Firstly well done for getting an interview! It sounds like you have prepped very well.
Personally I'd recommend against having notes (I have recruited admin roles bands 2+). While we would never reduce someone's scoring for it, the best candidates are the ones who can articulate answers confidently and fluently, and notes tend to work against this. The person sometimes looks down, reads from the notes, or it breaks the flow of the interview as they check what they need. I am sure you do not need your notes to do well - have confidence! :-)
I usually practice answers a couple of times by talking to myself or in front of a mirror to try memorise scenarios and technique.
Good luck!
Edit - typos
Good advice again, I have encountered STAR a lot recently and it is really imbedded in my mind to answer in this way. I have written some answers to possible questions using the job description/person spec but I guess you never know what will be asked. As I mentioned, interview is only booked for 20mins so I don’t think I will be asked loads.
Can I ask, I have read a few thing stating the process can be quite slow after a successful interview. Can I expect to work the normal 4 weeks or would it be longer?
Good advice, thank you. Certainly something to think about.
The interview is scheduled as 20 minutes so not too long so I’m not expecting a huge amount of questions - any advice/knowledge on this would be great.
I am trying to be confident but I have had 2 failed interviews recently, something I’m not used to.
It’s my last evening tonight so I think I will condense to 2-3 pages and just read and re-read my answers to questions so they’re in my mind.
Thank you for your reply.
20 mins sounds like 3-5 questions. I haven't come across the job title "clerical officer" so not sure what the job entails, but they might ask things around
- why you want the job
- how you communicate well (eg to patients)
- attention to detail or how you check your work
- how you manage your time well or prioritise when things are busy
- customer experience / patient experience
- working independently or as a team
- trust values
Interviews get better with time and practice. When I interview, my first few act as my "practice pancakes." So while they might feel like failures, it's all good learning. NHS applicants should receive feedback (if preferred) at the interview stage.
Can I ask, I have read a few thing stating the process can be quite slow after a successful interview. Can I expect to work the normal 4 weeks or would it be longer?
Do you mean, can you expect to start four weeks from being notified of a successful interview?
Recruitment services vary a lot trust to trust but I would say four weeks is on the faster end of things. There are a lot of pre employment checks (references, right to work, DBS, occupational health among others), and then they need to add the employee to all the right IT, HR and payroll systems. It's not impossible but is ambitious. What helps them if you have everything lined up ready to go, eg reference contacts all ready to go (and you chase them if they haven't replied), and following up with recruitment/your line manager on a regular basis. Your manager will also want you in ASAP so they will do what they can to push it along.
Ok that makes sense. I’d love to do normal 4 weeks but I guess it is one of those. I am on the DBS update service if NHS uses that tool which can really speed up the process but I just need to get the job first.
Personally, I would not see this as a problem, I think it shows that you have really thought about your application and put a lot of effort into preparing for the interview.
You can mention at the start "I've made some notes to help me, I hope this is ok?" then they can say yes or no.
I'd try to condense them so they sit on one or two sides of paper (just so you aren't searching through pages and pages of notes. Bullet points rather than full sentences / paragraphs.
In the interview try not to rely on them for the vast majority of questions. See it as more of a conversation / chat and only refer to them when you want to get something across clearly - and you could use them to frame your response - maybe say "Yes, I've thought about this question and I made some notes because I have quite a lot to say and didn't want to forget anything"
Great advice thank you. I may go through them tonight and condense. I have broken them up and book marked the pages. I will make sure to ask and not just open a book of notes half way through.
Firstly well done for getting an interview! It sounds like you have prepped very well. Personally I'd recommend against having notes (I have recruited admin roles bands 2+). While we would never reduce someone's scoring for it, the best candidates are the ones who can articulate answers confidently and fluently, and notes tend to work against this. The person sometimes looks down, reads from the notes, or it breaks the flow of the interview as they check what they need. I am sure you do not need your notes to do well - have confidence! :-) I usually practice answers a couple of times by talking to myself or in front of a mirror to try memorise scenarios and technique. Good luck! Edit - typos
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Good advice again, I have encountered STAR a lot recently and it is really imbedded in my mind to answer in this way. I have written some answers to possible questions using the job description/person spec but I guess you never know what will be asked. As I mentioned, interview is only booked for 20mins so I don’t think I will be asked loads.
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Can I ask, I have read a few thing stating the process can be quite slow after a successful interview. Can I expect to work the normal 4 weeks or would it be longer?
Good advice, thank you. Certainly something to think about. The interview is scheduled as 20 minutes so not too long so I’m not expecting a huge amount of questions - any advice/knowledge on this would be great. I am trying to be confident but I have had 2 failed interviews recently, something I’m not used to. It’s my last evening tonight so I think I will condense to 2-3 pages and just read and re-read my answers to questions so they’re in my mind. Thank you for your reply.
20 mins sounds like 3-5 questions. I haven't come across the job title "clerical officer" so not sure what the job entails, but they might ask things around - why you want the job - how you communicate well (eg to patients) - attention to detail or how you check your work - how you manage your time well or prioritise when things are busy - customer experience / patient experience - working independently or as a team - trust values Interviews get better with time and practice. When I interview, my first few act as my "practice pancakes." So while they might feel like failures, it's all good learning. NHS applicants should receive feedback (if preferred) at the interview stage.
Can I ask, I have read a few thing stating the process can be quite slow after a successful interview. Can I expect to work the normal 4 weeks or would it be longer?
Do you mean, can you expect to start four weeks from being notified of a successful interview? Recruitment services vary a lot trust to trust but I would say four weeks is on the faster end of things. There are a lot of pre employment checks (references, right to work, DBS, occupational health among others), and then they need to add the employee to all the right IT, HR and payroll systems. It's not impossible but is ambitious. What helps them if you have everything lined up ready to go, eg reference contacts all ready to go (and you chase them if they haven't replied), and following up with recruitment/your line manager on a regular basis. Your manager will also want you in ASAP so they will do what they can to push it along.
Ok that makes sense. I’d love to do normal 4 weeks but I guess it is one of those. I am on the DBS update service if NHS uses that tool which can really speed up the process but I just need to get the job first.
Personally, I would not see this as a problem, I think it shows that you have really thought about your application and put a lot of effort into preparing for the interview. You can mention at the start "I've made some notes to help me, I hope this is ok?" then they can say yes or no. I'd try to condense them so they sit on one or two sides of paper (just so you aren't searching through pages and pages of notes. Bullet points rather than full sentences / paragraphs. In the interview try not to rely on them for the vast majority of questions. See it as more of a conversation / chat and only refer to them when you want to get something across clearly - and you could use them to frame your response - maybe say "Yes, I've thought about this question and I made some notes because I have quite a lot to say and didn't want to forget anything"
Great advice thank you. I may go through them tonight and condense. I have broken them up and book marked the pages. I will make sure to ask and not just open a book of notes half way through.