EP 42: How to Stay Focused in Your Consultant Interview
In this episode, Tessa Davis and Becky discuss practical strategies for succeeding in consultant interviews, with a focus on inclusivity and effective communication. They begin by addressing reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent candidates, emphasizing the legal basis for such adjustments and offering concrete steps—such as requesting extra time, receiving questions in advance, or having written copies—to create an environment where candidates can perform their best without stigma. The conversation then shifts to a "golden example" of a duty of candour scenario, illustrating how to frame a serious clinical error responsibly in an interview, highlighting the importance of describing the incident, the patient’s reaction, the investigation, learning outcomes, and the impact on patient experience. Next, they dissect a curveball interview question—"Which trust value is the least important?"—advising candidates to acknowledge the difficulty, avoid dismissing any value, and instead demonstrate thoughtful analysis and personal reflection. Finally, they present a simple yet powerful tip: bringing a blank sheet of paper and pen into the interview to jot quick notes, structure answers, and create a brief pause for mental organization, noting that this practice is generally acceptable and inclusive for all candidates. Throughout, the hosts stress preparation, self‑advocacy, and clear communication as keys to staying focused and performing well in consultant interviews.
Chapters
One thing that interview candidates can do to help keep them on track in their interview is to take in a blank piece of paper and a pen and jot down some notes before they answer the question.
In this episode, we are going to talk about reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent candidates, good duty of candor examples, and how to answer questions on trust values.
Okay, we're going to kick off with talking about question of the week. This is a question that one of our students has posed to us in the Academy. So this week we have a question, which is, I've read on lots of Facebook groups that neurodivergent doctors can ask for questions in advance as a reasonable adjustment. What do you think about this? I'm worried about the stigma of neurodiversity in medicine. This is something that we think about quite a lot, and we definitely talk about quite a lot in our coaching. What are your thoughts on this?
Yeah, I think this is key, and I would like to think that more and more panels are thinking about how to, first of all, make the interview process as inclusive as they possibly can for everyone. But also to recognise that some people do need reasonable adjustments, and that is actually, you know, reasonable adjustments, and that concept is enshrined in law, so it's actually something that we should be taking seriously. And several of our students ask about this, and also people have got some really terrible stories about times when they went for interviews And the process was just something that did not work for them, and it could have all been so different if some reasonable adjustments had been made. I think it's about thinking about what, what is actually going to make a difference to you and enable you to perform in the best way that you possibly can in the interview, and then just to be really clear about what it is you are asking the panel for. Is that a reasonable starting point?
I think so. Obviously, we've been talking about this a lot this week, Becky, because our coaches in the academy, we've all had our own coach training thinking about how to support our neurodivergent students as well. I think what you're bringing out is some of the themes we're discussing, which was it's knowing what would make it the best environment for you to have a a successful interview experience, and is there something that you could ask for that would help make that happen? Some of the things you can maybe impact or control yourself. Some of the things maybe the panel can. And that's where it comes to, would extra time help? Would it help if you were given the questions before? Would it help if the questions were written down, or whatever it is? But I think, yeah, you need to be clear what you want the outcome to be, as in, as far as what you're asking for, and that is something that will actually help you 'Cause there's no point asking for extra time if it's not going to help you. So, I would think carefully about what you're asking and what you're hoping to achieve. And then I definitely would not let stigma hold you back. This should make absolutely no difference to the panel's decision-making at all. And it's designed to help you, help support you to give your best interview.
And I think it's important to recognise that, you know, Whilst interview may not be the best medium for deciding who's the right person for the job, that is what it is.
The one we've got, yeah.
And so, it's not about saying, you know, there needs to be some other process other than that. It's about making that process as manageable as it possibly can be for you. I think there are various different things for different people. So, you know, for example, maybe for some people, Um, being able to read the question as well as hear it.
Yeah.
Might be helpful. So maybe it's about, you know, the panel just gives you each question, question by question, on a piece of paper as well as asking it to you. Um, for other people, it might be more about what happens in the few minutes immediately prior going in to going into the interview. Is it that you need somewhere really quiet to sit on your own, um, what, what would help you there? You know, because sometimes people are just stuck outside in the corridor ahead of the interview, and for some people that's— it's not pleasant, but it's manageable. And for other people, it's the difference between performing in the best way you can in an interview and completely destroying all chances of concentration before you even get in the room.
Mm-hmm.
Um, So, just really think through what it is you need and what will make an actual difference to you.
Okay. So, yeah. What do we think then about how to make this happen? I guess you would be talking to the HR contact. They will be the person who's invited you to interview. And so, they would be the person to ask and to help make the adjustments.
I think so. Yeah. Make contact with them ahead of the interview. You know, not the day before.
No, you need to— yeah, it needs to be reasonable.
As soon as you reasonably can after that invitation, once you've had time to think about it, then get in touch with them. I guess if you're an internal candidate, um, the panel chair may— you may well know them, and if you felt comfortable to do so, you could have a conversation with them around That, um, and just chat it through with them. Um, but I think really the message is, in 2026, it's acceptable to ask for reasonable adjustments, and so there shouldn't be a barrier around that.
Yep, agreed. Let's move on to our golden example of the week. This is an example that one of our students has suggested using. The one we've got today is an example for a time you did duty of candour. So, do you want to tell us what— take us through what we've got?
Yeah, so, I reviewed a patient in clinic who was listed for the excision of a suspected squamous cell carcinoma. He attended for follow-up a year later, and the excision had not been excised. When I looked into this, the lesion had never been listed for excision by the doctor who initially saw the patient.
Okay.
Zeke, what do you think?
That's not an ideal situation. First thing to say is, remember the difference between a mistake example and a duty of candour example. Mistake example, you want to be not a big deal. Duty of candour example should be a big deal because it's showcasing your skills at duty of candour, but not your mistake. So this, if you were the person who forgot to list this patient for their excision, lesion excision, would not be a good mistake example to share in an interview.
No.
Because it is a big deal. It's a year. After when they should have had it excised and haven't. Not ideal. So this would be a mistake with two significant consequences. It's likely to be some sort of SNI, I would guess, or some sort of significant investigation. So not a mistake. However, the way it is told here is not the person's mistake anyway. They're the person who's realized the mistake has happened, and they're going to be the person doing duty of candor. In which case, I think it's a good example. Because you're going to have to break some difficult news. I would not like to be on the receiving end of this news as a patient. So, they're going to be pretty upset, and you're going to be able to showcase your skills in duty of candour delivery. So, I think it's a really good example for duty of candour.
Yeah, I really like it. I think it's got all the ingredients we want, right? So, you can, you know, you've got to break the news. You can reflect a little bit on what it was like doing that. What was it like telling that patient that we hadn't excised the thing that really needed to go. What was their response? What have you learned from that? Then you can talk about, you know, how we investigated it, what was the learning, maybe we've got a new process now as a result of that. And then, you know, you can talk about how you fed back to the patient as part of closing the loop on the duty of candour and investigation process. It's got all of the ingredients that we want. As long as it wasn't you who forgot to list the patient.
Yes. And yeah, I think I agree. I think this could be really good. I think one of the ways that I can often, when I hear the duty of candor answers for people to improve, is that they can forget to say how the patient responded when you told them the news, because you're so focused on, these are the steps, and then I did this, and then we had an investigation, and then I did— actually, just pause. Like, you've told this person that you're supposed to excise their lesion a year ago. and we forgot to list them. What did they say? They were upset, they were shocked, they were just happy I was being so honest with them. Whatever it is, just say, because it shows that side of you appreciating the patient experience as well. It's not just bam, bam, bam, these are the steps of duty of candour, but actually, this is the impact on the patient, and this is what they said.
Yeah.
So, I think that's important to just, with the duty of candour, and also with the mistake, when you're explaining something to a family, Or a patient, what— how did they respond?
Absolutely. Yeah.
Okay, but we like this. We like this example.
We like it.
It's a good one.
Go for it.
Okay, next up we're going to look at an interview question to break down, and this question this week is, which trust value do you think is the least important? Um, so what do you think about this?
I mean, this is a trick question, right? Because it's not about saying, well, look, to be honest, accountability is—
Not that important.
It's not really that important. So I think, don't fall into the trap of saying, well, look, if we didn't have to bother with one of them, we could just leave that alone. I think it's got to be a sensible take on, you know, maybe which one's hardest to deliver, or, um, you know, which one, um, you find hardest to work into your practice. And then you've got a little bit of chance for some sort of vulnerability and ownership and showing your learning and things like that.
Yeah.
Um, but I think we can't also— don't, don't get into the realms of, um, you know, evaluating their trust values and giving your opinion on those.
Not helpful.
No.
I think also just acknowledging at the beginning, this is a hard question. You know, clearly your trust values, you know, the trust values have all been very carefully thought out, and they've probably spent a lot of money. I wouldn't say this, but they've probably spent a lot of money on various consulting fees to get these trust values right. So clearly the trust values are all extremely important, and I think you could say this is a really difficult question because they're all Great, they're all very thoughtful, and I know a lot of consideration's been gone into them.
Yeah.
But in the end, they are asking you to pick one, so you're gonna have to work out how to do it. And I think, yeah, this is hardest to deliver. If one other way I think we've had someone do it is if we took out this one, I don't know how to best phrase it, but essentially, if we took out this one, we'd still be delivering it if we still embodied the remaining 3 values kind of thing. So it's implied, like if you took out caring, but you were accountable and collaborative and evidence-based or whatever, you would still be delivering a caring service. Um, so yeah, I think it's a bit of an odd question, but they're— they know it's a— they know it's an odd question, and they're asking you to see what you're going to do when you're put on the spot.
I think acknowledge that, it, you know, that's fine. It's like the question that we evaluated a few weeks ago where we'd said, you know, if The trust values, if you had to describe the trust in 3 emojis, which one would it be?
Yes.
We particularly enjoyed that discussion. But, you know, it's an off-the-wall question, it's a curveball, and I think it's just fine to say that, oh, okay, that's a tricky question, let me just take a moment. And then actually just take a moment.
Yeah.
Think about what you're going to say and come out with something sensible. Don't start just Blirting because you feel nervous and under pressure.
Yeah, cool. So it's not the most common way this question comes up, but they— I do think recently they've been starting to put in a bit more like curveball type things. So yeah, expect the unexpected and just— you can do it. You're just trying to say something sensible and not dig a big hole for yourself. Well, I was just thinking that what you need to do is know and make sure you know the trust values as a baseline. So it should go without saying that you have to look up your trust values. Before you go into the interview, because you're going to feel very embarrassed if you don't know them here. Look them up, think about which one you embody the most, which is the most common type of question, and then think about what you would do if you were asked which was the least important or which you would get rid of. Okay, and then we're going to look at our tip and trick of the week. This week, we're going to look at taking a pen and paper into your interview. How do you feel about doing this, Becky?
I feel great about it, and I often, pretty much always, tell students that they can do this.
Yes.
I think, you know, blank piece of paper, not a whole page of notes, but I think it's a really, really great way of just keeping yourself on track. So, you know, we often tell people to use a bit of a pause after the panel's asked the question, for you to just collect your thoughts for a second. And, you know, just on that piece of paper, just write down 3 points that you're going to cover. It keeps you on track.
Yeah.
It means that if you say, I'm going to talk about this, this, and this, and then, you know, you get to the end of your second point and you can't remember what the third point was going to be, you can just glance down and pick up.
Yeah.
And I think the other thing it does is actively Makes you take that pause for a few seconds to collect your thoughts, write something down, so that you don't accidentally start speaking before you've engaged your brain.
Yeah, yeah. I think it's a good thing to do. I think it would be very rare that a panel would not want you to do it or not allow you to do it, 'cause there's not really a reason for them to say, don't do it. It should be helping you in your best interest. And so, it should be fine.
Yeah.
And if for some reason they said, no, you can't use one, then okay, you won't use it. But yeah, I mean, for me, when I go into an interview, I would do the same. You're going to be stressed, you're not going to remember. You want to just do what you can to help gather your thoughts and keep yourself on track. So, I think it's a really great, great strategy to help you stay focused and structured in your answers.
Yeah, I've never had anyone be told that they can't do it.
We did have— we— I was reminded this week that there was someone about 2 years ago, or 2 to 3 years ago, who was— who went in and said, can I use a pen? And is it okay if I just make a few notes? Um, and they said no. But that's the only time I've heard it. And I don't even to this day do not understand why they would have said no, because it's clearly going to stress out the candidate. Although she got the job, but, um, yeah, it's gonna stress them out. So But if you think of like all the thousands of people we've had doing interviews, that's like one in all of these people that have been told no. So it's really not likely. I don't think you need to ask beforehand for permission, um, because I just think it overcomplicates it. Just go in, and then before that first question, or whatever question you want to write notes on, you say, I'm just going to take a few seconds to think, make a couple of notes before I answer, if that's okay. I'm just really nervous. and I'm worried I'll forget it. I think that's fine. And then after that, I think—
Going back to our earlier conversation about neurodivergent, uh, interview candidates as well, um, that is often a strategy that people find useful in terms of just staying focused. Um, so, you know, really just think about if that, if that's something that applies to you Um, you know, whether you're neurodivergent or not. Um, I think that that is an inclusive and reasonable step that anyone could ask for in an interview.
I think so. So use it. You got it there. It's going to help you. Use it. Okay, great. I think we will wrap up there. Thank you, Becky. Lovely chatting to you as always, and we'll see you in the next episode.
Thank you.
