Ideally your answers should be about 2 minutes. Answers less than 90 seconds, rarely give you the chance to sell your skills well. Responses over 3 minutes tend to bore the intervier panel.
Having a strong structure concentrates on 3 or 4 well defined areas. Ideally, you will announce your structure upfront. This signposts the interviewer, so that they know what to expect. So if asked about your 3 main strengths - begin by saying "I would say that I have 3 main strengths." If questioned about your choice of speciality - talk about the 2 main reasons that attract you about this speciality. When discussing your research skills - talk about the research based and generic skills that you learnt from your research project.
Step one involves signposting your message. Step two is to deliver your message effectively. Use a series of headlines and then expansion style statements. Focus ruthlessly on delivering your key point number one and then back it up with your personal examples. Then go to key point number two, etc.
Make sure that you fill your answers with back up statements. Provide genuine facts about your skills and abilities. Don't use generalised statements such as "I really enjoy working in teams" or "This field really interests me". Talk about why you enjoy working in teams or why you find this field interesting.
Be personal - Use "I" rather than "we", using "we" gives the impression that you do not get involved in the work as much as you say. Provide suitable examples to illustrate your mess ages. If the question is of a generic nature, provide specific but generic examples such as "I am often involved in breaking bad news to vulnerable patients such as women who have recently miscarried or patients who have struggled with IVF treatment for s ome time." As well as giving a good picture of the breadth of your experience, it will save you getting lost in the detail of a particular patient's experience (which by itself could take 5 minutes!) Only mention your experience of specific patient scenarios when prompted for an example.
Provide objective measures of success - If you can, try to use objective measures as much as possible e.g. "My consultants often praise me for the way in which I approach communication with patients when breaking bad news" or "I have received numerous letters from patients, thanking me for the clarity of my explanations". It sounds much better if others say you are good than if you are the only one to say it.
Try to broad the question out and initiate a discussion at the end. If you can increase the proportion of time spent listening to the interviewer, you will enhance your chances of interview success. The interviewer will perceive you as a good listener and may also consider you to be more of a peer than a subordinate.
Try to think broadly so that you can take the debate to a higher level. Try to work out if there are other skills that you could bring out in your answer. Do if you are meant to be talking about conflict, try to discuss how good communication skills are important in resolving conflict. Bring everything back to you and your ability to do the job under discussion.
Having a strong structure concentrates on 3 or 4 well defined areas. Ideally, you will announce your structure upfront. This signposts the interviewer, so that they know what to expect. So if asked about your 3 main strengths - begin by saying "I would say that I have 3 main strengths." If questioned about your choice of speciality - talk about the 2 main reasons that attract you about this speciality. When discussing your research skills - talk about the research based and generic skills that you learnt from your research project.
Step one involves signposting your message. Step two is to deliver your message effectively. Use a series of headlines and then expansion style statements. Focus ruthlessly on delivering your key point number one and then back it up with your personal examples. Then go to key point number two, etc.
Make sure that you fill your answers with back up statements. Provide genuine facts about your skills and abilities. Don't use generalised statements such as "I really enjoy working in teams" or "This field really interests me". Talk about why you enjoy working in teams or why you find this field interesting.
Be personal - Use "I" rather than "we", using "we" gives the impression that you do not get involved in the work as much as you say. Provide suitable examples to illustrate your mess ages. If the question is of a generic nature, provide specific but generic examples such as "I am often involved in breaking bad news to vulnerable patients such as women who have recently miscarried or patients who have struggled with IVF treatment for s ome time." As well as giving a good picture of the breadth of your experience, it will save you getting lost in the detail of a particular patient's experience (which by itself could take 5 minutes!) Only mention your experience of specific patient scenarios when prompted for an example.
Provide objective measures of success - If you can, try to use objective measures as much as possible e.g. "My consultants often praise me for the way in which I approach communication with patients when breaking bad news" or "I have received numerous letters from patients, thanking me for the clarity of my explanations". It sounds much better if others say you are good than if you are the only one to say it.
Try to broad the question out and initiate a discussion at the end. If you can increase the proportion of time spent listening to the interviewer, you will enhance your chances of interview success. The interviewer will perceive you as a good listener and may also consider you to be more of a peer than a subordinate.
Try to think broadly so that you can take the debate to a higher level. Try to work out if there are other skills that you could bring out in your answer. Do if you are meant to be talking about conflict, try to discuss how good communication skills are important in resolving conflict. Bring everything back to you and your ability to do the job under discussion.
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