would be to have little notes dotted around, that is definitely a bonus!

Get on your laptop or PC before the interview, work out where you will sit, what you need to prop your camera on, check your background etc. not something you want to be fumbling with before the interview or realising after you’ve started you can clearly see something inappropriate in your background.

Have a good look at the website for the hospital or wherever you're interviewing for and look at their 'values 'there will be a values and behaviours question- answer by saying the bleeding obvious it's not a trick question

Firstly good luck! All the practical advice you've had so far is absolutely spot on. A couple of things that might be useful as well (and is often where people fall over)

1. Why have you applied for this role?
2. What do you know about the organisation / department?

It is absolutely fine to answer the first one with things like, I really enjoy administrative work and feel that I am ready for a new challenge, and I would like to know that my skills are helping the NHS / patients etc.

For the second one have a good search of the organisations website and find their values and aims. Also try and get some information on the specific department, again google is your friend. If there is someone to contact to get more details about the role or for an informal chat then try and do that if you have time.

Depending on the level of the role you may also have a question about a time when things went wrong, try and come up with one in advance and don't be worried about saying that you asked for help. Often the question is designed to check that you would ask for help when you needed it.

Good call about the Trust values @Carriemac !! Definitely get examples of how you have demonstrated those.
what is the actual job? Ward Clerk? Progress Chaser? Discharge Assessor? They all have different skill sets and also if you will be in contact with the public and or patients. Conflict management for example in dealing with angry or aggressive patients or their families.

As someone who is considering moving from teaching to an admin role in the NHS these pointers are all great.

Good luck OP and please let us know how you get on.

Have an example about confidentiality, how have you handled sensitive information. Plus something about equality and diversity, taking account of people's needs etc. know why you want the job, but talk about what you can bring to the role and develop rather than 'you' factors like travel/school run etc.

To add to all the above, make sure you are clued into whatever department you're being interviewed for and have considered how you will interact with patients and families.

You will probably be asked about confidentiality and how you might deal with a challenging person - staff or patient.

Good luck!

Hi. Here is my advice:
Wear a smart top and have good lighting.
Check your camera and microphone work beforehand.
A plain back ground is best.
Log in at least 5 mins before to get settled and they will admit you when ready.

Prepare answer in advance to what is likely to be their opening question, "tell me why you are a good fit for the job". You can smash this, do a great job of it and it'll up your confidence for the rest of the interview.
Google the SEAT method to help you structure your answer..Skills, Experience, Achievement and Type of person (I think!).

They may ask you about nhs values, and what it means to you. Having an example of how you demonstrate one or more of them in your work would be great.

I'd recommend using the STAR method to prep your answers to the key competencies listed in the job role (I'm guessing prioritisation, communication, teamworking, confidentiality and customer service??). The STAR method is to describe the Situation, what was the Task, what where your Actions (this is where most content goes) and what was the Result. Tell it like a short story of when this happened...

Final tip, i believe it's okay to say you've made your notes and you may want to refer to them. They will be looking at their notes and it's real life to have notes in the workplace isn't it! Also shows you've prepped. Just dont do it for every question.

Oh and, think of your questions to ask at the end, they are very important too.

Best of luck. Do your prep and it will stand you in good stead. Sounds like you have experience to call on which is great.

At the end of the day, it's a meeting isn't it and if it doesn't go well,there will be other opportunities. Do your prep and you'll be fine tho.

There is lots of advice on YouTube, with model answers to help you structure your answers with YOUR experiences.

I know interviews can be daunting but prep really will help you.

Good luck!

Ah honestly you guys are amazing. I’m so pleased I posted, thank you all so much

Thank you all again for your help. it wasn’t as scary as I was expecting and the interviewers were lovely.

I was offered the role however there was some information they provided during interview that wasn’t shared on the post and it meant it wasn’t suitable for me which was a shame, and I had to decline.

back to the drawing board!

Oh well done for getting through it. But what a shame it's not a good fit. Oh well