More on Clinical Psychology Interviews

More samples of questions that come up supplied by a successful candidate who had worked hard on interview technique for more than a year. There are other examples from a few years ago further back in the blog.

University interview 2008 (sample1)

 

Initial written task for about 30 mins- had to pretend that working for a government think tank and explain some graphs representing alcohol related deaths across the last few years. Checking for writing, grammar, spelling, sentence construction.

 

One interview (45mins):

 

Why do you want to be a clinical psychologist?

 

Given an on the spot clinical vignette. Imagine that you are a practising clinical psychologist and seeing a patient for the first time. Given 3 different possible sentences to start the session with (all perfectly legitimate ways to start it) had to think of the pro’s and con’s for each one

Tip: Hold client in mind at all times, formulate hypothesis about client and apply that to the sentences

 

Diversity: what be the advantages and disadvantages of working with a client from the same ethnic background as you and a different ethnic background to you

 

Supervision: Supervision is a collaborative effort, what would you bring to supervision?

 

On the spot research vignette: how would you go about evaluating a self-help programme as an alternative to therapy?

 

How would you help a manger decide what treatment services to offer in a practice?

 

Why do people do things that they know are bad for them?

 

Talk about something that you have read that has changed or influenced you

 

 

 

University interview 2008 (Sample 2)

 

Clinical interview (20mins):

 

Given a choice of 2 vignettes, instructed to prepare 1- would be asked questions about it in the interview:

 

Why do you want to be a clinical psychologist?

 

Tell us about a clinical case that you have worked with. Give a summary of the case and the treatment applied (answer in terms of theoretical model based on) What are the limitations of this approach?

 

On the spot vignette: about a possibly difficult situation at work, dealing with client confidentiality

 

Talk about a difficulty had with a supervisor and how resolved it, how has this informed your work/practice?

 

What is meant by the term effective service user involvement?

 

 

Research interview (20 mins):

 

Given a choice of 2 studies to design, prepare 1- would be asked questions about in the interview (design research project paying attention to sampling, measures, design, analysis, interpreting results, implications, ethics):

 

Can you tell us about a piece of research that you have done? Summary of what did and found, limitations and how improved it?

 

Talk about a paper that you have read

 

Talk about another paper that you have read and how you have applied it clinically

 

Is there anything else that you would like to tell us about yourself

Skills of a PhD

This was an article I started but did not finish. I really like the personal stateement which does the job of summarising the skills gained on a PhD very well.

You wouldn’t want to employ a PhD in your business would you?

 

Overqualified, too many years at college – so divorced from the everyday realities of  work, a bit geeky, a bit sad, a bit scary, too intellectual, ignorant of what a deadline is, knowing rather too much about stuff that no-one cares very much about.

 

That’s a bit of a stereotype, but lots of people will have come across a PhD who exemplifies at least one of those characteristics. But are they typical? And if an employer writes them off, is he/she missing out on a really important source of talent?

 

I have been working with Phd students for a number of years now so I have seen them at close quarters.

 

Time management. Three years to write a book. Put like that it seems like a leisurely process. It isn’t. PhD’s face and meet deadlines on an ongoing basis. It might be about preparing a piece of writing for the regular meeting with the supervisor, or preparing a submission to the research ethics committee so you can start your experimental programme. Writing a poster for a conference. If your experiment involves growing some cells in a particular way over a particular period then you have to make it happen and be there to observe and record it. And because cells have a habit of doing stuff in their own sweet and unexpected way you have to be ready to change tack. University labs are open 24/7 so students can come in to look after their experiments which tends to build another key competence: flexibility

 

Resilience would be another requirement for most jobs. One experienced Biology PhD supervisor ( a kind of mentor /  manager) told me that in his field 90% of what he  tries does not work. Think of what that means in terms of resilience, patience and application. You are working through 90% of failure looking to find that 10% of success.

 

Independent: PhD students are self starters. They don’t do a course as such. They have to scope out their area of research, examine how it fits with the existing knowledge, create testable hypotheses and then go and test them.

 

Team player: A lot of the PhD is done by the student. Its THEIR PhD and they have to make things happen. But there is a lot of opportunity for collaboration

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have completed a PhD in pharmacology at Kings College London. My research into specific pathways and processes in inflammation was managed independently, with minimal guidance. Working in a multidisciplinary team environment meant I could broaden my technical skills and share my knowledge and discoveries with others. Formal and informal meetings within the department allowed me to hone my creative and lateral thinking. I embraced any opportunities to work with external collaborators and found that the planning, organisation and high quality assurance of these projects were all second nature to me. 

 

The most enjoyable aspect of my PhD was learning and optimising new techniques. This requires analysis of large quantities of data with relevant computer software and recovering important information. I also discovered my affinity for mentoring; I have given specialist tutorials and supervised fellow PhD students through their projects, giving positive criticism and recommendations.

 

In addition, I have presented and defended my work at international scientific meetings and contributed to several publications. Thus, demonstrating my ability to summarise complex data and develop a consistent argument.

PhD students at Towers Perrin

My colleague John Childs did a visit to this Actuarial and HR consultancy this week. Here are his brief notes. Top line – PhD students very welcome to apply. ( vacancies in the HR practice.

 

Their business is split into two main areas: Human Capital (Employee Benefit Services, Executive Compensation & Rewards and International Survey Research) and Risk & Financial Services (Life Insurance and General Insurance)

They have announced a merger with Watson Wyatt, but this still needs to be completed, so both companies will continue to recruit separately in the coming  year.

They employ graduates into two main roles – Actuarial Analysts and HR Associates. They expect to recruit 4 graduates into the Actuarial roles – these people would need to be highly numerate, probably studying Maths or a mathematical subject. They are looking to recruit 9 graduates into the HR roles and, although their standards are high (First or 2.1 plus 340 UCAS points), they are much more open about subjects studied – however, they do look for people with strong analytical skills.

 Their selection process is rigorous, starting with a points based screening of forms, an HR telephone interview, an HR face to face interview and an assessment day. None of the 11 King’s students who applied last year got past the application form screening!

They are recruiting an increasing number of PhD students. They do not pay a premium, but expect them to progress more quickly because they have developed their research skills.

They advise people to apply early and not to wait until the deadline of December. Last year they had 755 applicants, interviewed 236, assessed 72 and offered 9 positions.

Starting salaries for 2010 will be up to £33,000.

They encourage and support their staff to pass their professional exams quickly – study materials and leave, tutorials, etc.

The HR graduates both mentioned the importance of Project Management skills/experience - this would clearly be worth covering in detail on the application form and in answer to interview questions.