Good Questions To Ask At An NHS Interview: Impress The NHS!

The key to passing the NHS Interview is to show the interviewers that you exemplify and understand the core values of the National Health Service, and by learning good questions to ask at an NHS interview. These values include:

Being an excellent communicator. Communication is absolutely vital for an NHS employee. Communication plays an essential role in patient care, and in the way that doctors, nurses and other staff work together to provide the best level of treatment for those under their care. It’s all about teamwork – if you aren’t a good team player then you won’t be a good fit for the NHS.

Commitment to public service. As an employee of the NHS, it’s extremely important that you are committed to the idea of public service, and are dedicated to providing the public with an outstanding and dedicated level of care. Public service means showing empathy, care and consideration for patients, and their relatives and loved ones too. During your interview, you can expect to be quizzed about when you’ve shown this quality in the past.

Respect for equality and diversity. NHS employees must be able to demonstrate a level of respect, care and equal treatment for every person that they meet, regardless of said person’s background, gender, age, culture, or any other factors. When working in the NHS, you will meet a huge variety of people, and you must be able to ingratiate and communicate with these people in a polite, friendly, and professional manner.

Finally, and certainly not least, you need to be able to show enthusiasm and interest in the role.

If you’ve ever been to an interview, or even interviewed someone yourself, you might be aware of some of the warning signs of ‘a bad candidate’. Similarly, you might have a good idea about what makes a good candidate. One of the most important qualities for any candidate, especially in the NHS, is enthusiasm in the role. If you are enthusiastic and passionate, and this come across in the interview, then you are far more likely to be successful.

Employers want to take on candidates who genuinely care about the position, and who aren’t just there to pick up a pay cheque So, how can you show enthusiasm and interest? One of the best ways, is to actually learn and adapt good questions to ask at an NHS interview.

Many people are slightly put off by the idea of asking questions at the end of interview, and it’s extremely common to tell the interviewers, ‘No, thank you, you’ve told me everything I need to know.’ This approach won’t count against you – but it won’t help you either. And with such fierce competition for job posts, it goes without saying that you need to do all you can to maximise your chances of success. By asking the interviewer questions yourself, when invited to do so, you are showing them that a) you’ve put considerable thought into the job role b) you’re interested, and c) you are enthusiastic about your own career. This all counts massively in your favour.

Now, to help you out, let’s look at some game-changing questions for the NHS Interview, which will put you ahead of the competition!

If I were to be successful, would there be on the job training, or chances to improve my skills? If so, is it possible to tell me a bit more about this?

This is a great question, because it shows the interviewer that you genuinely care about improving your skills and progressing as an individual with the NHS. Naturally, the National Health Service wants to take on candidates who are looking to improve and become better doctors/nurses, and therefore your enthusiasm for doing so will put you in a really positive light.

If you are applying as a doctor, or a nurse, then you’ll likely have been to medical school prior to application – but that doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t be expected to learn and improve on the job too. The majority of hospitals have programmes in place to help their staff improve and grow. So, the interviewers will welcome the chance to tell you about this.

I noticed that your hospital was nominated for *award*. This was really exciting for me, and played a role in my applying. Could you tell me about this?

This is a fantastic question to ask, because it shows that you’ve researched the hospital and looked into their current initiatives. The interviewers will really appreciate that – they want to see that you care enough to have researched and investigated the hospital, and that there are individual elements about that hospital which have impressed you and make you want to work for them over others. It never hurts to flatter the hospital either!

Where does this role fit into the team structure? Who are the key people I’ll be interacting with on a daily basis?

This is a great question. Again, it shows a real enthusiasm for the role, and a desire to learn about what the job will be like on a daily basis. It’s important to understand that it’s perfectly okay to ask questions like this – the interviewers don’t expect you to know all of the ins and out of the job role right off the bat – so if anything it will be reassuring for them to see that you have the ability to ask questions, and ask for help when you need it.

If you want to further increase your chances of securing an NHS career, then we’ve got the perfect resource for you! Our NHS interview hub is jam-packed with tips and tricks on how answer just about any medical interview question that you can think of. So, don’t hang around. Sign up below, and get notified on how YOU can join the NHS!