Effective CVs, application
forms and interviews
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Objectives
- To help you to understand the structure and purpose of
competency-based recruitment and selection.
-Gain an insight into the recruiter’s point of view.
-Recognise appropriate evidence of your skills and
understand how to present this effectively in writing (&
through interview).
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The recruiter’s perspective
• Recruiting is expensive and time
consuming.
• They need to get it right.
• They are looking for tangible evidence and
(at interview) a sense of rapport.
• They do not want to catch you out.
• They will often end up working with the
person they recruit!
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What are recruiters looking for?
Selectors are asking themselves:
Do you have the ABILITY?
Do you have the MOTIVATION?
Do you FIT?
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Competency based
recruitment
• What is it?
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Good, better, best….
What would be the top five qualities/skills that you
would look for in a consultant within your specialty?
List your top five then discuss with partner.
How do your lists differ? How would you measure that a
person had these skills?
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Behind the Buzzwords
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Communication
Organisation & planning
Managing others
Problem solving
Interpersonal skills
Decision making
Leadership
Conceptual thinking
People skills
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Good communication skills?
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Email or telephone?
You have to contact someone you haven’t worked with before. Do you prefer email
or telephone?
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Argue or Avoid?
You are having a disagreement with a work colleague. Do you prefer to confront the
issue with them directly or avoid conflict?
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Concise or considered?
Would you be better at writing an annual review report or a piece of marketing
literature for your practice?
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Push or pull?
Do you like to get people on board through appealing to logic or reason, or by
tapping into their motivations and enthusiasm?
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Competency question example
-Give us an example of a situation where poor
communication skills had an adverse impact on the
care of a patient.
-Describe a situation in which you used effective
communication skills to make a difference to the
care of a patient.
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Presenting yourself effectively in writing
– Application Forms -
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Application forms
• Reader
What is their focus?
• Content
Relevance and priority
• Structure
Readability
Priority
Logical flow
Theme then evidence
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Competency Questions
• An opportunity to demonstrate a required or desired
behaviour
• Describe specific incidents
• Stay focused – provide evidence and context
Don’t undersell yourself
• Try STAR technique …
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STAR
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S
ituation
T
ask or target
A
ction
R
esult/reflection
learn?]
[concise overview]
[what had to be achieved?]
[what did you actually DO?]
[what was the end result?] [what did you
[Situation/task 15%, Action 70%, Outcome 15%]
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Presenting yourself on paper
- CVs -
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• What is the purpose of a CV?
• What would you include on a
CV?
• How long?
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CV sections
•Personal details
•Career Statement
•Education and Qualifications
•Present position
•Career history (ensure that any gaps in employment are accounted for)
•Clinical skills and experience
•Management and leadership experience
•Development courses and conferences attended
•Presentations
•Clinical audit
•Research experience/Publications
•Teaching experience
•Interests
•Referees
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Common pitfalls
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Irrelevant information
Putting earliest experiences first
Too much description
Long prose paragraphs
Poorly presented
Inconsistency of style or format
Spelling or grammatical errors
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Specialty Interviews
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Prepare yourself
–Understand how you are being judged
–Formulate your evidence
–Practise your delivery
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Preparing and Presenting your Evidence
–Understand the requirements
–Unpack the competencies
–Think of examples
–Structure your examples
–Practise telling the story
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Different types of questions
•Understanding questions ‘What are the essential elements of…?’
•Biographical questions ‘Tell me about yourself’…
•Scenario questions ‘What would you do if…?’
•Behavioural questions ‘Describe a situation in which you…’
•Experience questions ‘Tell me about your experience working in…’
•Motivation questions ‘What appeals to you most about…’
•Competency question ‘Give an example of a time…’
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Interviewing with Impact
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Confident and positive first impressions
The handshake
What to wear
Eye contact
Posture
Facial expressions
Body language
Building a strong rapport
Find common ground
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Active listening
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Recruiter wish list
Besides good clinical skills, recruiters want trainees who will...
–Learn quickly...not need repetition
–Take responsibility...not need direction
–Decide reliably...not need correction
–Show initiative...not need spoon-feeding
–Push themselves...not need motivation
–Stay...not change their minds
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Evidence for motivation
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Research — What have you discovered about the specialty and how?
Decisions — What choices have you made leading up to this stage?
Behaviour — What have you done to gain relevant experience and
awareness?
Interests — What do you devote time to inside and outside medicine?
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Your evidence laid BARE
–Background – setting, situation, objective
–Actions – what you did, how you did it
–Rationale– your thinking and choices
–End result – achievements and learning
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Primacy and recency
Time during the interview
Interviewee's performance
What the interviewer remembers
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Some useful tactics
–Stay focused and slow down
–Have some structure – even if it’s retrospective!
–Give yourself thinking time — Repeat, comment, ‘Can I have a minute?’
–Think of the ‘key features’ before you talk
–Seek clarification — ‘Are you looking for an example of...?’
–Ask for feedback — ‘Is this example useful?’
–When in a hole, stop digging — ‘Sorry, I’ve got a bit lost. May I start again?’
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NHS issues
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Clinical Governance
Appraisals, Assessment and Revalidation
Evidence-based medicine
NHS reforms and modernisation agenda
European Working Time Directive (EWTD)
Improving Working Lives (IWL)
MMC & the Tooke report
Payment by results
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NHS Issue practice question
• How can the NHS develop a blame-free culture?
• Is the expanding role of nurses a positive development for the
NHS?
• Does it pose any problems for the medical profession?
• Has MMC addressed all the problems that it was designed to
do?
• IS MMC a good thing?
• Is the appraisal process worthwhile?
• What is the biggest challenge facing the NHS over the next
twenty years?
• Who are the ‘lost tribe’? Have they been found?
• What will be the effects of the European Working Time Directive
on the medical profession in the UK?
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Researching NHS Issues
• NHS Institute for Innovation & Improvement www.institute.nhs.uk
• Medical Leadership Competency Framework
www.institute.nhs.uk/assessment_tool/general/medical_leadership_com
petency_framework_-_homepage.html
• Dept of Health www.doh.gov.uk
• Interview intelligence articles www.interview-intelligence.com
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MMC www.mmc.nhs.uk
• Royal colleague websites
www.medic8.com/BritishRoyalMedicalColleges.htm
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Want more Individual Help?
 BMA Career Advisory service
 BMJ Careers – medical jobs and careers advice
 Podcasts ‘A Day In The Life of a Speciality Doctor (specific to each area)
 ‘Career Essentials’ – online e-learning modules for Foundation Doctors
 BMJ Learning – 150+ CPD accredited courses
 BMA Library
 British Medical Journal
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Thank you &
Good Luck
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