Within the job advertisement itself doctors will be invited to contact a member of the section to learn a bit more about the post. If you have never worked in the hospital or unit before it makes sense to find out a bit about both and therefore you can arrange to have a look around the department during a pre-shortlisting visit.

You will manifestly need to make an appointment and not just turn up and say “I’m Here!” If the post is a popular 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 unit. Some departments will routinely decide to not allow candidates to visit, unless they have been shortlisted.

The primary point of the pre-short listing visit is to judge whether you would like to go for for the job.The interview itself doesn’t formally start at this point however impressions made by you during your visit will stay with you if you decide to apply. It is intelligent to have done some base reading about the hospital and post before you meet the clinical director. Generally speaking you should approach this visit with a similar attitude to the pre-interview visit.

Some departments have unwritten rules that they will not consider a consultant rheumatology interview application for short listing unless they have made a pre short listing visit.