• We recommend that before your interview, you re-familiarise yourself with the job description and person specification, as well as why you think you would be a suitable candidate for this role. You may also find useful information relating to the Trust’s values, commitments and objectives on the Trust website, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

• If you did not do so before applying for the role, you may also find it beneficial to contact the Recruiting Manager or Interview Lead prior to attending your interview to find out a bit more regarding the day-to-day aspect of the job, the team and how your role fits in with the department and wider organisational objectives.

•   If your interview is face to face, we would also recommend you carry out a ‘test drive’ to the hospital, especially if you are unfamiliar with our hospital sites. We would recommend this whether you are travelling by car, walking, cycling or using public transport. Parking can be limited around our hospital sites, so the ‘test drive’ to the hospital can also be beneficial in scouting out the local car parks, saving you the stress of trying to find a parking space on the day.

• If you are offered a virtual interview, you will be sent a link either alongside your initial interview invite, or alternatively this will be sent once you have responded to the invite and at least one day prior to your interview.

• To complete the interview virtually you will need to have access to a laptop or tablet with two-way camera and audio. If you do not have access to such a device, please contact your Interview Lead or Recruiting Manager and they will arrange for you to complete an interview in-person.

• Please consider professional standards and the image you would like to portray, as well as, ensuring you are in the room alone, unless a chaperone has been agreed as part of a reasonable adjustment.

• If you are asked to present as part of your virtual interview, you may be required to share your screen. Please ensure none of your personal information is visible on the screen (personal emails etc.). You may also consider setting up a ‘dummy’ meeting to test screen sharing capabilities.

There are several reasons why you may be asked to give a presentation as part of your interview. Presentations give the panel a better overview of your general abilities when combined with a traditional question and answer interview. If you are asked to carry out a presentation it will always be relevant to the job you have applied for, and the interviewer is looking for proof that you possess the required skills and traits.

We have listed some tips below that you may find helpful for your presentation:

• Understand what you are asked to present and stick to the brief

• Present confidently and consider your body language – use open body language and make eye contact with the panel.

• Do not just read from the slides – you may consider using cue cards. The slides should provide an overview to what you are saying. This will keep the panel engaged and listening to you.

• Try not to talk to fast – take your time presenting, remember to breathe. One tip is to stop and take a breath before each sentence.

• Practice, practice, practice – ensure you are well rehearsed.

• Stay within your allocated time – when practising, ensure you time yourself so you know whether or not you need to reduce the content of your presentation.

• Be prepared for questions – it is likely the interviewers will have questions, whether this is during the interview or at the end.

• Finally, we know it is difficult but try to enjoy the presentation – this is a showcase of your skills, be positive and sell yourself!

You may find some more useful presentation tips by using the below resources:

How to prepare a presentation for an interview | Reed

Tips for Preparing a Presentation for an Interview | Indeed.com UK

The STAR method is an approach that will help you structure your answers to competency and behaviour-based interview questions in a clear and concise manner. We would recommend that you use the STAR approach wherever possible as it will make it easier for the interview panel to identify the evidence they are looking for in the answer.

STAR is an acronym that stands for:

• Situation – context of the problem you faced. A brief background of what was happening at the time.

• Task – clearly state the task or goal you were responsible for. What were you trying to achieve?

• Action – describe the actions you took to address the situation or complete the task. Be specific.

• Result – share the outcome of your actions. Did you achieve your goal? Were the results possible? It is useful to quantify results wherever possible.

Other benefits of the STAR method:

• Organised answers – structures answers in a clear and concise way.

• Demonstrates skills – allows you to showcase experience and skills through demonstratable examples.

• Easy to remember – this simply acronym makes it easier to recall and apply the method.

• Impresses interviewers – it shows you are well prepared, thoughtful and can articulate your experiences effectively

  You can find some examples of STAR method using the link below:

  The STAR method | National Careers Service

  There is also some more guidance relating to the STAR method using the link below:

  How to use the STAR interview technique in interviews | Indeed.com UK

Once you have attended your interview, a member of the interview panel or Recruiting Manager will aim to get back to you as soon as possible. The time-scale will be dependent on how many candidates have been interviewed for the role and over how many days interviews have spanned. However, an expected outcome date should be provided at the end of your interview and if you have not heard anything by that date, we invite you to contact the Recruiting Manager/Interview Lead.

If successful, the recruiting manager will call you to offer you the role. They will then confirm the offer in writing via the NHS Jobs system. You will need to log in to your NHS Jobs account to accept or reject this role. After you have accepted this role, the recruiting manager will inform the Recruitment department of their decision to appoint you to this position. The Recruitment team will then contact you to commence any required pre-employment checks and to complete and essential pre-employment paperwork that may be needed to complete your recruitment.

If you are not successful at interview, you will again be informed by the deadline provided at the interview. It is recommended practice at Leeds Teaching Hospitals that this is again confirmed via a phone call, however, if there have been a high number of interviewed candidates this may not always be possible, in which case, this will be confirmed via e-mail.