Are you worried You might get a question about COVID-19
in your next doctor job interview.
Well, watch this video for some tips on how to
stand out.
If you do
Hi there, I'm Dr Anthony Llewellynand I'm the career doctor and
I'm here on YouTube to help you manage your medical
career.
Now, oftentimes topical subjects will be used as the premise
for an interview question and what could be more topical
in 2020, particularly in medicine than the Carone of ours.
In fact, I've already had some of my coaching clients.
That's the ones that seek me out to work one
on one with me, for things like interview, practice and
preparation, have a question about COVID in their interviews.
So I want you to be prepared for this particular
situation.
So what I'm going to do is first talk about
the situations where this topic might arise in the interview.
And I'm also going to talk about how you can
best handle those particular situations.
And finally, I'm going to finish by showing you how
you can take advantage of a topical issue like COVID-19
to really stand out in the job interview.
So stick around for that bit at the end.
So how am I COVID-19 come up in your job
interview Well, I think there are three main ways that
it can come up to these will be pretty obvious.
And the other not sorry in the job interview first
way, how has COVID-19 affected you I am predicting that
this is the most likely way that you will confront
covert in your job interview.
In fact, I've even already heard cloths reporting back to
me that this is a question that they've had from
early interviews this year.
So a couple of points here, firstly, I think with
any job interview process, it's worth reflecting, what might be
the carrot or topical issues happening in your industry right
now, before going into your interview, because they may often
be a subject of a question as they provide an
opportunity to introduce a new question that candidates have not
experienced in previous years.
So you can't go from the previous questions now, obviously
COVID-19 is the hot topical issue for 2020.
So you should be able to provide some examples of
how it has had an impact on you.
The second key point here though, is that this type
of question invites you to present a fairly selfish and
negative answer.
And that's a trap it's vital for any job interview
that you try to keep your responses positive as much
as possible.
So whilst you may well, truly have had your career
and life significantly impacted you to covert.
Try not to make this, the focus of your response
instead, think about the opportunities that may have been presented
to you because of the coronavirus.
Maybe you had the opportunity to learn a new skill
like telehealth, or maybe you're invited to lead a project,
say to get your team better prepared for COVID or
maybe you had to get involved in cross hospital networks
and meet with other people and establish networks with other
professionals that you would not ordinarily have done.
And maybe that'll help you in the future.
Just had to step up because other staff were reallocated
from your space for a while, give a positive angle
to this.
You can show that you always seek the silver lining
yeah.
In a situation.
And perhaps also reflect on what you've observed in terms
of the impact of COVID on those you've been treating.
Now, many of our patients will have likely lost their
jobs or being very impacted by COVID-19 reflect back to
the panel that despite all the faults that medicine can
be presenting as a career and let's agree their R
and D several faults, at least we have jobs and
job opportunities.
Second area.
What are your thoughts about insert COVID related issue here
Now I suspect that some of you might also confront
a question about COVID, which is a bit more specific
and asking your thoughts on it.
For example, perhaps if you're a surgical doctor, you might
be asked to comment on whether the delay in elective
theater, operations to cope with preparing for COVID-19 was justified
or not.
I think once again, here, it's important to be up
to date with how the medical community has been responding
to COVID-19.
I have read some of the statements that have been
made by your particular specialty.
This is important as it enables you to demonstrate professionalism
by reflecting on the common wisdom of your specialty, rather
than just talking for yourself.
It's also important to have a balanced perspective on whatever
this topical question is about.
Generally, the panel is looking for you to identify some
key points, as well as some pros and cons of
a particular position.
Again, think about medicine's role and position in society.
Doctors expect to be listened to by the public and
politicians when we speak.
And generally we, I have been in this particular situation
with this privilege also comes responsibility.
Number three, the hidden COVID-19 question.
Now, finally, there's a situation where you need to be
thinking about COVID in the interview, but you may not
recognize that this is the case.
Often in a doctor job interview, there will be a
hypothetical clinical scenario where you're asked to deal with a
certain situation or talk about your process for it.
And normally it's a situation where the patient's condition is
worsening and you need to deal with it and also
seek some additional help.
I recommend that when you practice these types of questions,
that I'm hoping that you do practice for your interview,
that you do so incorporating COVID-19 precautions into your normal
approach.
So this would include things like stating that you would
check if the patient was COVID-19 positive and check, if
there was any perceived risk of COVID-19, as well as
adopt the recommended precautions at the time.
And also think about additional measures that you might need
to take for particular examinations or procedures where exposure is
for you and the patient might be high.
So that's the three situations in which a question about
COVID-19 might just crop up in your job interview this
year.
Now a reminder, if you need help with preparing for
the doctor job interview, we have a handy question bank
along with a guide to video interviews available, as well
as our workshop that's currently running and I'll leave links
to all of those in the description below.
Finally, I did promise you a tip on how you
can really shine in relation to COVID-19 at your job
interview.
That tip is actually something that I touched on a
little bit earlier, but let me expand on it further.
Talking about COVID-19 is an opportunity for you to keep
the interview on a positive note when it's likely that
other candidates will fall into the trap of talking negatively
about the impact of COVID-19 on themselves, the hospitals, et
cetera.
I recommend having at least one example of your sleeve
of how COVID-19 has allowed you to grow in some
way or show the best part of you, as well
as some sort of observation about the impact of the
COVID-19 virus on the broader community and how you have
recognized this in your day to day practice with patients.
If you do that at your interview.
And if I was on the interview panel, I would
want you on my team because I would understand that
you are truly a doctor who believes in the humanity
of medicine and believes in working according to certain values
and seeks out hospitals and teams with similar value based
cultures.
So on that note and tip, stay safe, subscribe and
turn on notifications.
And I will see you in the next video bye
for now.