STANDING UP FOR DOCTORS 1 Effective CVs, application forms and interviews.

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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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Selectors are asking themselves:

Do you have the ABILITY?

Do you have the MOTIVATION?

Do you FIT?

What are recruiters looking for?

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Competency based recruitment

• What is it?

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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?

Good, better, best….

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• Communication• Organisation & planning • Managing others• Problem solving• Interpersonal skills• Decision making• Leadership• Conceptual thinking • People skills

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Behind the Buzzwords

Good communication skills?

• Email or telephone?You have to contact someone you haven’t worked with before. Do you prefer email or telephone?

• 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?

• Concise or considered? Would you be better at writing an annual review report or a piece of marketing literature for your practice?

• 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

• ReaderWhat is their focus?

• ContentRelevance and priority

• StructureReadabilityPriorityLogical flowTheme 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

• S ituation [concise overview]• T ask or target [what had to be achieved?]• A ction [what did you actually DO?]• R esult/reflection [what was the end result?] [what did you

learn?]

[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

• 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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–Understand the requirements–Unpack the competencies–Think of examples–Structure your examples–Practise telling the story

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Preparing and Presenting your Evidence

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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

• Confident and positive first impressions• The handshake• What to wear• Eye contact• Posture• Facial expressions• Body language• Building a strong rapport• Find common ground

• 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

• 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

• 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_competency_framework_-_homepage.html

• Dept of Health www.doh.gov.uk

• Interview intelligence articles www.interview-intelligence.com

• MMC www.mmc.nhs.uk

• Royal colleague websiteswww.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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Don’t Miss Out – Join Today!

• Employment Protection and Advise• Free Contract Checking• Careers - essential support and guidance• Free access to BMA Library• Free Copies of British Medical Journal (£360)• Free access to BMJ Learning• Free access to ‘Careers Essentials’ for Foundation years

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Thank you & Good Luck

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