Visiting the Unit Prior to Your Medical Interview Short Listing
Within the job advertisement itself applicants will be invited to contact a member of the department to discover a bit more about the post. If you have never worked in the infirmary or department before it makes sense to discover a bit about both and therefore you can arrange to have a look around the unit during a pre-short-listing visit.
You will obviously need to make an appointment and not just turn up and say “I’m Here!” If the post is a competitive one then it could be possible for 50-100 applicants to all turn up and say “I’m Here!” which would cause chaos for the department. Some units will routinely decide to not allow doctors to visit, unless they have been shortlisted.
So the intended outcome for the pre medical interview short listing visit (!) is for you to find out if it is even worth you applying to the section for a post. However, don’t be fooled into believing that the visit won’t be used to appraise you as well. Be well prepared so that you can use the visit to sell your skills to the department and make a decent first impression.
Some units have unuttered rules that they will not consider a consultant surgeon interview application for short-listing unless they have made a pre short listing visit.
