Interviews

If you’re lucky enough to get an interview, the main thing to remember is that if they’re interviewing you, they already like you and they want to give you the job!

The key to interviews is preparation. No matter who you are / how confident you are, you WILL be nervous. So the best way to reduce any unnecessary stress is to prepare well in advance and sort out the smaller details first:

• Outfit – decide what to wear and get it ready. Choose something smart but that you’re comfortable in. If you’re going to sweat buckets, bear that in mind! Don’t buy a suit if you’re not used to wearing one. Uniform is perfectly acceptable if you’re interviewed during a shift – just make sure it’s clean / correct.
• Journey – how long does it take to get there? How will you travel? Where do you park and how much does it cost? If it’s a new trust, it’s worth doing a ‘dry run’ if possible. Allow yourself loads of time to get there and find where you’re going.

Do some background work – find out about the trust you’re going to (if you haven’t trained there). What size / type of unit is it? What are the local population like? You can get most of this information in minutes from the trust website (Google is your friend!), and it usually goes down well if you can demonstrate an interest in the unit / area. For example, in the Greater Manchester area, the ‘Making it Better’ project is well underway with all the units closing / merging – is there anything similar where you’re going?

Prepare a portfolio – a file with plastic wallets in is fine, but you can buy some very smart document wallets for about £10 if you prefer (stationery stores do them). Put in your identification (birth certificate / passport), your educational certificates (they won’t expect you to have your degree one yet), certificates from attending conferences / study days / mandatory training sessions, include cards from clients and so on. You won’t have a huge portfolio as a student, but taking one along shows firstly that you’ve prepared, and secondly that you are getting into the habit of keeping a portfolio as evidence of ongoing learning and development (essential both for your supervisory reviews and KSF reviews!).

Read! – what’s hot news in the world of midwifery / maternity care? What are the burning issues? Have you read any recent research? (A quick skim of a recent BJM or MIDIRS journal will give you food for thought.) Are you familiar with NMC PREP requirements, supervision, the KSF, Midwifery 2020 and high profile campaigns like the RCM Normal Birth campaign, Breastfeeding, Stop Smoking campaigns and so on. You don’t have to be experts in all these – just spend an hour browsing online and make some notes so that you’ve heard of them if they get mentioned.

Practice – you know the old saying ‘practice makes perfect’? Well, it might not make your interview technique ‘perfect’ but it’ll certainly help. If your uni offers mock interviews or sessions on interview techniques, use them! Think about what questions you’re likely to be asked (there’s a list elsewhere on the website!). Make some notes about the most common ones and sit on your own in the house and say some answers out loud.

It sounds like a ridiculous thing to do, but things often sound different when you say them out loud than they do in your head, so get in front of the mirror or talk to the dog / cat / baby / plant / wall. Answer the questions how you think you would like to in the interview – almost like writing and learning a script.

You might not get the questions you’ve prepared, and you might forget most of what you’ve planned to say even if you get them. It doesn’t matter – it just gets you used to saying phrases that you don’t normally use, and really makes you think about how you’re going to speak in the interview.

The interview itself….

DON’T PANIC! The interviewers will expect you to be nervous – you won’t be marked down for shaking, stammering, sweating, fidgeting and so on, but if you can try to control these things then do. Sit on your hands if need be! If you don’t hear a question or want it explaining / repeating, ASK! If you have a real blank and can’t think of an answer, tell them you’re struggling and ask if you can move on then come back to the question at the end – they won’t mind. If you want to jot down the question on a small notepad then take a minute to think about your answer, that’s fine. If there’s water, sip it (if you can get glass to mouth with those shaky hands!). Having a drink gives you a natural pause from speaking and also makes you breathe (try it!), which instantly calms you ever so slightly.

Remember – they’re interviewing you because they liked your application and they want you to work for them. Obviously you want to work there, so you’re both hoping to achieve the same thing! Work with your interviewers to try to achieve that. There are no trick questions, but the interviewers will have certain things they’re looking for. If you’ve answered a question and they’ve not moved on, they’re probably looking for something else – don’t be afraid to clarify that with them and pause again for another think about what you might have ‘missed’ (it might be one word!).

They don’t expect you to know everything, but they do expect that as a newly qualified professional you’ll know when to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something! Do remember with ANY clinical scenarios, you should always state that you would ask for help in the first instance. Also, if you’re having a blank, try taking a minute to visualise the scene and think about the basics – focus on the woman / baby and think what you’d do. Remember the key principles like infection control and documentation. Remember informed choice and advocacy and all those buzz words you put in the application!

Think about your posture – sitting hunched with your arms and legs crossed is very defensive and doesn’t encourage good communication. Take a deep breath and sit straight up, legs not crossed and don’t fold your arms. Rest them on the chair arms or in your lap – sit on your hands if you have to! Make a mental note of your posture and try to correct it throughout the interview, because you WILL slip back into the nervous ‘closed’ posture (arms folded etc.) at some point.

Their first question. This will often be one of the more general questions such as ‘tell us about yourself / your midwifery training / your dissertation’ or ‘why do you want to work here’. From an interviewers point of view, this is designed to get you talking and to help you to relax (yeah right!), so don’t worry if you don’t come up with anything earth shattering – it doesn’t matter!

If you can get onto something you’re passionate about, you’ll suddenly be less nervous. It also gives the interviewers an opening – something to talk to you about and helps them to get to know you.

Your questions. There will always be an opportunity to ask questions at the end, or clarify some information. If you have questions, ask them, even if they’re about mundane stuff like working hours, shift patterns, uniforms, pay or car parking. You might want to know how long the Preceptorship is and how it works in that trust, how newly qualified midwives are supported, or what opportunities for ongoing training / specialised roles / research there are in the trust. You could ask when you can expect to hear the outcome, and how (phone / letter etc.).

If you genuinely have no questions, then don’t ask for the sake of it. Just state ‘No, I think you’ve already covered the things I wanted to ask’ and leave it at that.

Before you leave – the temptation is to get out of the room and run for your life! Before you do, THANK THEM for their time, say it’s been good to meet them. Tell them you’ll look forward to hearing from them. Make sure they have your correct contact details so there are no mix ups later on.

Rejection – if you get offered the job, congratulations!

If you don’t get offered the job, it’s going to sting a bit – rejection always does. You’ll feel down, but you’ll get over it. Don’t ask for feedback in the initial phone call or just after opening the letter. Take a couple of days to calm down and accept the decision. Ring up whoever the contact is direct, and ask them if they can check over your interview notes and give you some feedback.

Competition for jobs is fierce, with many applicants for each post – it might just be that you interviewed really well, but were one point behind the ones who got the job. Find out where you could have gained more points, accept the feedback, and bear it in mind next time. There will be more jobs!

Go back to the NHS jobs website or trust websites to look for more jobs, or contact local trusts to see if they’re recruiting at the moment. Get yourself back out there on the market and keep trying.

Best of luck!