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Role guide

Public health interview preparation

Updated 10 September 2026

Public-health selection differs by employer and route. Liverpool City Council's 2026 Public Health Officer campaign shortlisted applications before a face-to-face competency-based interview with a presentation. Civil Service campaigns may use several other stages, while entry to UK Public Health Specialty Training has its own assessment-centre process.

This guide separates those examples and gives you a practical preparation plan without treating any one route as standard for every public-health post.

01

Interview process examples

The supplied evidence supports named examples rather than a single, usual public-health interview journey. Check the advert and invitation carefully because the stages depend on the employer and route.

  1. Application shortlisting

    Application review

    Depends on the employer

    For Liverpool City Council's 2026 Public Health Officer campaign, applications were shortlisted before interview.

    How to prepare

    • Read the person specification and vacancy details again.
    • Choose truthful examples that show what you personally did, why you acted and what happened.
    • Check that the evidence in your application is consistent with the examples you plan to discuss.

  2. Face-to-face competency interview and presentation

    Face-to-face competency-based interview with a presentation

    Depends on the employer

    Liverpool City Council's 2026 Public Health Officer campaign used a face-to-face competency-based interview with a presentation.

    How to prepare

    • Review the presentation instructions and follow the stated format.
    • Practise the presentation aloud and keep within any limit stated in your invitation.
    • Prepare concise examples from your own experience and be ready to explain your actions, reasoning, result and learning.

Civil Service campaigns

Civil Service recruitment stages vary by job and may include online tests, a video interview, a final interview or an assessment centre. Individual public-health employers may use different stages.

Entry to UK Public Health Specialty Training

The current Public Health Specialty Training assessment centre uses a critical-thinking paper, a numerical-reasoning paper and a situational-judgement test. This is specific to specialty-training entry, not ordinary public-health hiring.

Timing for the current Public Health Specialty Training assessment

NHS Medical Hub describes the specialty-training assessment as a timed 190-minute process.

02

Your preparation plan

Build your preparation around the vacancy

Start with the advert, person specification and interview invitation. Public health covers a multidisciplinary workforce, so use the wording of the particular post rather than preparing for an imagined standard interview.

Depending on the vacancy, useful examples may involve using population evidence to identify needs and risks, supporting prevention work, or working with NHS organisations, local authorities and other partners. Only choose examples that genuinely match your experience and the post.

For each example, note the situation, your own actions, the reasoning behind them, the result and what you learnt. Keep these as prompts rather than memorising a script. If an assessment or presentation is listed, prepare for the exact instructions you have received and ask the named contact if anything is unclear.

The week before

  • Re-read the advert, person specification, application and interview invitation.
  • Map each stated criterion to a truthful example from your own work, study, volunteering or training.
  • If the post involves population evidence, choose an example that shows how you used evidence to identify a need or risk.
  • Practise explaining your personal actions, reasoning, result and learning without memorising a full answer.
  • If a presentation or test is listed, prepare only to the instructions supplied for that campaign.

The day before

  • Confirm the venue or remote joining details, start time and any identification or materials requested.
  • Prepare permitted notes and copies of any documents requested by the employer.
  • If your interview is remote, test your camera, microphone, connection and screen-sharing setup.

On the day

  • Arrive or join early enough to deal with routine delays.
  • Listen to each question, ask for clarification when needed and keep your answer tied to your own evidence.
  • Check your presentation materials before the session if the campaign includes a presentation.
03

What interviewers look for

Using population evidence

Depending on the post, public health responsibilities may include using population evidence to identify needs and risks.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose a truthful example where you examined evidence, explain your own actions and state what followed.
  • Be ready to separate what you concluded from what colleagues or partners contributed.

Prevention and health inequalities

For UK Public Health Professional applicants, the work may involve preventing ill health, improving wellbeing and reducing health inequalities across populations.

Evidence to prepare

  • Select an example that matches the vacancy and explain your personal contribution.
  • Identify the result, what you learnt and anything you would change.

Programme design, delivery or evaluation

Some public health roles support the design, delivery or evaluation of prevention programmes and campaigns.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose an example that makes your individual contribution clear.
  • Prepare to explain the situation, your reasoning, your actions, the result and your learning.

Partnership working

UK Public Health Professional applicants may work across NHS organisations, local authorities and other partners.

Evidence to prepare

  • Pick a truthful partnership example that is relevant to the job description.
  • Clarify who was involved without taking credit for other people's work.

Protecting and improving community health

For UK Public Health Professional applicants, the professional workforce contributes to preventing disease, prolonging life and improving community health.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose an example whose relevance to the vacancy you can explain plainly.
  • State what you did, what happened and what the experience taught you.

Public health functions and activities

For UK Public Health Professional applicants, the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework describes functions and activities used to protect and promote public health.

Evidence to prepare

  • Review the vacancy and identify examples that genuinely match its stated capabilities.
  • Use personal evidence rather than reciting framework language.
04

Questions you should be ready for

Use the answer plans as prompts, not scripts. Your examples should sound like you.

Motivation and strategic work

Use these questions to practise concise, evidence-based answers.

Why do you want to work in public health?

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.
Tell us about an example of working strategically.

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.

Co-production and work challenges

Use these questions to practise concise, evidence-based answers.

Tell us about your experience of co-production.

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.
Describe a challenge you faced at work and how you handled it.

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.

Programmes, data and communication

Use these questions to practise concise, evidence-based answers.

Tell us about a health programme you helped to design or deliver. What was your own contribution?

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.
Tell us about a time you used data to identify a community need.

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.
Give an example of communicating with different audiences.

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.

Partnerships and priorities

Use these questions to practise concise, evidence-based answers.

When the vacancy calls for these capabilities, tell us about a time you worked with a community partner while managing competing priorities.

What they want to learn: The interviewer is looking for a clear account of your relevant experience and reasoning.

Answer plan

  • Answer the question directly before adding context.
  • Choose one truthful example from your own experience.
  • Describe your personal actions and reasoning.
  • Finish with the result and what you learned.

Evidence to use: Choose a truthful example from your own experience that directly answers this question.

Avoid

  • Giving a generic answer without a specific example.
  • Describing the team's work without making your contribution clear.
05

Questions to ask them

“What would you want the successful candidate to accomplish in the first few months?”

This clarifies the employer's immediate priorities and helps you judge whether the role matches your experience.

“Which parts of the job description take up most of the working week?”

The answer can reveal how the role is divided in practice.

“How does the team decide which work needs attention first?”

This helps you understand how priorities are set when several demands compete.

“Who would I work with most often in this role?”

This gives you a clearer picture of the working relationships around the post.

“How will my work be reviewed during the first year?”

This explains how expectations, feedback and progress are handled.

“What support is available while someone learns the role?”

This helps you assess the induction and day-to-day support you would receive.

“Is there anything about my experience that you would like me to clarify before we finish?”

This gives you a chance to address an unanswered concern while you are still in the interview.

06

On the day

In person

  • Recheck the address, arrival instructions and named contact before leaving.
  • Bring any documents or notes the employer has asked you to bring.
  • Arrive with enough time to settle without rushing.
  • Listen to the whole question, pause briefly and use a truthful example that answers it directly.
  • Keep your questions to hand for the end of the interview.

Remote

  • If your interview is remote, test your camera, microphone, internet connection and meeting link beforehand.
  • Choose a quiet, well-lit place and close unrelated notifications.
  • Keep the employer's contact details nearby in case the connection fails.
  • Join a few minutes early and keep permitted notes brief enough to glance at without reading from a script.
07

Preparation pitfalls

For UK Public Health Professional applicants, skipping employer research and the job description can make relevant questions harder to anticipate.

Read the advert and job description closely, then note the experience you can truthfully connect to each requested skill.

For UK Public Health Professional applicants, reciting answers word for word can sound unnatural.

Practise the shape of each answer, but choose your wording in the room.

For UK Public Health Professional applicants, failing to prepare examples from experience can make it harder to demonstrate the requested skills.

Select several truthful examples in advance and be ready to explain your own actions, the result and what you learnt.

Giving a long account before answering the question.

State the relevant point early, then add enough context to make your example understandable.

Speaking about a team's work without making your own contribution clear.

Acknowledge the team, then say exactly what you did and why.

08

After the interview

Send a short, factual message after the interview. Thank the interviewer for their time, mention the role and briefly refer to a useful point from the conversation.

If the employer gave a decision date, wait until that date has passed before asking for an update. Keep any request for feedback polite and concise.

09

Frequently asked questions

From guide to application

Make your CV and your answers tell the same story.

Use cvlift to tailor your CV to the role and bring the most relevant experience forward. Then use this guide to practise the examples behind it.

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