Interviews are like buses, you wait ages and then several come at once. Tessa and Becky tackle a genuinely tricky situation: what do you do if you get offered a job you'd take, while you're still waiting to hear about the one you actually want? We talk through the honesty balance, when to mention a second interview and when to hold off, so you don't burn a bridge in a small speciality where everyone remembers who let them down.
We also review a mistake example involving a missed lab result and a wrong contact number, and dig into why the most important test for any mistake story is whether it was really your mistake to own. From there we look at a lovely, low-stakes interview question, "how do you balance the demands of clinical practise with your personal well-being", and why this is actually one of the easier ones to get right.
Finally, our tip of the week: get someone to fire random questions at you with zero prep time, because that's a lot closer to the real thing than rehearsing an answer you already know is coming.
What is Ace Your NHS Consultant Interview?
Welcome to Ace Your NHS Consultant Interview - the podcast for doctors who want to take the stress and guesswork out of their NHS consultant interview prep.
We know how overwhelming it can feel to prep for your consultant interviews when you’re already stretched thin.
Each episode, we’ll break down what actually works - no fluff, no endless reading, just practical steps you can fit into a hectic week. You’ll hear honest advice, real stories, and the frameworks we use with our own students inside the Academy to help you show up confident, prepped, and ready to secure the job you want.
If you’re a final year trainee or locum consultant and you want to prepare, not panic, you’re in the right place.