NHS Clinical Scientist Recruitment
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Not flour, unless they've changed things since last year, you don't get any feedback on how you performed at interview.
Apparently they're opening up applications for a Bioinformatics (Genomics) stream soon 
Definitely going to apply, sounds interesting and I enjoyed the bit of bioinformatics I've done in my course...
Definitely going to apply, sounds interesting and I enjoyed the bit of bioinformatics I've done in my course...Original post by purple-girl
Apparently they're opening up applications for a Bioinformatics (Genomics) stream soon Definitely going to apply, sounds interesting and I enjoyed the bit of bioinformatics I've done in my course...
Definitely going to apply, sounds interesting and I enjoyed the bit of bioinformatics I've done in my course...That's interesting spam88, I was under the impression (not entirely sure why) that you got feedback immediately if rejected post interview, and feedback during induction if selected. Not so?
Original post by Not flour
That's interesting spam88, I was under the impression (not entirely sure why) that you got feedback immediately if rejected post interview, and feedback during induction if selected. Not so?
Original post by Not flour
That's interesting spam88, I was under the impression (not entirely sure why) that you got feedback immediately if rejected post interview, and feedback during induction if selected. Not so?
That's only true for the graduate management scheme, not the scientist training programme. For the stp we don't get any feedback either way, I think.
Original post by Jenny~
Thanks for the reply. Congratulations by the way <img src="images/smilies/smile.png" border="0" alt="" title="
" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" /> my god i really admire you waiting for 5 weeks. its crazy. i dont understand why it takes so long.. coz i guess not the same people are responsible in shortcutting for each specialty. i dont like not knowing what i'll do next year.. ;/
" smilieid="1" class="inlineimg" /> my god i really admire you waiting for 5 weeks. its crazy. i dont understand why it takes so long.. coz i guess not the same people are responsible in shortcutting for each specialty. i dont like not knowing what i'll do next year.. ;/<br />
Thanks
nothing to admire though, I literally had no choice haha! I'm sure you'll find out soon, don't worry Could someone tell me how the hell this works?! I'm doing an accrediated BMS degree but this looks more fabulous. I'd like to go into clinical micro but I would settle with biochem, serology and/or immunology/haematology.
Original post by anusuraj
has to w8 fo d results to confirm who did better.......
at wot time was ur interview? first station was okay....2nd station was prompting too much...however managed (i think)...3rd 1 just messed up with d ecg .was panicking there.. 4th was bit relaxing as it was general..... hw did u do urs?????
....at wot time was ur interview? first station was okay....2nd station was prompting too much...however managed (i think)...3rd 1 just messed up with d ecg .was panicking there.. 4th was bit relaxing as it was general..... hw did u do urs?????
Messed up the ECG also, not holding my breath even for a reserve place
Posted from TSR Mobile
With regard to those wondering about feedback:
You don't get any, whether you get the job or not. I've been trying to get on the scheme for years - I've never been turned down for an interview, but failed the interview 4 times (two of them were normal 'panel' style). I never got feedback from the speed dating interviews even though I asked (pleaded) a couple of times. This is due to the "sheer number of candidates".
Not to blow my own trumpet but my skills, qualifications are more than adequate for the job. hence being accepted for the scheme finally (my 5th go...) but I've just not been able to get that across. I realise that being good at interviews is part of the game, but I know of more than one candidate who has been successful at the interview then made a hash of the job and/or quit etc. How did they make it through the interview?! (I'm not butthurt, honest).
A colleague of mine was an interviewer on the medphys team & told me that it's a scoring system (very much like the application stage) where they mark you X out of Y for communication, knowledge etc. I believe that these scores are then totted up, I assume in a spreadsheet. where the top scorers get their first choice etc. The problem at the moment is that there would be simply no meaningful feedback to give candidates except for their score. That's better than nothing though, I suppose.
I encourage anyone who is unhappy about the system to write a short note to the appropriate group/body. I'm not sure what that is just yet, but I plan on doing it too even though I'm now on the scheme. As it stands good candidates are failing but not being given the help to see how or why they failed. I don't think that's a great thing for the wider Healthcare Scientist field.
You don't get any, whether you get the job or not. I've been trying to get on the scheme for years - I've never been turned down for an interview, but failed the interview 4 times (two of them were normal 'panel' style). I never got feedback from the speed dating interviews even though I asked (pleaded) a couple of times. This is due to the "sheer number of candidates".
Not to blow my own trumpet but my skills, qualifications are more than adequate for the job. hence being accepted for the scheme finally (my 5th go...) but I've just not been able to get that across. I realise that being good at interviews is part of the game, but I know of more than one candidate who has been successful at the interview then made a hash of the job and/or quit etc. How did they make it through the interview?! (I'm not butthurt, honest).
A colleague of mine was an interviewer on the medphys team & told me that it's a scoring system (very much like the application stage) where they mark you X out of Y for communication, knowledge etc. I believe that these scores are then totted up, I assume in a spreadsheet. where the top scorers get their first choice etc. The problem at the moment is that there would be simply no meaningful feedback to give candidates except for their score. That's better than nothing though, I suppose.
I encourage anyone who is unhappy about the system to write a short note to the appropriate group/body. I'm not sure what that is just yet, but I plan on doing it too even though I'm now on the scheme. As it stands good candidates are failing but not being given the help to see how or why they failed. I don't think that's a great thing for the wider Healthcare Scientist field.
I agree that the application system and interview style were flawed in terms of selecting the most appropriate candidates for the job. If you had 10 years previous clinical experience in a field related to the discipline applied for plus a related PhD and research experience and NHS experience and yet failed the logical reasoning aptitude test then you were not taken further....sense? I found the interview incredibly hard to understand and impossible to prepare for and I was immediately aware of the points system in place (the interviewers at the first station told me I was only awarded a point if I said the actual word in front of them!). I appreciate the scheme was attractive and there were around 40-50 candidates/place though once at interview this was more like 4 people/place available. Surely the NSHS can provide feedback, otherwise how do you improve for next time, if interested?! I haven't yet heard back though will ask for feedback either way - surely because of 'freedom of information' rubbish then you are entitled to know, even if only a score is available?
Original post by anusuraj
has to w8 fo d results to confirm who did better.......
at wot time was ur interview? first station was okay....2nd station was prompting too much...however managed (i think)...3rd 1 just messed up with d ecg .was panicking there.. 4th was bit relaxing as it was general..... hw did u do urs?????
....at wot time was ur interview? first station was okay....2nd station was prompting too much...however managed (i think)...3rd 1 just messed up with d ecg .was panicking there.. 4th was bit relaxing as it was general..... hw did u do urs?????
Haha I thought the 4th "relaxing one" was absolutely awful!! Don't know what it was but despite preparing my brain just wouldn't seem to let me produce a coherent answer...Would have preferred 4 specialism-specific stations to be honest!
Original post by _Tinks_
Haha I thought the 4th "relaxing one" was absolutely awful!! Don't know what it was but despite preparing my brain just wouldn't seem to let me produce a coherent answer...Would have preferred 4 specialism-specific stations to be honest!
wait wait n wait....no other options until the result is out
..... 
Righto. First off I'll point out that these are techniques used universally to pick the best candidates, and they've been proven to work (feel free to go find the papers). Interviewer colleagues have even said that about one in every four candidates clearly stand out at interview.
The NSHCS don't want you if you have 10 years experience. They want people they can mould themselves - they're looking for potential not qualifications. As has also been pointed out multiple times here before, the drop-out rate of the more experienced people is high and retention rate within the NHS is low. If you train someone who leaves, they're much less valuable than someone who spends 30 years working for you.
If you've got those qualifications and you can't pass a simple aptitude test - you're not who they're looking for. Its used as a VERY coarse filter so that they don't need to read 7000 applications for people who applied just because. They're also there because you need to be able to quickly assess/understand something using good intuition sometimes, and know the ballpark figures you're after.
The guidance to interviewers is minimal, there is no mark scheme. If they wanted you to say that word it was just who you had that day. Interview questions are meant to be blind and hard to prepare for otherwise what the hell is the point?
I suspect the only data held is a score - for both interview and essay questions. That's not going to be helpful to you.
Original post by Not flour
I agree that the application system and interview style were flawed in terms of selecting the most appropriate candidates for the job. If you had 10 years previous clinical experience in a field related to the discipline applied for plus a related PhD and research experience and NHS experience and yet failed the logical reasoning aptitude test then you were not taken further....sense?
The NSHCS don't want you if you have 10 years experience. They want people they can mould themselves - they're looking for potential not qualifications. As has also been pointed out multiple times here before, the drop-out rate of the more experienced people is high and retention rate within the NHS is low. If you train someone who leaves, they're much less valuable than someone who spends 30 years working for you.
If you've got those qualifications and you can't pass a simple aptitude test - you're not who they're looking for. Its used as a VERY coarse filter so that they don't need to read 7000 applications for people who applied just because. They're also there because you need to be able to quickly assess/understand something using good intuition sometimes, and know the ballpark figures you're after.
Original post by Not flour
I found the interview incredibly hard to understand and impossible to prepare for and I was immediately aware of the points system in place (the interviewers at the first station told me I was only awarded a point if I said the actual word in front of them!).
I found the interview incredibly hard to understand and impossible to prepare for and I was immediately aware of the points system in place (the interviewers at the first station told me I was only awarded a point if I said the actual word in front of them!).
The guidance to interviewers is minimal, there is no mark scheme. If they wanted you to say that word it was just who you had that day. Interview questions are meant to be blind and hard to prepare for otherwise what the hell is the point?
Original post by Not flour
I appreciate the scheme was attractive and there were around 40-50 candidates/place though once at interview this was more like 4 people/place available. Surely the NSHS can provide feedback, otherwise how do you improve for next time, if interested?! I haven't yet heard back though will ask for feedback either way - surely because of 'freedom of information' rubbish then you are entitled to know, even if only a score is available?
I appreciate the scheme was attractive and there were around 40-50 candidates/place though once at interview this was more like 4 people/place available. Surely the NSHS can provide feedback, otherwise how do you improve for next time, if interested?! I haven't yet heard back though will ask for feedback either way - surely because of 'freedom of information' rubbish then you are entitled to know, even if only a score is available?
I suspect the only data held is a score - for both interview and essay questions. That's not going to be helpful to you.
(edited 10 years ago)
While I think that asking for feedback is useless in a points-based system, I think that the NSHCS could be more transparent with their results.
I know that in Brazil a similar points-based system is used both for entry to university and for virtually all public jobs. A job is advertised and applicants apply and go through the recruitment process. Candidates will gain points (normally expressed as a percentage) and if there are 50 places, then the top 50 people will get the position - whether that's a job or a university place.
The main difference I can see between the Brazilian system and the system used in STP and other similar recruitment processes is that the results are transparent in Brazil. The results are published publically and you can see what your score is and where you came on the list.
An example of the results are here
Here you can see the person's position, name, applicant number, state applied from, score as a percentage (94,5 is 94.5%). So you'd know that there were 20 places, for example, and everyone from 1-20 would have a place.
I'd be much happier if results were posted this way than through an email, but it's just personal preference I guess.
I had the interview for audiology today. Impossible to tell really how it went. I was a bit thrown by the process though. I'm assuming it's changed since a couple of years ago. During the open day we were told that they take into consideration your background in asking the questions, and if you can't answer they want you to be honest and give something that shows what you do know about something related and it's more about your thought process in the answer. Whereas today it seemed like there are set questions and a couple of the interviewers were pretty insistent that I answer. Even though I was honest and said I have never come across what they were asking and spoke about a relevant aspect I did know about, they focused on the original question.
On the whole though I found it to be quite enjoyable and interesting. I preferred it to the typical competency based interviews that I'm used to (Tell us about a time you've experience great customer service).
But yes, the one thing I would have like to see was transparency in results. If scores from the application essay answers are used, then they could publish people's scores after those are tallied before the interviews. That way people would know where they are in the standing for the position before the interview, then publish the final scores after interview so people can see their final position.
Good luck all the audiology folk, and everyone in general waiting to hear.
I know that in Brazil a similar points-based system is used both for entry to university and for virtually all public jobs. A job is advertised and applicants apply and go through the recruitment process. Candidates will gain points (normally expressed as a percentage) and if there are 50 places, then the top 50 people will get the position - whether that's a job or a university place.
The main difference I can see between the Brazilian system and the system used in STP and other similar recruitment processes is that the results are transparent in Brazil. The results are published publically and you can see what your score is and where you came on the list.
An example of the results are here
Here you can see the person's position, name, applicant number, state applied from, score as a percentage (94,5 is 94.5%). So you'd know that there were 20 places, for example, and everyone from 1-20 would have a place.
I'd be much happier if results were posted this way than through an email, but it's just personal preference I guess.
I had the interview for audiology today. Impossible to tell really how it went. I was a bit thrown by the process though. I'm assuming it's changed since a couple of years ago. During the open day we were told that they take into consideration your background in asking the questions, and if you can't answer they want you to be honest and give something that shows what you do know about something related and it's more about your thought process in the answer. Whereas today it seemed like there are set questions and a couple of the interviewers were pretty insistent that I answer. Even though I was honest and said I have never come across what they were asking and spoke about a relevant aspect I did know about, they focused on the original question.
On the whole though I found it to be quite enjoyable and interesting. I preferred it to the typical competency based interviews that I'm used to (Tell us about a time you've experience great customer service).
But yes, the one thing I would have like to see was transparency in results. If scores from the application essay answers are used, then they could publish people's scores after those are tallied before the interviews. That way people would know where they are in the standing for the position before the interview, then publish the final scores after interview so people can see their final position.
Good luck all the audiology folk, and everyone in general waiting to hear.
(edited 10 years ago)
From the NSHCS:
We received over 8,000 applications competing for 221 posts. For the first time this year we
are recruiting for clinical pharmaceutical science, reconstructive science and critical care
science. During the summer we will run a separate process to recruit to the new clinical
bioinformatics in genomics training programme.
We received over 8,000 applications competing for 221 posts. For the first time this year we
are recruiting for clinical pharmaceutical science, reconstructive science and critical care
science. During the summer we will run a separate process to recruit to the new clinical
bioinformatics in genomics training programme.
Original post by Quixeh
From the NSHCS:
We received over 8,000 applications competing for 221 posts. For the first time this year we
are recruiting for clinical pharmaceutical science, reconstructive science and critical care
science. During the summer we will run a separate process to recruit to the new clinical
bioinformatics in genomics training programme.
We received over 8,000 applications competing for 221 posts. For the first time this year we
are recruiting for clinical pharmaceutical science, reconstructive science and critical care
science. During the summer we will run a separate process to recruit to the new clinical
bioinformatics in genomics training programme.
Nice to see lots of variety in the programme. Means that money is being invested in these areas which is a great thing. Much better than what I can say for NHS Scotland's Healthcare Scientist scheme. Nine whole posts between cardiac physiology and gastrointestinal physiology and medical physics and bioegineering! Wowee
Too bad my degree is in speech and language pathology and is really only relevant to one of the specialisms - audiology.
[h="5"]NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme
[/h][h="5"]More STP News - new roles to be advertised
Advert will appear on 10th May in New Scientist on-line & paper versions and we will open for applications on that date too.
Closing date is 11am on 27th May & you must complete your on-line tests by 10am on the 28th May 2013.
As usual we strongly urge you to finish your application & tests BEFORE these deadlines to avoid the disappointment if missing the deadline due to issues with your application.
Trainee Healthcare Scientists in Clinical Bioinformatics – Genomics
who else is applying for this ???
[/h]
[/h][h="5"]More STP News - new roles to be advertised
Advert will appear on 10th May in New Scientist on-line & paper versions and we will open for applications on that date too.
Closing date is 11am on 27th May & you must complete your on-line tests by 10am on the 28th May 2013.
As usual we strongly urge you to finish your application & tests BEFORE these deadlines to avoid the disappointment if missing the deadline due to issues with your application.
Trainee Healthcare Scientists in Clinical Bioinformatics – Genomics
who else is applying for this ???
[/h]
Original post by jason25
[h="5"]NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme
[/h][h="5"]More STP News - new roles to be advertised
Advert will appear on 10th May in New Scientist on-line & paper versions and we will open for applications on that date too.
Closing date is 11am on 27th May & you must complete your on-line tests by 10am on the 28th May 2013.
As usual we strongly urge you to finish your application & tests BEFORE these deadlines to avoid the disappointment if missing the deadline due to issues with your application.
Trainee Healthcare Scientists in Clinical Bioinformatics – Genomics
who else is applying for this ???
[/h]
[/h][h="5"]More STP News - new roles to be advertised
Advert will appear on 10th May in New Scientist on-line & paper versions and we will open for applications on that date too.
Closing date is 11am on 27th May & you must complete your on-line tests by 10am on the 28th May 2013.
As usual we strongly urge you to finish your application & tests BEFORE these deadlines to avoid the disappointment if missing the deadline due to issues with your application.
Trainee Healthcare Scientists in Clinical Bioinformatics – Genomics
who else is applying for this ???
[/h]
Very tempted to apply, and the interviews are after my results so if I end up getting that far I can drop out if I get a 2:2
From Facebook:
STP interview Results Update
We hope to start sharing the interview results for Haematology and Transfusion Science, Clinical Immunology, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, Genetics and Microbiology with you week commencing 13th May. Thanks for your patience. That is all the informaiton we have at the moment
STP interview Results Update
We hope to start sharing the interview results for Haematology and Transfusion Science, Clinical Immunology, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, Genetics and Microbiology with you week commencing 13th May. Thanks for your patience. That is all the informaiton we have at the moment
Thanks for the update Jenny. I haven't saved the interview schedule and it now seems to no longer be available via the NHS website (its been updated with the newly advertised bioinformatics and genomics info). Are the specialisms being informed on next week those which were interviewed for first? I interviewed for reproductive science in the first week (non physics specialisms) and there doesn't appear to be any information yet.....Going insane! 
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