Hooray!!! Congratulations! You have invitation for your UK NHS interviews! Well done!!

Here at Neptune International, the success rate for our nurses attending various NHS staff nurse interviews is over 90%. Remember, not all candidates are brilliant at doing or performing at the interviews. Certain candidates are not very good at their English communication skills. Among those who are good at making formal communications, some panic at the time of the interviews and do not perform at all. So, a 90% interview success rate is excellent.

The purpose of this blog is to make you understand the way to prepare for a successful NHS interview and ensure a better interview performance and secure an NHS job offer.

Familiarisation with Video Platforms

Nowadays, many/ most of the UK NHS staff nurses’ interviews are via online video platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc. The very first thing you may have to make sure is that you got the interview link/ invite. If you think you have not received the link, check your spam folder as well. Make sure you know how to talk using a video on such platforms. If you have not used it before, try with your nursing recruitment agency or a friend. Ask them to send a link/ invite and speak to them. This will increase your confidence. These technical functions of such platforms are fairly easy. But you should still know certain basic stuff such as where the microphone and video icons are, etc.

Greeting and Mannerisms

One critical thing you may keep in mind is about mannerisms/ etiquettes/ greetings etc. Do not forget them to greet. I would advise you to practise it for 5 minutes. This is where you create the first of first impressions.

Take Us through your CV

One sure question you could expect in almost all the interviews are: tell us about yourself/ introduce yourself? You should be ready to talk for 2-3 minutes for this question. Focus on your professional journey over the years, your duties and responsibilities and your skills. For example, you could start with, “Hi, Nice to meet you. Thank you for the question, I am a nurse having 4 plus years of experience in clinical nursing, the last one being in the critical care nursing”. Prepare well for this question and when you do so, 30% of your interview prep is over. A large chunk of material for the answer for this question can be availed of from your CV itself. For example, medical cases you are familiar with, vital duties and responsibilities, such as, administration of medication etc can be included.

Know Your Employer

The next thing which is critically important for any NHS Trust interview is to know about your prospective employer. One must have a fairly good idea about the NHS Trust you have applied for, their various departments and specialties, the vision & values of your Trust etc.

In addition to the above basic questions, every interview panel may have a list of standard questions. It is advisable that you have an awareness about what the kind of questions you may expect to receive. Prepare such a list of questions and answers for them.

Dedicated Interview guidance Teams

Certain reputed recruiting agencies may have their own team for interview guidance. Here at Neptune, we have dedicated teams for interview guidance and these teams will provide quality one-to-one interview guidance for the nurses.

Taking you through the process of a virtual interview experience will dramatically boost your confidence and your probability of success will increase exponentially.

Questions about the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) Code of Practice and its important aspects

Many interview panels of various NHS Trusts usually ask certain questions about certain important nursing standards, which might have been directly delineated in the NMC Code. Questions about patient consent, professionalism etc are relevant examples

How to present yourself for an interview

Last, but not least, be ready to present yourself neatly, smartly, and formally. I have seen that candidates frequently present themselves in a totally informal style. This is no good. Whether it’s a physical onsite interview or an online video platform interview, your NHS interviews are still formal face-to-face interview. You should still wear a smart, neat, formal outfit, if possible. You are what your wear, the saying goes. The clothes we choose to wear and the way we choose to wear them — convey messages that reveal important aspects of personality. I have always felt that this aspect has a final bearing in the ultimate decision-making process.

Keep your cool; but be attentive at the interview. All the Best!