In this testimonial, Naomi (Speaker A) recounts her long‑standing difficulties with interview preparation for medical school, paediatrics training, and a grid training program. She describes feeling nervous, lacking a practice partner, and relying on superficial preparation methods such as writing answers on paper. After enrolling in a pocket‑coaching program with Becky, Naomi began a daily routine of recording herself answering interview questions and sending the videos for feedback. Initially she hated the process, but the consistent, constructive feedback—both positive and improvement‑focused—helped her become comfortable with the format, refine her answer structure, and showcase her experiences more effectively. The practice boosted her confidence, made her feel more prepared for subsequent interviews, and she concludes by strongly recommending the program as a worthwhile investment.
Chapters
I felt awful about interviews. Had an interview for medical school and peds training, and then from that point onwards hadn't had an interview for years and years and years. And then interviewed for grid training and, um, just, just really didn't do well. Found the, found the whole process really difficult. I wasn't particularly good at prep, and I think the way that I'd prepped prior to doing the Academy had been just by like thinking about answers to questions and writing them down. But I'd been too nervous to like ask anyone to practice with me or to do it out loud. So when I had my grid interviews, I don't think— even though I did get a grid post, I don't think I performed as well as I could do, and I don't think that I kind of, um, portrayed myself in the best way. I couldn't join a cohort for my substantive interview, there wasn't one running, so I did the pocket coaching with Becky for a week before, which I'm glad I did because again it kind of forced me to practice. I was on holiday, so I probably wouldn't have done any practice otherwise if I didn't have that kind of, you know, thinking, well, I've got somebody, you know, there for me, so I may as well make the most of it. I just tried to kind of think of practice questions and then would video myself and send them to her. As I said, I was on holiday at the beginning of it, So I hadn't really— up until that point, I hadn't done any, any more interview prep after the last interview. So it kind of just got me in the zone. Yeah. And then I realized that I was kind of giving myself quite easy ones. So I was thinking about questions, but I was maybe thinking about more kind of standard ones. So then I'd say to her, oh, you know, can you just send me some questions to, to answer? So, you know, it's a bit more kind of putting you on the spot rather than me thinking about, right, I'm going to answer, you know, what's my weakness, and I've practiced it. And then I had 2 30-minute calls with her, which we just ran as kind of mock interviews. Yeah, it was horrible at the beginning. Like, the first kind of couple of videos I submitted, I was, um, just hate— like, hated doing it. And I think you just get used to it. And, you know, everybody— all the feedback is really nice. You don't get anybody saying horrible things. Everybody gives you constructive feedback, you know, either, either good feedback or things that you can improve. So I actually got to the point where I was, you know, every day doing one and kind of enjoying— well, enjoying is maybe the wrong word, but— You said that you're enjoying it. Felt motivated to, you know, to do it and to see the feedback and to, you know, to kind of improve going on from there. So yeah. I would say I like— I really recommend it. I think it's money well spent. It's just a horrible feeling to go into an interview, and I've had this, you know, where you go in and you just don't feel like you're, you know, showing your best self and you're not showing what you're capable of. Um, so I think it's a really, just a really great way to kind of think of the examples, but also know, you know, how to structure your answers, how to show who you are, how to kind of showcase all the things that you've done. So yeah, I recommend it.
