Interview hints and tips

In addition to the job description and person specification, find out as much as possible about the role you are applying for. If you know someone who works in a similar role, talk to them to see if you feel it is something you would be suited for, and to find out the key responsibilities so that you can reflect how you would be suited to these in interview.

If you want to find out more about a particular role, contact the academy team and we may be able to put you in touch with a Kent and Medway staff member who works in that role and can tell you what it is like.

All roles in health and care will want you to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of confidentiality.

The NHS Confidentiality Policy will provide useful information on why confidentiality is important, and what key points you will need to know and be able to demonstrate in interview.

Confidentiality Policy 

You may also be asked a question related to NHS/Social Care values.

“Why do you want to work in the NHS/care sector?”

“Can you tell us what made you apply for this role in particular?”

“Tell us about a time when you have supported someone through a difficult situation – at work or outside work”

Visit the Before you apply page for a list of the NHS and Social Care values and be prepared to demonstrate how you apply these values in your professional and/or personal life.

We hold the principles of equality and inclusion at the heart of everything we do and all that we stand for – the NHS is a universal service and we are committed to developing a leadership community which is representative of the groups that we serve.

Health and Care employers are dedicated to equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) and most interviews will have at least one question related to this topic.

“What is your definition or understanding of diversity?”

“How would you promote diversity and inclusion in your role?”

“What do you see as the challenges of leading and managing a diverse workforce?”

“How have you/would you handle a situation in which one of your colleagues made a discriminatory remark?”

Click here to read our inclusion ambitions, and prepare answers for how you embody these values.

Building Leadership for Inclusion (BLFI) is a new and radical programme of work that aims to fundamentally shift the ways in which we work to develop truly inclusive leadership, organisations and health and care systems:

Many NHS organisations will ask you competency-based interview questions. A competency-based interview is a structured interview that assesses your skills, behaviours, and knowledge through questions about how you've used them in the past. The interviewer will compare your answers to pre-determined criteria and score them against these.

An example of a competency-based interview question:

 “Tell me about a time you supported a member of your team who was struggling.”

This competency-based question will test your ability to show compassion towards your colleagues without losing sight of your own objectives.

You might also find questions that start with:

• Give me an example of a situation when…
• Describe a scenario when…

If you conduct a web search of the role you are applying for, you may find some examples of previous questions that have been asked for a similar role.

A note of caution: Be prepared for probing questions or follow on questions that explore your answers in more detail. These are designed to find out what you were thinking, and what your motivations were. Due to these additional questions, we advise not to use example answers as you will find it hard to explain yourself.

Tip: Be sure in your answers to give examples of what "you" did in these situations/scenarios. A common pitfall in interviews is to say "we" when discussing actions that were delivered as a part of a team. "We decided that..." "We implemented..." The interviewers want to hear about you as an employee. Even if it was a group/team effort, be clear on what you personally contributed.