NHS Career & Interview Skills Workshops:
Build the confidence and capability your people need to navigate change — and move forward.
A 2-hour CPD-accredited workshop that gives your staff practical tools for interviews, career conversations and stepping up. Built for NHS teams under pressure.
Where is progression stalling within your organisation?
Maybe this sounds familiar:
Your Staff Survey reflects what you already see day-to-day: concerns about engagement, progression, and a decline in confidence and resilience among capable staff.
Previous investment in development has not translated into a visible shift in how people approach their work.
Restructures and unfilled vacancies are putting senior leaders under pressure — and the staff most ready to step up are hesitating.
Your inclusion data indicates that progression is not equitable, but you do not yet have a scalable, evidence-based intervention to address it.
Pressure to evidence impact through Staff Survey, WRES and retention data continues to grow, and a standard workshop offer is unlikely to deliver the shift required.
What if it looked like this instead:
Staff who can articulate their value, name their direction, and prepare for interviews with confidence — reflected in your progression and retention data, not only in sentiment scores.
Development that lands in practice and prompts continued reflection. Tools and frameworks that can be used straight away.
Senior leaders with a stronger pipeline of people ready to step into more senior roles, because the confidence and capability beneath them have been built.
Inclusion that shows up in progression data. A tangible way to support underrepresented staff so they are supported, championed and seen.
A scalable, evidence-based intervention with a clear track record: 126 NHS staff across six cohorts, 97% reporting that objectives were fully met, and 80% leaving with measurably improved interview confidence.
My background is in NHS talent and development. I have worked in NHS recruitment, as an internal coach, and before that as an executive search consultant. I have sat on both sides of the interview table, debriefed with hundreds of recruiting managers and candidates, and seen what happens when capable people lose the language for their own value — and what changes when they regain it. The Career & Interview Skills Workshop is built on that experience, and on what has worked across six over-subscribed cohorts with the NHS NEY Leadership Academy, alongside targeted cohorts including Internationally Educated Nurses and Women’s Networks.
This is not another wellbeing initiative layered onto an overloaded system. It is a practical intervention that gives your people the tools to act with intention and agency, even within the pressure they are operating under.
The same approach is now available for direct commission by NHS organisations.
Introducing: the Career & Interview Skills Workshop
The Career & Interview Skills Workshop is a scalable, CPD-accredited career development workshop — designed for NHS staff at any band — that builds the confidence and practical capability they need to progress, especially during change.
It runs as a 2-hour virtual workshop on MS Teams. Extended session formats and in-person delivery are available by arrangement.
A mix of theory and practical models — career methodology, strengths elicitation, reframes, interview insight and models including CAMP and STARR interview structure. Plus, individual reflection, practice and peer feedback. Participants leave with a replicable model for interview preparation and a clearer sense of their own value, direction and next step.
The workshop is typically the entry point to deeper work. From here, you can extend into 1:1 leadership and career coaching for individuals stepping up, team coaching for senior leadership teams holding strain, or a Train-the-Trainer CPD route to embed the methodology inside your own internal coaching network.
“Our experience with Emma has been excellent from start to finish. She was consistently friendly, approachable, and very easy to work with, which made the whole process smooth and stress-free. She demonstrated a high level of flexibility, tailoring the workshop to meet our specific requirements and adapting to our needs with ease. Communication was another key strength – she was always responsive and efficient in providing the information we needed, both before and after the sessions.”
— Commissioner of Career & Interview workshops + Train the Trainer Career coaching CPD workshops, NHS Leadership Academy North East and Yorkshire“Emma provides a highly compassionate and person-centred service, creating a safe and supportive environment for meaningful engagement. Her professionalism and thoughtful approach clearly support improved wellbeing and positive outcomes for those she works with.”
- Commissioner, Professional Nurse Advocate, Career development workshop for Internationally Educated Nurses, NHS Provider Trust“Emma spent a lot of time really understanding our need and getting under the skin of the issue. Despite only having two hours, she delivered great value in the workshop. The follow-up email was incredibly comprehensive and full of practical ideas for the future.”
— Assistant Director of Leadership & OD, Integrated Care Board“Emma ran a brilliant and engaging workshop for our Women’s Network. Our members had requested support for career development and how to build their confidence in interviews and this session was absolutely perfect. Our members finished the session engaged, motivated and felt comfortable enough to share their personal stories and reflections of their own experiences. We would recommend Emma to everyone.”
— Women’s Network Executive Team, NHS Foundation TrustThis is what you will get
A 2-hour virtual workshop on MS Teams — standard format
Extended session formats and in-person delivery available by arrangement
Pre-workshop scoping conversation to tailor content to your cohort and context
All workshop materials, including pre-work and post-workshop reflection prompts
A comprehensive follow-up email with practical resources for participants
Pre/post evaluation framework measuring confidence, ability and preparedness
A structured post-workshop summary report for commissioning leads
CPD accreditation
Optional progression routes: 1:1 leadership and career coaching, team coaching, or Train-the-Trainer CPD
Designed to be useful from the first conversation onward.
A pre-workshop scoping conversation
Each engagement begins with a scoping conversation. The purpose is to understand your cohort, the system pressures they are working within, what your Staff Survey is indicating, and where progression is currently sticking. The workshop content is then shaped for what your people are actually navigating.
A workshop with practical, immediate application
Two hours, delivered live virtually. The workshop combines values-based reflection, strengths articulation and interview strategy (including STARR). Participants leave with tools they can apply in their next interview, and in career conversations beyond. Extended and in-person formats available by arrangement.
Evidence you can take to your board
Pre and post measures of confidence, ability and preparedness, supported by a structured evaluation report. Across the NEY Leadership Academy programme: 97% of respondents reported that objectives were fully met; 80% left with measurably improved interview confidence; 80% with a clear, replicable model for preparation.
A clear progression path, where appropriate
The workshop is designed to stand alone. It can also open into deeper work: 1:1 leadership and career coaching for individuals stepping into more senior roles, and team coaching for senior leadership teams holding strain through restructure or sustained pressure. Purpose Coaching & Development also offers a Train-the-Trainer CPD route to embed the methodology within your own internal coaching network. This model has already been established with 34 internal NHS coaches trained, and a 100% recommendation rate.
Hi I’m Emma
I run Purpose Coaching & Development Ltd. My background is in NHS recruitment and talent development, I am a GMTS alumnus and a qualified leadership and career coach. The work I do with NHS staff and leaders is shaped by four principles: travel with purpose, impact without damage, don’t abandon yourself, and meaning, pace and joy as prerequisites, not luxuries.
The Career & Interview Skills Workshop is the entry point to my wider NHS practice. It’s designed to encourage staff to take ownership of their career progression, to give your people what they need before their next interview — and the language to talk about it afterwards.
Designed for NHS cohorts, shaped to context, delivered with evidence and rigour.
The Career & Interview Skills Workshop is designed for cohorts who need something practical, evidence-based and grounded in the reality of working in the NHS today.
Building this capability now means your people are equipped before the next Staff Survey, the next restructure, or the next round of vacancies that prove difficult to fill.
Here’s a reminder of what the Career & Interview Skills Workshop includes:
• 2-hour virtual workshop on MS Teams — standard format
• Extended session formats and in-person delivery available by arrangement
• Pre-workshop scoping conversation
• All workshop materials and pre-work
• Comprehensive follow-up email and resources for participants
• Pre/post evaluation with structured commissioner report
• CPD accreditation
• Optional progression: 1:1 coaching, team coaching, Train-the-Trainer
• Built on six fully subscribed NHS NEY Leadership Academy cohorts — 126 staff, 97% objectives met
Investment
From £1,250 for a 2-hour virtual workshop (single cohort)
Multi-cohort offers available — scale and investment discussed in the scoping call.
Workshop + Train-the-Trainer pathway, and workshop + 1:1 coaching combinations available.
This is not about adding more to a system that is already overloaded.
It is about giving your people the language, the tools and headspace to find autonomy in their career — even when everything else is under pressure.
If your Staff Survey results are not shifting, your inclusion data is not moving, and capable staff are stalling within your organisation, this may be the right intervention to consider.
Six fully subscribed NHS cohorts delivered to date. 126 staff trained. 97% of respondents reported that objectives were fully met.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The 2-hour workshop works for cohorts of up to 20 participants. Smaller cohorts allow for deeper personalisation; larger cohorts work for staff networks or department-wide offers. We’ll size for your context in the scoping call.
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Yes. The workshop has been delivered to a wide range of NHS cohorts including Internationally Educated Nurses, Women’s Networks, mixed-band cohorts and BME-focused groups. Pre-workshop scoping shapes how to translate the content for your specific cohort.
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Yes. Emma is a Coach of Excellence and her services are CPD-accredited. Certificates of completion are issued, which can be used for revalidation and PDR.
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Typically 4–6 weeks from initial conversation to delivery, depending on scoping needs and staff availability. Faster turnarounds may be possible — please ask in the discovery call.
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Pre/post participant evaluation across confidence, ability and preparedness. Qualitative feedback. Optional follow-up survey at 3–6 months.
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A half-day CPD-accredited programme for your internal coaches, equipping them with the methodology to deliver career coaching and interview support to your staff. From £1,200 per cohort. 34 internal NHS coaches trained to date across three cohorts; 100% would recommend it.
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Typically 6 sessions over 3 months for individual leaders. Designed around the person’s specific career or leadership goals. Often pairs well with workshop attendance for staff stepping into more senior roles or navigating significant transitions. From £2,495.
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Designed for senior teams holding strain through restructure, leadership change, or sustained pressure. Engagements are scoped individually. From £1,750 for a half-day session.
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The Career & Interview Skills Workshop is one part of a wider NHS practice. Leadership team interventions and longer programmes are all available. These can be discussed in the discovery call.
Considering whether this is the right fit for your organisation?
A 30-minute discovery call provides a clear sense of whether and how this could work for your cohort, timeline and context. My goal is for you to leave with:
• An experience of what coaching and With Purpose feels like
• More clarity on what you and your team want and need
• A clear next step — whether that’s working with me or not.