Consultant pre-interview visits – what to talk about?
Data gathered by the Royal College of Anaesthetists indicate that there are, on
average, 350 anaesthetic Advisory Appointment Committees (AACs) supported by the
College each year. The total number of consultant posts appointed to nationally will be
in excess of this as Foundation Trusts are not obliged to seek College representation
on their panels. In addition, some AACs cover more than one post. College records
indicate that 400-450 anaesthetists enter the Specialist Register each year via training
schemes, plus those who achieve ‘equivalence’ or move to the UK from overseas.
Supply and demand are, therefore, quite finely balanced so it is important to put
yourself in the best position possible to secure the job of your dreams!
An AAC is a legally constituted interview panel that must
include five core members or their representatives: a lay
member (usually the Chairman of the Trust or other Non-
Executive Director); a College Assessor; the Chief Executive of
the Trust; the Medical Director; and, a consultant representative
from the Trust, usually from the relevant specialty. AACs for
posts with research or teaching responsibilities will also have a
university representative.
Shortlisting for the post will be determined by your application
and sometimes CV. Once you have been shortlisted, you
need to put yourself in the best position possible for the day
of interview. You should be notified of the names of the panel
members when you are sent details of the interview. You
should expect to meet, or at the very least, have a telephone
conversation with the Chief Executive, Medical Director and
specialty consultant. Make contact with the Chairman or
Non-Executive Director but don’t be surprised if they decline
your offer to visit. The College assessor (there to advise on
your training and qualifications) and university representative
wouldn’t be expected to have an in-depth knowledge of the
post, so don’t arrange to meet them.
Pre-interview visits do not form part of the appointment process
but the panel will still get an impression of you when they meet,
so make sure it’s a good one. Do your homework about the
Trust and the department you want to join - there is nothing
worse than a candidate who has not researched the place they
want to work in for up to 30 years! Find out if the department
has had a recent peer review, ACSA visit or if the Trust has had
a CQC inspection recently. Get hold of the reports and skim
read them for salient points. Go onto the Trust website and
read any recent Trust Board papers. You can often pick up
topics to discuss with the Chief Executive or Medical Director
from those. The Board papers also will give an indication of the
Trust’s financial position, operational performance and quality
measures.
Pick up clues
Use the pre-interview visit to pick up clues for your interview.
When you meet, ask the Chief Executive about the wider Trust
strategy and how they see the Department of Anaesthesia
helping with that. Ask about their priorities for the organisation
and challenges they face. Speak to the Medical Director
about clinical matters - quality and safety performance and
involvement of the consultant body in quality improvement. The
specialty consultant (often the Clinical Director or Lead) is the
person to talk to about the job itself. Find out what you need to
know about rotas and the proposed job plan. Does it meet your
needs and is there anything in particular that they need from
the new appointee that you can talk about at interview? Finally,
when visiting the Trust, don’t waste the opportunity to call into
the department and see if there are any staff available you can
talk to, either prospective consultant colleagues or trainees, to
help give an insight into the culture of the department.
Julian Berlet
Consultant Anaesthetist
Divisional Medical Director
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust