Interviews

If eligible, you will be invited to attend an online interview.

Preparing for the interview

You will need to check in advance that:

• you have a good Internet connection
• you can sit in the interview room alone with no distractions
• have a laptop or computer with a working webcam and microphone
• you have a web browser that isn't Safari (we recommend Google Chrome)

Documents checked at your interview

When you join the online interview you will be greeted by an administrator first who will ask you to show your passport to the screen with the picture page open. A passport or driving license would be suitable.

If you are unable to provide one of these documents, please contact the National Obstetrics and Gynaecology Recruitment Team via [email protected] in advance of your interview.

You will also be asked to show the administrator the room you are in to ensure that you are sitting the interview alone and that you are in a suitable place.

Booking an interview slot

You will receive a notification to your Oriel account, which will contain details of how you can use the online booking facility within your account to book an interview slot.

When you log into the system and have chosen an interview slot you will receive an email confirming this.

The timetable includes reserve spaces at the end of each day. These spaces will be used to re-book candidates should there be severe technical issues during the day. Although every effort will be made to re-book candidates on the same day as their original interview, it may be necessary to re-book candidates on subsequent days.

It is recommended that you request leave to attend for interview even if you have not received a formal invitation. Please ensure you consider service and rota issues wherever possible when booking your interview place.

Initial invitations to interview will be sent on Wednesday 19 March 2025.

The interview format

The interviews will take place online via Qpercom Recruit. You will be sent a link to join your interview a minimum of 24 hours in advance of your interview.

In the event of contingency, interviews will default to Microsoft Teams.

The interview is designed to give you an opportunity to demonstrate the skills and competences outlined in the essential and desirable sections of the person specification. 

Interviews for ST3 posts will be made up of 2 elements. The full interview will last around 40 minutes, comprising of 5 minutes initial reading followed by 2 interview stations of 15 minutes each. There is a 5 minute waiting time in-between Station 1 and Station 2.

1. Clinical prioritisation.
2. Structured interview.

Interview format for ST3 recruitment 2025

Area	Timing
Area Applicant waiting room	Timing Log in at the time listed on Oriel. The Panel Administrator will join you shortly after your arrival to greet you and perform an ID check and camera room sweep. You will not need to move from this area, as the Panel Administrator will process you through each stage to your respective interview station rooms.
Area Introduction	Timing 1 minute
Area Clinical prioritisation reading time	Timing 5 minutes
Area Interview station 1
Area Clinical prioritisation	Timing 15 minutes
Area Waiting time	Timing 5 minutes
Area Interview station 2
Area Structured interview questions	Timing 15 minutes
Area Total time interviewing applicant	Timing 40 minutes

The clinical prioritisation station will consist of 4 patients, which you will need to prioritise and explain a management plan.

The structured interview station will consist of questions in:

• targets and management

• communications

• challenges and overcoming challenges

• quality improvement, research and teaching

Interviewers are briefed to maintain neutral responses throughout your assessment. This means they may not provide positive feedback or responses to your answers. You should be assured they are interested and listening, although may not maintain eye contact with you for the whole duration.

Timing

You are advised to log in at the time of the booked interview.

You are welcome to log in from the device and location that you plan to use for the interview to test the link before your interview.

Please be prepared for the fact that delays may occur, especially at large scale interviews.

If you arrive late for your scheduled interview, then you should be prepared for the fact that it may not be possible to give you a later interview slot or rearrange another interview for you. Should this happen, this means we will be unable to progress your application any further.

The interview panel

All panel members will be trained and briefed on the interview process in question and specifically on the importance of maintaining consistent scoring parameters. You can expect your interview panel to probe and challenge your answers and statements if the panel feel they need further information. This gives you a fair opportunity to answer the questions.

Interview panels will comprise of 2 interview stations with 2 interviewers per station, meaning a total of 4 interviewers per applicant. Interviewers are asked to score independently. Throughout the day, all scores awarded are reviewed by the interview panel, a lay chair and the recruitment lead, and any significant discrepancies in scores between interviewers are highlighted and discussed.

Where discrepancies in scores are deemed to be justified (each interviewer has scored consistently within set scoring parameters) the score stands. If the scores are deemed not to be justified, the score is amended. An amendment is a reasonably rare occurrence, given interviewers are trained to score consistently. It is not unusual for candidates to be awarded scores that vary between interviewers.

Concerns on the day

If an issue happens on the day of your interview, you should speak to the Lay Representative or the Recruitment Lead. These individuals can be contacted via the emergency contact number that you will be given in advance of your interview, or via your administrator during your interview.

The vast majority of specialty recruitment interviews are conducted without issue. However, if during your interview you feel there were any issues which may have affected your assessment, it is vital that you raise them as soon as possible before you log out of the interview. You should also email the Recruitment Lead on [email protected] the same working day as your interview.

This will give the best possible chance to investigate and, if necessary, take action. Mitigating action is not usually possible after the interview day.

Whilst we stress this is not likely, if you do need to raise something please approach one of the administration team, or a lay representative, as soon as possible after your interview has been completed.

Total scoring and ranking

Your total score comprises of your weighted self-assessment verified score added to your weighted total interview score.

Each of these scores is weighted as follows.

• Self-Assessment score represents 20% of the total score
• Interview station 1 total score represents 40% of the total score
• Interview station 2 total score represents 40% of the total score

The total score is used to rank candidates for offers. 

In the event of tied scores pre-determined tie breakers will be used to separate tied scores. This applies at both self-assessment shortlisting and total score stages.

Please refer to the scoring overview section for further criteria regarding scoring elements.

Feedback

Feedback on your ST3 Obstetrics and Gynaecology interview scores will be made available to you after initial offers have been made. Overall score and ranking will be released to all applicants via Oriel. This includes those who are appointable, unappointable.

All candidates who attend interview will also receive a separate copy of their interview scores plus assessor feedback generated from the digital scoring system by no later than Tuesday 15 April 2025. Feedback will be issued to all applicants regardless of the outcome of their interview.

Appointability

Self-assessment score and outcomes

Score	Outcome
Score Total score 10 or more	Outcome Shortlist successful
Score Total score less than 10	Outcome Shortlist unsuccessful

Interview scores and outcomes

Score	Outcome
Score Scored 50% in both sections and got first priority correct	Outcome Appointable
Score Incorrectly prioritised high priority patient	Outcome Not appointable
Score Any score of 1	Outcome Not appointable
Score Lower than 50% in clinical prioritisation	Outcome Not appointable
Score Lower than 50% in structured interview	Outcome Not appointable