Interview questions

The questions below represent a mixed bag collected by us from a wide range of grades and specialities. We have removed the main speciality specific questions.

But why don't we give the "answers" to all these questions? We are always being asked for "the" answer to any given question.

The main reasons are....

• The questions are constantly changing
• Having an off pat answer that is "memorised" is fraught with problems
• If everyone produced the same answers ultimately it  would invalidate  the interview process
• You need to do the hard work to develop "your" answers so that you can adapt quickly to slightly differently worded questions

 If you are not going for consultant interviews you may wonder how on earth you are expected to have opinions on say "the consultant contract" or if you are applying for a GP training scheme why should you know about the GP contract? Point taken - but increasingly panels are expecting those who are applying for their advertised post to know where they are going in their careers. If you have read any medicopolitical rags in the past year you should have picked up at least some perspective on current hot topics for doctors.

Admittedly some of the questions are probably more geared to senior posts - but you need to read them NOW - not in five years time - so that you will be aware of what to attempt to pick up as you go.

Our interview training programmes focus on assisting you to manage, formulate and deliver your own answers with your own personal style that is natural for you.

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INTERVIEW QUESTION BANK

Do you want to do further research?

How do you deal with difficult situations?

How do you cope with stress?

Do you have any prizes and did you find going for them useful?

Summarise any audits you have done

What have you gained as an SHO?

What teaching have you done?

What did you gain from jobs before entering this specialty?

What did you think of your elective?

What have you gained from your publications?

What is audit?

What did you think of the course you attended on....?

What are the main trends in the specialty at the moment?

Why do you want this job?

What is your plan for the next year

What is your plan for the next five years

What are you most proud of?

What is the most difficult situation you have been in?

What do you think of Calmanisation

What skills can you bring to the job

What do you think of foundation hospitals/ NICE/ CHAI/ CHIMP

What are your strengths?

What are your weaknesses?

Why should we choose you?

What do you want from the job?

What do you think of your training so far?

What is clinical governance?

What is appraisal?

What do you think of the consultant contract?

What is assessment

What is CHI?

Why do you want to come to this region?:

Who was (important person in history of specialty)?

What are National Service Frameworks

What is competence?

What is competence based assessment?

What is the NHS plan?

What is revalidation?

What is your best paper?

What would you do if a colleague was underperforming?

What is the most stressful situation you have been in within the last six months

What is your best and your worst audit and why?

How do you organise an on call rota

How do you organise a teaching session

Do you think research helps a doctor be a good doctor?

How would you deal with conflict in the department?

How would you set up a journal club?

Give two clinical situations that have helped you improve your practice

What is your experience of management

What is your relationship with managers?#

What is your relationship with your colleagues like?

Are you assertive?

How do you organise a multidisciplinary team to work on a project?

For additional questions take a look at this anaesthesia website which has a lot of general questions on it (ie not just relating to a career in anaesthesia)