I recently assisted selecting candidates for a BSc 4 year part time Occupational Therapy course and wanted to share my reflections to benefit others who may be going through a similar process. I am a clinician and I do not work in education. I had been asked to assist with this process by the University.
· At the start candidates were asked if they had any questions. This was a slow start and it became obvious those who had considered this question.
· Many of the candidates did not answer the question ‘why do you want to become an OT?’ Instead they answered ‘what job role do you do at the moment and how does this relate to OT?’
· Many forgot to state what skills and qualities they could bring to the role and how their previous experience was relevant to the role.
· What worked well was an answer that stated when a person related a service improvement they had brought/ developed or a practical example of where they had seen OT intervention work.
· Many forgot to communicate an enthusiasm for OT and to talk about the aims and objectives of OT (do not assume that everyone knows what is good about OT).
· Not being aware of the audience – many spoke without being aware of what others in the room were doing, they did not look at others and tended to focus on only one person in the group.
· Many forgot to state what made them apply to that specific University – many answered ‘because it is near my home or I like the countryside’.
· A better response was ‘I have explored options at the Open Day’ or ‘I have looked at the website and read lecturers biographies and relevant research papers’ or ‘I am keen to engage with problem based learning as this suits my active practical learning style’.
· · What was very interesting was wider interests that were mentioned (being a qualified Doctor, an electrician, a parish councillor, a scout leader, having a varied range of interests including sea kayaking, pottery, arts and crafts, an interest in charity work, Makaton, PEC communication systems or a degree in psychology or psychomotor rehabilitation).
· The course delivers skill sessions in photography, video, technology, pottery, horticulture and it was great to hear from candidates who have experienced using these activities therapeutically.
· Group interview – there were those who dominated the discussion (speaking with strong and repetitive opinions for long periods of time and ‘steamrolling’), those who listened intently and did not manage to get a word in, or others who contributed interesting unique thoughts in an interactive and charming way.
· At the end there was the opportunity for candidates to reflect on the interview with a written piece of prose. The best reflective pieces were those who used personal pronouns and took ownership of what had gone well and not so well. The best answer came up with practical solutions of what they could do in the future to improve their performance and saw this as their own responsibility. The worst answers were passive observations of others, not personal and not reflective. Also some of the writers were unable to write grammatically correct sentences and this presented poorly.
I hope these reflections and tips are helpful and good luck!
Thank you for sharing such valuable insights here [@Ca Rol]! This will be an incredibly useful forum for prospective candidates. We'll bring this to the attention of the community via social media sharing this week. Warm regards The Occupational Therapy Hub Team hubteam@theOThub.com