Cambridge University Hospitals Interview Questions
& Process

I went for an interview for a Band 5 physiotherapist job. They sent over details about the interview format and structure the night before my early morning interview, which made it a bit tough to prep. The interview itself was the usual Band 5 style with several clinical stations. One thing they could maybe do better is how the stations are set up physically. They were all in the same small room, so candidates and interviewers could easily overhear conversations from nearby stations. Spacing them out more could help create a more comfortable atmosphere and keep things confidential during answers. The interview day itself went well, and the hospital grounds are nice. After the interview, they gave feedback, but they said they wouldn't include any positive comments. The feedback given was only about negative points and was often vague, making it hard to figure out how to improve. Constructive feedback is pretty important in recruiting, especially for newer clinicians learning from interviews. Giving feedback that's balanced, specific, and actionable would be much more useful for candidates. As it is, the feedback felt unnecessarily discouraging and didn't offer real guidance for getting better.

It was a pretty standard process. Mostly situational and theoretical questions, but they also did a practical test where you had to look at blood film morphology and work through some case studies. They really value previous experience and having your HCPC registration is a must. You need to know a lot about haematological diseases like anaemias, leukaemia’s, factor deficiency’s, and what causes prolonged APTT and PT.

It was a two round interview process. The first round was an in-person aptitude test in Cambridge, which was computer-based and had no human interaction. I passed that round and proceeded to the final interview. The final interview consisted of basic HR questions and a discussion about my past experiences. Ultimately, I was informed that my experience was insufficient for the role, and they decided to hire someone with more experience.

So the interview experience, I had a panel interview with four people, which was a bit daunting. They each took turns asking me different questions, and they were all taking notes on my answers. The interview lasted about 30 minutes. They went over the job role, I got to ask them questions, and then they showed me the office.