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Interview preparation

Interview preparation

Guidance on the significant preparation required before attending interview

Invitation & booking General format

Before you attend interview it is very important that you have prepared properly; failure to prepare properly could result in you being unsuccessful at interview so it is vital you familiarise yourself with the guidance. Preparation areas include:

  • Eligibility documents - what you need to bring to interview to prove your identify and eligibility to work in the United Kingdom
  • Evidence folder - which contains the evidence of the achievements claimed on your application form
  • Other preparation - such as travel arrangements
  • Probity - ensuring your evidence folder meets GMC Good Medical Practice guidelines
  • Structure, content and scoring framework for the interview - which can be found in each specialty section.

There is a substantial amount of preparation needed and it needs to be presented in a very specific way so please familiarise yourself with this early.

We have produced a short document about the preparation of interview documentation which you may find useful to print off when compiling your documents. This is available from the document library.

You will need to take some documents to demonstrate elements of the eligibility criteria. The boxes below cover each of these requirements and give examples of what is acceptable.

In each case, it is necessary to bring an original version of the document where possible, along with a photocopy. The photocopies will be retained by the recruitment team, with the original documents returned to you.

If there are any additional requirements for the eligibility folder to that detailed below, you will be notified in advance of interviews.

What to include in your Eligibility Folder

Personal identification documents
Evidence of eligibility to take up UK employment
GMC documentation
Other eligibility documentation

As well as showing you are eligible for an ST3 programme, you also need to provide documentation which backs up the various claims made in your application form (achievements, qualifications, publications, etc.). These should be collated into an Evidence Folder, which must be prefaced with an Evidence Summary Form; the form can be downloaded from the document library on this website. 

The time spent at the evidence station is relatively short so it is very important that you lay out your documentation clearly in the prescribed manner. If the interviewers are unable to verify that your evidence matches the achievements listed on your application form - including due to poor organisation - then you may be marked down on this basis.

Missing evidence

Claims made on your application form must be backed up with evidence in your evidence folder. Missing evidence will be treated as you not having the achievement. This could lead to either:

  • a reduction in the score awarded by interviewers

  • your application may be deemed unappointable 

  • in serious cases it could lead to a probity investigation (see the Probity section for more information).

Presentation

As your Evidence Folder is a very structured and important part of the process, we cannot overstate how important it is that you organise it in the manner specified here.

For further guidance click on the headings below and then following that you can view a presentation, giving pictorial guidance of how to go about preparing your folder. You are strongly advised to go through it before putting your folder together.

How to organise your Evidence Folder
The Evidence Summary Form

Beyond readying your documentation, there is some other preparation you can undertake ahead of ST3 interviews.

It is not really possible to 'revise' before the interview, although of course it is always sensible to review your application form, experience and skills to date, achievements, etc. in advance, and to prepare yourself more generally as you would for any interview.

Interview format and content

It is important to familiarise yourself with the interview format and content which is available to view from each specialty's page.

Certain specialties require you to prepare a presentation prior to the day and therefore it is very important to check whether or not this applies to you. In addition some questions involve discussion of particular (brief) scenarios, but information on these will be provided to you on the day.

Travel and venue

When you book into your interview slot, the region at which you will be interviewed will provide details of the interview venue.

As it is essential that you arrive on time, we advise that you plan travel to the venue in advance, with plenty of time allowed for travelling, parking (if applicable) and contingency (in case of any difficulties en route).

Please bear in mind the GMC's Good Medical Practice guidelines on probity (point 66), as below:

'You must always be honest about your experience, qualifications and current role.'

(http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/20462.asp)

Any instances of candidates found to be making claims on the application form which they cannot substantiate will be taken extremely seriously and may be reported to the GMC.

Patient-identifiable data

Information governance regulations state that you must not allow any patient-identifiable data (PID) to be moved away from the designated (usually clinical) area.

As such, you must ensure none of the documentation you use at interview (eg details of case reports, audit, etc.) contains information which could be used to identify patients, as this would be a breach of patient confidentiality; this includes hospital or NHS ID numbers.

All such patient-identifiable data must be redacted.

If patient-identifiable data is found, it is likely that your employer, supervisor and region (as relevant) will be notified, in order to take further action.

Where applicants have dyslexia, it is common practice for reading time to be increased by 25%.

This is also the policy employed at ST3 interviews; and where this comes into play specifically is where candidates prepare for assessment of 'scenarios'.

For specialty specific interview content please refer to each specialty's page.

Scenarios

As part of your interview you will be required to consider a hypothetical 'scenario' prior to your arrival at the station.

Here, during the period between interview stations, you will be given a piece of text describing a situation, which will then be discussed upon your arrival at the interview station.

Scenario text

The actual text in the scenario is quite short - two/three brief sentences at most - and so the bulk of preparation time is to allow you to consider the scenario and the next steps you would take (eg diagnosis, treatment, further questions, etc.); rather than it being 'reading time' as such.

But should you have dyslexia and wish to request extra time here, this can be granted in line with the recommendations on your pyschological assessment.

Requesting adjustment

If you do have dyslexia and wish to request this adjustment, please add information to the personal page of your application regarding this.

If you have already submitted your application without adding a request for this adjustment, please contact the region where your interview will be held as soon as possible to request this additional time.

Further information

NB - should you request this, following submission of your application the region will request that you provide some evidence of your condition, so that adjustments can be made.

The British Dyslexia Association has a webpage dedicated to how the Equalities Act 2010 relates to dyslexia.

Timeline Am I Eligible? Planning your application Oriel