2026-11-01
Notes: Preparing for Interviews
Here are some thoughts on interviews, with a focus on preparing for applications to medical specialty training programmes. The examples are based on public health, because thats what I know. This is what has worked for me, but take it with a pinch of salt — your mileage may vary! Regardless, I think it is important to think systematically about your approach to an interview. Carefully consider what the interviewer is looking for, and what you want to communicate in return, when preparing your answers.
It’s not an interview — it’s an exam. There is a right answer to every question! The game is to develop the right answer ahead of time to the questions you know you will be asked, and be able to present those answers during the interview. Here’s how to do this.
Make your interviewer’s life easy. Make sure your answers are well-structured, well-reasoned, and easy to follow. Give something a little different, something memorable. Be someone they would want to have working for them. Demonstrate the skills in your answers as you describe them (attention to detail, good communication skills, strong work ethic etc.)
Talk about the pull factors of the job, not the push factors of everything else. They want someone who wants this job, not just someone who doesn’t want any other job. You want to work in public health because you want to address the upstream causes of poor health, not because you don’t like seeing patients.
Keep it personal and relevant to you and the job, not vague, generic answers. Make sure your answers are specific and your logic is strong. If your answer could also be used by someone applying for a different specialty, then it’s not as good as it could be. You want to work in public health because you’re interested in society-wide interventions, not because you like doing research. Even if the question is more general (what are your strengths), try and engineer an answer that is specific to your specialty. Then, you can give a reflection on why this answer (this strength, weakness, etc.) is what brought you to your interest in your specialty.
Learn your answers. Practice saying them out loud, again and again, until they roll off the tongue. It helps if you have someone to prepare with, as you can give constructive criticism to each other and refine your answers together.
Prepare for a curveball question. Every question can be boiled down to one of: Why are you right for this job, or, why is this job right for you. Decide which one the question is, and tailor a prepared answer with a prepared anecdote and reflection to it.
List all of the questions you can imagine being asked by the examiner. I’ve included some classic questions below, but you might be able to think of some questions that are specific to your specialty as well.
List all of the things you want to tell the examiner about. You’re going to use these as evidence for your answers. Use things that will set you aside from the rest of the crowd, such an any achievements, awards, scholarships, particularly exciting pieces of work, and projects you’ve done that are relevant to the speciality. Decide what it is about you that they want to remember you. If the interviewer was to refer to you in a colleague, how would they do that? Figure out what you want to drive home, and make sure you build it into your answers.
Finally, take the person specification and pull out all of the qualities that are listed.
Answer the question. Make sure you answer the question in your first sentence. Don’t start on a tangent and try to circle back to the answer later. You’ll have lost the interviewer by the time you actually get to the answer.
Follow a clear structure. Make your interviewer’s life easier, and follow a clear structure in your answers. It lets them follow your reasoning more clearly, and it shows that you’ve put the work in and properly prepared. I’ve included two common structures below (STAR and SPIES). Find one that works for you.
Hit the person specification. Your interviewer will have a list of positive and negative indicators on their marking scheme for this question, and usually, most of these will come directly from the person specification. Use the person spec to think about what the interviewer will want to hear and want to avoid, and structure your answer so that you hit as many positive indicators as possible and don’t hit any negative indicators. This is how you make sure your answer is the “right” one. If you don’t bear the person specification in mind, you won’t maximise your score.
Give evidence for your answer. Give weight to your answer by backing it up with something from your list. If you’re telling the interviewer that you want to do public health because of your interest in the social determinants of health, then back this up with an anecdote about how you worked closely with the social worker on your ward on a particular case and saw first hand how ill health can result from poor social circumstances.
Explain the relevance. Show how your answer makes you the right candidate for the job. Show that you’ve done your research and you know what the day-to-day work is like. Explain how your answer and evidence relate to the work.
Summarise and reflect. Don’t let yourself just trail off. Make sure that you know how your answer is going to end. Signpost that you’ve finished talking by recapping your answer, and clearly end your answer.
What are your strengths?
I’m someone who has excellent time management skills. Let me tell you about a time that I demonstrated this, and why this would make me a good registrar in public health. Last year, I led a group of junior doctors working on a research project on out-of-hour admissions in our hospital. I had to balance my day-to-day work as an SHO with this project, leading the team and ensuring the work was done to the highest possible standard. I know that public health is a specialty where I’ll be managing multiple projects at the same time, so balancing priorities and committments is an important skill here. In summary, my ability to organise my time and prioritise my work makes me a strong candidate for the training scheme.
Background and motivation question (CAMP)
Tell us about a time that you…(STARR)
Tell us what you would do if… (SPINES)