The Oxford Medical Comprehensive Q and A on the Consultant Pre short listing Visit
What is a Pre Short listing Visit?
The pre short listing visit is when a prospectiveapplicant for an advertised consultant position visits a department and hospital. This occurs after the job has been advertised but before the closing date for applications. The candidate has therefore not applied for the position and currently is not short listed for interview.
What is the purpose of a pre-short listing visit?
The purpose is purely for you to make your mind up if you would like to apply for the job.
Why would I want to go on a pre short listing visit?
There will be occasions where candidates have trained in a different geographical area and subsequently have no experience or
exposure to the trust with the advertised consultant position. You may be unsure as to what the trust has to offer, the level of services that it provides and other factors such as the geographical location, schooling and future career opportunities.
I am on call and busy and cannot get the time off for a pre short listing visit what should I do?
Clinical Directors interpret pre short listing visits differently. On one side of the coin there are those who want candidates to show an early interest in the advertised position. They encourage pre short listing visits and welcome the opportunity to show what a great department and trust they work in to prospective colleagues. Due to working patterns they are aware that not everyone can make the time to visit and would welcome telephone contact instead so that they can provide you with the information that you need. It also doesn’t go unnoticed and a mental note of your enthusiasm in taken in preparation for the short listing process. Not showing an interest at all does not impress this type of clinical director.
On the other side of the coin some clinical directors are too busy and have too many applicants to accommodate in a short time period. They can take the stance to refuse all pre short listing visits. Our advice is to phone the clinical director or nominated point of contact (in the job description) to at least discuss the position and department over the telephone. Based on the outcome of this discussion you will have already have demonstrated your enthusiasm and interest for the post and can either leave it there or arrange to have a look around.
This will depend on the outcome of your conversation.
Who might you want to arrange to see?
At a maximum this would be the clinical director, the operations manager for that division and maybe one or two consultant colleagues who you might run into whilst in the department or coffee room.
What are reasonable questions to ask?
This really depends on how much information you already have about the department and trust. You should not attend a pre short
listing visit without having done some back ground reading. The questions that you ask should therefore be on a personal level rather than a list of standard questions that everybody asks. Here are some examples:
Medical Education/Teaching:
- What involvement with the medical school does the department has?
- How easy is it for consultants to join the simulation faculty?
- How frequent is the ST/SpR teaching and how would I get involved?
- Is there an opportunity to become an educational supervisor?
Research:
- Are there collaborative research projects occurring in the department?
- What opportunities are there for research here?
- Is there an agenda to promote research in the department/trust?
Management:
If you are interested in management then you may wish to explore what career opportunities are available in the department of trust.
Clinical service delivery:
You may want to find out more information about the type of clinical activity that the department is engaged in, any areas of expertise and probe for any areas that the department is keen to develop that you may be able to help!! You
might have the appropriate training and be able to use this unique selling point effectively in your application.
Job description:
If there are any areas of the job description that you are unsure of then this is the time to ask.
- What are the flexible sessions?
- How many SPA’s are there in the job plan? Are these to be delivered on fixed days/on site?
- If it is a split site where are the hospitals that you will be working? Are they easy to get to? Is there dedicated parking for consultants who work across sites?
Geographical area:
You may have questions relating to the area of which you are unfamiliar. These may be generic covering schooling, what the travel/commute is like or what the cost of homes is like.
What should I not do at the pre short listing visit?
Canvass or ask about private work or any other topic which may be construed as negative. You are there to be enthusiastic and ask questions to help you make a decision as to if you want to work there and subsequently submit an application for the job in hand. You should not give them any room to think that you would not be 100% dedicated to the advertised job.
Should I take a copy of my CV with me?
This is a debatable point. The real purpose of this visit is for you to see if you like the department and want to apply for the job. Personally if a potential candidate has shown interest in my department I would like to show interest in them and would therefore ask to see a copy of their CV. I wouldn’t however expect candidates to openly distribute their CV.
Should I arrange to see the Medical Director or Chief Executive?
No. This is part of the pre interview visit and not pre short listing visit.
