It is not always necessary to interview face-to-face. Microsoft Teams is a suitable alternative to face-to-face interviews. The method of interviewing must be recorded when confirming the interview programme. Recruiting Managers wishing to use an alternative interview method should discuss these circumstances with their Recruitment Partner.

The Recruiting Manager should be accompanied by at least one other panel member for interviews, ensuring that they are of appropriate seniority, culturally diverse where possible and appropriately trained.

A Royal College representative should be on the panel when recruiting medical consultants. Please view the Consultant Procedure Guide for full information on recruitment of Consultants.

Prior to the interviews, the Recruiting Manager should coordinate and agree interview questions with other panel members in line with the Person Specification and Values Based Guidance. For roles 8a and above please see the Senior Appointment Guidance which provides a sample of questions to be used. The guidance is available from your Recruitment Partner .

As part of the interview process and where there is a requirement of the job role, Recruiting Managers may wish to incorporate assessment methods. Some example methods are listed below, however, this is not an exhaustive list

· Presentations: Particularly useful for posts, which may require strategic thinking, planning and presenting.

· Role play: This is a good way to test how an applicant behaves in a specific situation, for example, giving news to a patient or dealing with a difficult member of staff.

· Group exercises/Stakeholder event: This is a good way to test how an applicant interacts with others and handles tasks allocated.

· Practical: This is a good way to assess clinical skills.

· Written exercises: Practical test, which tests ability/skills, for example, mock typing or dictation tests.

Roles at 8a and above are required to have both an interview and another assessment method (as detailed above)

Recruiting Managers must be mindful of inclusivity and should ask candidates whether reasonable adjustments should be made to the assessment methods above or interview process generally where a candidate with a disability as defined under the Equality Act 2010 would be put at a disadvantage.

Recruiting Managers are also responsible for ensuring that interviews are conducted fairly and objectively and should coordinate the discussion on interview scoring methods and ensure they are agreed prior to the interview and applied consistently by all panel members.

All panel members should score each candidate independently and the panel must reach a consensus of opinion on the most appointable applicant for appointment. Scoring methods should be applied consistently. In order to improve diversity throughout the Trust and where the positive action provisions under Section 159 of the Equality Act 2010 apply, there may be occasions where two or more candidates are equally qualified and a recruitment or promotion decision is based on a candidate having a protected characteristic.