- Tell us about a situation where you worked under pressure.
- Describe a situation when you dealt with a difficult patient.
- Tell us about a time when you played a key role in a team.
- Discuss a situation when you had to ask for a senior help.
NHS INTERVIEW TIPS! (5 Tips for PASSING an NHS interview, including Interview Questions & Answers!)
Tell us something more about your last job.
Try to speak about things that relate to the job you want to get with NHS. Working duties that helped you to get ready for the new position, things you achieved in work (for the patients and for your employer), certifications you earned (if any), and so on.
They may ask you some follow up questions about particular duties you had, challenges you faced, or about anything else. Try to talk with enthusiasm about your work. Your body language is extremely important. They should get an impression that you enjoy working in healthcare.
4. What Qualities Make a Good NHS Employee?
As stated, the NHS takes a value-based approach to recruitment. It looks for staff that support its ideals, and work to its moral and professional standards.
Of course, role-specific skills and experience are important, but if you’re at interview stage, it has likely been determined that you hold these.
Instead, focus your answer on the qualities that the six core values of the NHS demand:
You may also be asked NHS competency-based interview questions, which will require you to describe situations where you have demonstrated these qualities in action.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
You should pick some strengths which are relevant for the job you try to get. With most healthcare profession it will be empathy, emotional intelligence, communication skills, sense for responsibility, ability to handle pressure, etc.
Likewise, you should choose a weakness that isn’t central for the job. For example you do not need management skills as a doctor, or strong computer skills, and you do not have to be superbly creative. These things are important in many other jobs, but they aren’t crucial for a good healthcare professional.
If you talk about a weakness that is relevant for the job, do not forget to mention that you work on it, that you try to improve on your weakness, to become a better doctor/nurse/dentist/ etc.
3. What Are the Current Challenges Facing the NHS?
As far as NHS job interview questions and answers go, this is perhaps the most telling when it comes to your understanding of the inner workings of the NHS, the realities and challenges of the role you are applying for, the future of public health and how external factors impact on the organisation’s ability to deliver.
The best response to this question will be timely and based on current affairs. Funding, staff shortages, rates of pay, working conditions and the allocation of resources are all challenges for the NHS. You must be up to speed on the particulars of each at the time of interview.
Beyond financial and political challenges, there are also many social factors affecting the NHS, such as an ageing population and the impact of poor lifestyle choices, including the rise of diseases like diabetes and obesity.
Proving that you have a sound knowledge of how external factors continue to present new challenges will show that you appreciate the service as a whole, and are not solely focused on your role within it.
