The first comment on my blog today was from Vicky Rogers, Hi Vicky!
She got me thinking about interviews, it’s such a source of stress, I will never forget mine, I was on total autopilot, but I had prepared, and was ready for them! I started badly, due to nerves, but once I got into my stride everything went ok. They know you’re going to be nervous, and they will explain some stuff to you first to give you time to compose yourself and calm down.
I don’t think there’s a huge amount of variety in the kinds of questions interviewers ask, you can expect things like
Why are you interested in being a midwife?
What is the role of a midwife?
What direct experience do you have of working with or supporting women (or adults), in a maternity (or other) setting?
What strengths do you have which will help you in your role as a midwife?
What weaknesses do you have which you think you will need to overcome/work on?
What do you think will be the biggest challenge in taking on the midwifery course?
What kind of family support/childcare do you have?
What is the last thing you read about midwifery? What is the NMC and what do they do?
What do you think will be the best thing about being a midwife?
And the worst thing?
What skills do you have from previous jobs/school/work experience that you can bring with you?
Why do you think you would be a good midwife?
I hope that’s helpful, I have some more stuff to say in another post, but it’s not rocket science, have an idea in advance of the stuff you want to get across in the interview, make a list of your key skills, and key experiences, and be ready to talk about those whenever they give you an opening.
Do some research on the NMC Code and Rules, start here:
http://www.nmc-uk.org/Nurses-and-midwives/The-code/The-code-in-full/
http://www.nmc-uk.org/Publications/Standards/
Once you’re on the course, you will live and die by these two documents, they are the foundation stone for everything we do as midwives.
Image via Wikipedia
Google a piece of news about midwifery, and have a think about why it’s important.
The interview is your opportunity to shine, know what you want to say, and take any chance to say it. You need to get across your passion for midwifery.Remember, they’ve selected your application out of hundreds, because they think you may have the stuff they are looking for, that’s already a huge step.
When you’re waiting to go in, remember to BREATHE! In and out, long slow breaths, if you’ve ever done any meditation or yoga, now is the time to practice those skills. You need that oxygen to keep your brain functioning! (lol)
Good luck to Vicky, I hope it all goes really well! 🙂
becomingastudentmidwife 