General Advice for Interviews

Hello everyone, kindly find some general interview tips for any post below.

The first document is called Interview Preparation by Floyd Mokhena and the other document is from an unknown individual. Both documents are very important and they will give you a good understanding on how to approach an interview. 

However, it is important to keep in mind that one should expect to be asked non-clinical and clinical questions. The clinical questions will be based on the field that you are applying to as well as the level of experience for the post (Medical Officer Grade 1, 2 and 3 vs Registrar vs Consultant). For the clinical questions, make sure you have a structure to every question even if you have not prepared for them. For instance, any emergency should be approached using the Airway-Breathing-Circulation algorithm. 

Non-Clinical Questions to expect:

1. Introductory questions about yourself?
   • Tell us about yourself? Your skills? Background, Education, Work Experience and interests?
2. What makes a good leader?
3. How to deal with some sort of work conflict at work?
   • This is discussed in the documents shared.
   • However some situations could include a colleague arriving late at work, colleague doing locums during normal work hours, colleague having a conflict with you, colleague doing/saying something that you do not agree with and so on. 
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your weaknesses?
6. What are your long term goals?
7. How do you handle change in your life?
8. How do you cope with work under pressure?
9. How do you make important decisions?
10. Do you know the Batho Pele Principles?
11. What are the National Core Standards?
    • Not often asked but yeah, you get the idea.
12. Do you know the Patient Right Charter? 
    • Usually asked in connection with the Batho Pele Principles
13. Why are you applying for this job?
14. What are the duties of a medical officer/registrar?
    • Make sure you understand your duties as well as read over the information stated in the post. 
15. Do you know a brief history of the hospital that you are applying to?
    • Especially those such as Charlotte Maxeke, Thelle, CHBAH and so on.
16. What is your understanding of RWOPS?
17. What is an incident report?
18. What is your understanding of consent?
19. Why do you think that you are the best candidate?

I am sure that there are more questions but this brief list should get you started. Please keep in mind that when you are not sure of something just be honest with the panel. Do not rush and stay calm. If you do not remember something and need extra time to think, ask them to repeat the question. In the meantime, think of a good answer. Don't forget to thank the panel when you are done. The duration of the interview varies from hospital to hospital, however most people I have spoken to mention around 15 - 20 minutes.

Most importantly, take every interview as an experience. Learn from the previous one and apply it to the next one.

Let's keep adding!

Kind Regards