Ep 6: Why “Being A Good Team Player” Isn’t Enough For Your NHS Consultant Interview

Welcome to the Asia Consulting Interview Academy podcast. I'm very excited to be back with you, Becky, and looking forward to chatting some more about some interview questions that have come up from our students and examples and so on. And the first thing that we're going to start with is our student question of the week. So our question this week is, can I use being a good team player as one of my unique selling points?

We always ask people to identify what their unique selling points are, right? Because actually that's going to be the basis of, you know, your interview prep and the way that you use specific examples in answering your questions. And so we hope that people will have a good range and breadth on those. If we think about being a good team player and whether that is a unique selling point, I suppose the first thing to say is I think we would expect anyone who's going for a consultant interview or, you know, anyone that's working in, you know, a high level in the NHS to be a good team player. I hope we would anyway. And I also think that most people would think that they are. So actually being a good team player is absolutely a selling point that we want you to be able to demonstrate, but just Saying that is not enough. What we actually want you to be able to, to do is to demonstrate that you are a good team player. So we want there to be some objective evidence of that rather than just you telling the panel, I'm a great team player. So show them some specifics that's going to persuade them rather than just telling them. So maybe you've done some amazing project where you demonstrated team working skills and you've come to a fantastic outcome that's transformed a patient care pathway in your trust. I think that that's the kind of thing that's likely to demonstrate that you've got team working skills rather than just telling them, and then you won't even need to tell them. It'll be really obvious once you start describing this project That by— in order to achieve this, you must have been a great team player.

Yeah, so you don't need to add the bit on the end where people go, so that demonstrates that I'm a good team player, because it doesn't need to be said. And it's much— it's just been very clearly demonstrated, and it's much, much stronger to do it that way. We always push people not to use personality traits, hey, as their— as one of their unique selling points.

Yeah, absolutely. So, so we— yeah, again, we would expect you to have multiple personality traits that we'd like to think all doctors have got, you know, compassion, kindness, great communication skills. But we really hope that you don't have to just tell the panel that. They will get it from all of the other amazing things that you say that are much more specific, that show how kind you are, how supportive, how motivating, and all, all of the other things that we want you to be.

Okay, so next we're going to look at our golden example of the week. So this is an example that one of our students has given us. And the example this week is for the question, tell me about a time you worked well in an MDT. So what example have we got this week, Becky?

Okay, so this is somebody who's been involved in a preterm optimisation group. So this is a group that involves their neonatal colleagues, nurses, theatre team, midwives, And what they've focused on is increased rates of optimal cord management and normothermia for preterm babies through MDT videos. So what they've done is made a selection of videos, some simulation, some visual prompts, and they've done, you know, a kind of a series of SMART objectives throughout this project, and they've clearly got Great outcomes in terms of optimising preterm neonates.

Yeah, I mean, what's not to love with this? This is a great example. This should be one of their USPs. If it's not, it should be, because it's a strong project. It's got lots of good specifics. It's got all the elements of senior-level thinking in it as well. So it's really good to be able to use this as your example of working well in an MDT. And if you contrast that to say they're in neonates, so say they talk about a baby that was born that was very sick, and they managed the team well, managed to intubate, and they worked with the midwives and the whatevers, then that's also MDT working, but it's a totally different league of MDT working than a broader project. And that's the benefit of using this as a project example versus a case example. Because we know they can intubate a baby and lead a good resus case because that's their job. But this shows something else, and it shows what you want to demonstrate in a consultant interview. So, what I would do with this example is to then think about themes of MDT working and draw them out a bit more. So, why did this team work well? Well, we had a shared vision, we had regular meetings, we had clear goals, we valued everyone's skill set or whatever, and just try and pull out a few themes of why it worked well in an MDT, and then you can frame that around your project. So, that way, you talk about your USP, but also, you're clearly answering their question about MDT working in a very specific way. So, I think that's fab. Great example.

Absolutely love it. Yeah, great example.

Okay, so then next, we've got the interview question to talk about this week. And the interview question that we've got is, how would you boost staff morale?

Oh, okay, right. So, so this, this is a good question. It allows you to think about multiple different aspects of your role as a consultant. And, you know, to think about all of the things that you do, you know, on a day-to-day basis when you're, you know, working on the shop floor, and also to maybe give some examples of kind of that senior-level process and system thinking that we want you to be able to demonstrate in the interview. So, I guess I would probably think about something to do with supporting people to do their work. And I actually think that when we're thinking about morale, a lot of the reason that morale is sometimes low is because actually people are not able to do the job that they really want to do. Most people come to work to do a good job, right? And that's what they want to do. And sometimes it feels like there are so many barriers in the way to us doing that, You know, we're prevented from doing it. So I think it's good to actually think about, you know, what do you do day to day to enable your team to get on with delivering good care? So there may be some leadership things that you do, there may be some processes that you've put in place to remove barriers. You may have done a project that smooths out a pathway to make things much easier. for people to get things right for patients without jumping through multiple hoops and having to navigate problems every step of the way. I think there's also something in here about supporting personal development for your trainees. People want to feel like they're making progress in their job. So what do you do to support that? Maybe you do some kind of regular teaching. Maybe you've got a method of getting your trainees involved with a research or QI project. Maybe you've coached somebody to deliver a great conference presentation and that's been a real career CV boost for them. I think it's really great to have just a nice selection of ideas. What else would you put in there, Tessa?

Well, I think the easiest thing to get But kind of caught into is, well, you would have nice social events, or you have, you know, give everyone cake. And so, it's easy to get in the specific things that make people's day a little bit brighter, but the contrast between that and the kind of things you're talking about is actually quite significant. And so, it's, yes, these things are good. I'm not saying they aren't good things to boost staff morale. They definitely play a part. But on the other side is a much bigger picture thinking, which is, are people feeling valued? Are we recognizing their skill set? Are we thinking about their career development and sustainability, what they need in the role that they're in just now? These are all extremely important. And so, it's fine to have— it's the balance, like you say. It's fine to have a little bit of, well, we have tea time together, and we all sit and have a cup of tea and some chocolate. But also, That you have to think about the more significant elements of staff morale and the reasons, exactly what you said, the reasons behind why morale is low. It isn't because you're not having enough social events, it's a much bigger picture thing.

Yeah. And I think also, think about what's it like to work in the health service at the minute? It's no picnic, really, is it?

No, it's not easy.

And actually, you know, when you— when your team is going through a series of stressful events or, you know, some, you know, particular difficult circumstances, then actually, you know, thinking about how do we help the team to navigate that, you know, how do we address team morale and support our staff after significant events. So, you know, for example, you might talk about— a debriefing programme that you have and demonstrate a way that that has boosted morale for your team. You know, how, you know, that is something that allows people to continue to do the jobs that they do day to day. And I think, you know, as you say, that those things that have a much bigger, more lasting, and more measurable impact than the kind of social things which are important, But it shouldn't form the whole basis of your answer in this question.

The final thing that we're going to talk about is our tip and trick of the week. And this week, the tip and trick we wanted to focus on was thinking about how you identify your unique selling points, because we talk a lot about use one of your USPs, make sure you know your USPs, but it's maybe easier said than done. So how can people start to identify their USPs?

So I think the first thing to say is everyone's got some. Um, often people, you know, I'll get on a call with somebody and they'll say, I don't think I've got any USPs.

Yeah.

Um, and I've never met anyone who, who we can't identify at least 5 USPs for. So, so fear not, you definitely have got some. Um, and I think the, the other thing to say is they don't have to be absolutely unique. Um, you know, you don't have to be the only person in the world who's done this, uh, and you don't have to have won a Nobel Prize for it. But what we want you to be able to do is to demonstrate that got, you know, some projects, some service improvement things that you've done, or an audit that's made a difference, and for you to describe it in a way that showcases your skills, you know, things that you brought to the table in order to be able to make that work, or things that you learned as a result, and for you to be able to demonstrate outcomes. So, so as we talked about earlier, Don't think necessarily about character traits. Don't, don't think about, you know, I'm a great team player. Think, think about, okay, what project have I done that really did demonstrate my ability to work in a team? And then, you know, you can use that as one of your USPs. So the, the MDT working example that we just talked about earlier, this is a great USP because you can use this to describe all of the steps that that came into play when you were making that happen, and it's got some measurable outcomes. That's the kind of thing we want for USP.

Yep, and it takes time to think through them, but it's so important to do this stage because this is like the core of your whole interview. Once you know your 5 USPs, that's what you want to get out. That's your priority list for what you want to get out in your interview. You don't want to have left your interview without— your interview room without having said them. Otherwise, you'll be kicking yourself. And so, you can get these in, in answer to whatever question you can. Try, always try, we always say, as your first thing, can you bring in one of your USPs to answer the question? And so, this step must not be missed. It's difficult, but it's worth it. Once you've got them, you're going to feel— I think what we notice, or what I feel, is that people's confidence boosts when they recognize what their USPs are. Because that feeling, like you mentioned, where they're like, there's nothing special about me, I'm just the same as everyone else, I've just done audit, same as— Same as everyone else. everyone else has done. But then when we actually draw out their USPs and they understand why they're choosing them by bringing in the specifics, then suddenly it's a different picture. Because you start to know, like, yeah, I get what I'm bringing to the team, and I feel good talking about this. So I think it makes a massive difference.

Yeah. And look, if you think about this MDT working example that we just used, actually, there are multiple different aspects to that. And with any good USP, you will have multiple angles that you can pick up on for your interview. So, so this, with the MDT working, there's a, you know, there's a USP that, that demonstrates multidisciplinary team working. But this USP could also demonstrate multiple other things. So, you know, you could use it to answer a question about change management. You could use it to answer a question about You know, how we engage stakeholders, you know, how we teach people to, you know, do something different, how we embed new evidence. Because there are, you know, vast amount of facets to it that you can just draw out. And that's the key, just have a really deep understanding of all the steps and outcomes that are relevant to this particular USP.

Great. Okay. I think we'll wrap up this week's podcast there. Thank you very much, Becky. And we will chat again next week. And next week, one of the things we're going to look at is what to do when you have more than one job coming up at the same time, more than one interview, and how to kind of navigate that between the different groups of people and how to avoid upsetting everyone as a result. So, look forward to chatting to you then.

See you then.