nhs scientist training programme 2014/15

Anyone from Genetics/Genomics had their status update? Mine just says "Interview Booked" still.

Mine is still showing as complete.
I wish there was a guide to what each status means - like there was for shortlisting!
By all means phone up or email - let me know what they say if you do! :-)

Heres the reply I got "This is just an update and would mean that we are processing the interview scores. "

Hey there - to those who have had their interviews.... I'm about to book train tickets for my interview and wondered how much time to give myself. Is the interview really 40 minutes? I was considering leaving myself 2-2.5 hours to complete the interview and get a taxi back to new street station. Is that enough/too much time? Also, when i booked my interview, I got an email to confirm and at the bottom it said "You will receive further information on the interview process directly from the recruitment lead in due course". Did anyone receive any additional information prior to interview, in addition to the usual bumph of address, time to arrive, documents to bring etc...? Finally - were the majority of questions unexpected? I'm just wondering how long to spend preparing myself and my answers. Based on what people have said about their interviews, I was going to focus on NHS policies and my personal experiences to demonstrate leadership, innovation etc, rather than trying to second guess the general science or specialism questions. Seem sensible? Thanks!!

Hey there - to those who have had their interviews.... I'm about to book train tickets for my interview and wondered how much time to give myself. Is the interview really 40 minutes? I was considering leaving myself 2-2.5 hours to complete the interview and get a taxi back to new street station. Is that enough/too much time? Also, when i booked my interview, I got an email to confirm and at the bottom it said "You will receive further information on the interview process directly from the recruitment lead in due course". Did anyone receive any additional information prior to interview, in addition to the usual bumph of address, time to arrive, documents to bring etc...? Finally - were the majority of questions unexpected? I'm just wondering how long to spend preparing myself and my answers. Based on what people have said about their interviews, I was going to focus on NHS policies and my personal experiences to demonstrate leadership, innovation etc, rather than trying to second guess the general science or specialism questions. Seem sensible? Thanks!!

The interview does indeed last 40-50 minutes, with 30 minutes beforehand to register etc.

As for the questions? Well I couldn't possibly comment!

I booked my interview for 11am, arrived at around 10-10:15am, and was finished by 12 (10 minutes at each station, 2 mins in between each = ~50 mins)
I guess it depends on how late in the day you are, as they might start running late in the afternoon? Not sure as I wasn't there then!
You should get a message through Oriel with more info about what to bring to the interview :-)

Thanks! Haha - I don't expect anyone to give specific examples. I just was asking if people think it's worth spending lots of time revising or if the questions were very unpredictable?

In any event I wouldn't think it wise not to revise/study. But of course I wouldn't give specifics, after all our interviews might be entirely different. Getting a good night's sleep is probably the best advice I can give you. Best of luck!

Hey there - to those who have had their interviews.... I'm about to book train tickets for my interview and wondered how much time to give myself. Is the interview really 40 minutes? I was considering leaving myself 2-2.5 hours to complete the interview and get a taxi back to new street station. Is that enough/too much time? Also, when i booked my interview, I got an email to confirm and at the bottom it said "You will receive further information on the interview process directly from the recruitment lead in due course". Did anyone receive any additional information prior to interview, in addition to the usual bumph of address, time to arrive, documents to bring etc...? Finally - were the majority of questions unexpected? I'm just wondering how long to spend preparing myself and my answers. Based on what people have said about their interviews, I was going to focus on NHS policies and my personal experiences to demonstrate leadership, innovation etc, rather than trying to second guess the general science or specialism questions. Seem sensible? Thanks!!

Does anyone know how references happen, do they get those before they make job offers? And do they get references for reserves as well or just those getting jobs?

Referencing will be done by the hospital were trainees will be employed, so they will only be done after you have accepted an offer and your details have been past on to the NHS Trust.
They won't take references for reserves, unless it gets to the point where a reserve is offered a job.

Thank you very much! Could I ask how you know? I was just wondering whether this information is written somewhere and I have missed it

any suggestions as to where to stay in Birmingham near the stadium ? Hotels I mean

I stayed at the Ibis Bordesley Circus. It's about a mile and a half from new street train station and a 3min walk to the actual stadium for the interview. Was only £40 for the night. Basic but more than adequate and no stress getting there in the morning :-)