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Interview Questions
General
advice
Focus on your achievements when
responding to questions, and portray every response in a positive
way.
Don't talk too much, think before
you answer a question, and do not reply solely with one-word answers
such as yes or no. Attempt to enter into a two way conversation with
the interviewer. Good grammar and speech are also essential and
slang should be avoided.
If you do not understand a question,
don't guess the answer - ask them to explain the question further.
If you still do not know the answer, tell them that you do not know and
explain how you might go about finding the answer out.
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Common questions you may be asked
There are literally hundreds of
questions which occur with great regularity at interviews, but there
are only around half a dozen reasons behind all of them. Every
potential employer has routine needs and these will underpin most
questions. If you prepare for these, then you will be pretty much in
the driving seat.
Always be as succinct as possible in
responding. If the interviewers want to know more they will ask. Try
to emphasise the positive and relate yourself to the post.
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General questions
Why are you applying for this job?
Make sure you know in detail about the post and the hospital, and how
you, your experience and skills relate to it.
Talk us through your career to
date...
What can you do for the hospital?
What do they really want? Find out in advance and relate what
you have to offer to their needs.
What sort of person are you and
will you fit in here?
Personality is a big issue with many recruiters. Assess
yourself, your skills and personality, and be prepared to discuss how
they relate to the culture and demands of your potential employer.
For most posts, managers tend to want enthusiastic, self motivated
team players who follow the department rules.
What makes you different from the
rest of the interviewees?
You have to make yourself sound special without sounding
arrogant. Remember not to be rude about other interviewees. Be
honest and blow your trumpet where you can back it up with facts.
Skills and experience are usually dealt with elsewhere, so focus on
personality, attitude and aptitude here.
Tell us about yourself
Your personality and life outside of employment are important.
Try to work in how your personality, passions and interests relate
to work and will enhance your performance. Take a couple of minutes
and advance chronologically through your private life, but then shift
to your employment history.
Why are you applying to this
hospital in particular?
You have got to know about the hospital and what they are doing
- so research in advance.
Why did you leave/want to leave
your last job?
Always put a positive spin on this and be gracious about your old
employer and colleagues. Cite new horizons, new challenges and
opportunities.
Where do you see yourself in five
years from now?
You certainly don't want to appear to be staying still. Be
specific and show that you have really thought about this in terms
of your career development with the hospital. A little carefully
thought out ambition never did any harm.
What is your greatest weakness?
Don't answer by claiming that you have no weaknesses. Confess
a real weakness that you have, but choose one that isn't
particularly relevant to the job you're seeking. Do not answer
with phoney weaknesses such as "I'm a slave to my job" or
"I'm a workaholic." Just state the weakness, and what
steps you have taken to improve it. Also, think positive. Turn a
weakness into a strength, e.g. being outspoken might upset other
staff but it can also be a good, frank, no-nonsense attitude which goes
down well in the work place - for some at least. Don't use the 'I'm
a perfectionist' one - it's been heard too many times!
What are your strengths?
Have a few in mind. Do not lie. Your referees will also be
commenting on this feature. Here are some examples:
-
Productive
- quick and efficient worker
-
Self
motivated - don't need to be asked to do something
-
Contributor
- has lots of good ideas for yourself and others
-
Quick
learner
-
Easy
going - get along well with others
-
Sense
of humour
-
Dependable
- when you say you'll do something, you do it
-
Stable
- not prone to mood swings
-
Self-confident
- not intimidated by the big fish nor overly familiar
-
Determined
-
Responsible
-
Organised
-
Good
communicator
-
Enthusiastic
What motivates you?
Why did you choose pharmacy?
What has been your greatest
achievement to date?
How would you describe yourself?
How would your friends or colleagues
describe you?
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Competency based questions
Competency based questions are those
which ask you to demonstrate, through your own experience, that your
skills or attributes match those defined for the new role. Examples of competency based questions include:
Can you give us an example of when
you have had to work to tight deadlines in your working career and
how you dealt with it?
Give us an example of a project
you have undertaken and how you managed it.
Core pharmacy functions include
some routine and mundane elements that require attention to detail.
Can you demonstrate, through experience in your working career, your
ability to cope with these important elements of the job?
Like most busy departments, we
sometimes face stressful situations. Can you give us an example of
when you have had to cope with stress, in a working or social
context, and how you dealt with it?
In most pharmacies the only thing
that does not change is the need to change. Please give us an
example of where you have had to deal with change in your working
career and how you dealt with it.
One of the key aspects of this
role is managing people. Please give us an example of where you have
had to deal with a problem with a member of your team and how you
solved it.
Everybody has to deal with
disappointment, or even failure, occasionally in their career. Can
you give us an example and tell us how you dealt with and what you
learnt from it?
You are the only pharmacist in the
dispensary. There is a consultant at the hatch wanting to write a private
prescription, a medicines information query on the phone, an item to
be checked for the waiting porter and an outpatient requiring
counselling. How would you handle this situation?
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Questions
you may want to ask
The interview is just as much an
opportunity for the employer to find out about you as it is for you
to find out about them. Intelligent questions will also give an
insight into the type of employee you will be. Prepare your own questions in advance,
but make sure that you use them in the context of the interview, and take
into account any information that the interviewer has already provided.
This will make you look interested in the hospital and the role that
you are applying for. If you really don't
have any questions, then your answer could be that they had covered all
your questions during the interview.
Questions
need to be selected carefully, not sounding too trivial or too
upfront. Whether there is a coffee machine may be important to you,
but the interviewer won't be impressed. Never raise the issue of
pay; wait until the subject is brought up. Some typical questions
are:
What are the pharmacy department's
plans for the next five years?
What are the department's future
plans for...(whatever is an important development for you and the
pharmacy)?
What is the likely career development
pathway in the next few years?
What possible training could I
receive in this role?
What are the day-to-day
responsibilities of the post?
What are the most urgent duties?
What is the management structure
of the pharmacy?
Who would I be reporting to?
How often are performance reviews
given and by whom?
What are the challenges facing the
hospital / department?
Does the department have a record
of promoting from within?
Why has this position become
vacant?
Finally, ask what the follow up
procedure is, and when you could expect to hear from them. Thank
them for their time.
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