Study Toolbox Part 7: Mock Vivas

QP eligibility is largely determined by your performance during an oral assessment by members of the joint professional bodies.  You may have ticked all the boxes for the application process; submitted a fantastic application form; gained years of experience as a quality professional and been highly praised within your sponsor's form but without performing on the day of the assessment all this may go to waste.  With so much riding on the outcome of the assessment it is worth spending time to understand the assessment process and have a few practice sessions beforehand.  You wouldn't sit your driving test without first practicing out on the roads would you?

The Viva Process

QP viva assessments typically last between 60 and 90 minutes.  Within that time the assessors will need to assess your ability to meet the aspects of the study guide and to test your application of knowledge into real life scenarios.  Questions often consist of knowledge based, factual questions and scenarios where you play the part of a QP. 

The vivas are held at one of the headquarters of the 3 professional bodies in London and your friendly QP officer will be there to great you before you go in.  The panel consists of 3 assessors, one from each professional body with your own professional representative acting as the chair.  Your QP officer will be present to take notes during the assessment.  Occasionally trainee assessors and observers from the MHRA may be present but these personnel have no bearing on the outcome of your assessment.  Once the assessment has finished you are invited to step outside of the room whilst the assessors discuss your performance.  Usually within 5 to 10 minutes you are called back in to be told if you have been successful. 

Therefore the viva will subject you to a grilling by strangers in an unfamiliar environment, far removed from the comfort of your office.  In order to fully prepare for the viva it is important to try and replicate this as much as you can.

When should you begin mock vivas?

The short answer is; when you are ready.  There is little to gain jumping straight into mock vivas early on in your QP journey as you run the risk of becoming despondent and your confidence may take a hit.  I believe it is better to have gained the majority of your knowledge & experience; completed your visits and completed your training courses before attempting formal mock vivas. 

Informal Mock Vivas

The knowledge based questions are the easiest to practice as these require very little preparation by the 'assessor'.  As a result it is probably easiest to start off with these questions in order for you to practice saying answers out loud - something we are not always comfortable with.  Informal vivas can be performed with either your sponsor, colleagues or study partners especially if they are at a similar stage in their training.  These informal vivas can be performed at any convenient time during the day and will provide a good test of your knowledge base. 

Once you have performed a few of these informal vivas you should begin to develop your own strategy in your structured answers to common questions on legal/routine duties, legislative updates & QMS components.  Although informal you should always try and get some feedback from your performance.  It is important to know your strengths and areas for improvement so you need your sponsor/colleague etc to be honest and constructive in their criticism.

Formal Mock Vivas

Once you have experienced a few informal vivas you should begin arranging more formal mock vivas.  The aim of these is to try and recreate the real thing as far as possible.  This will often require a significant amount of preparation, usually by your sponsor.  Ideally you should clear at least 2 hours from your hectic schedules and book a room away from your office where you will not be disturbed, preferably in a room unfamiliar to you.  Your sponsor will also need to find time to prepare the questions and scenarios well in advance of the mock and invite at least one other person along to recreate a panel of assessors.

You should try and treat these formal mock vivas as if you were doing the real thing.  Your answers should be well structured and you should be acting as if you are already QP and to test run your strategy for answering scenario questions (eg using the PIPER mnemonic).  This is also a good opportunity to see how you react to potential mistakes you make in your answers to see if you can move on and focus on the next question.  Again, getting feedback from your 'assessors' is vital, even if what they say is not what you want to hear.  Hopefully you can take away those areas where you need more work and prepare better for the next one. 

Having your sponsor present during these mock vivas is important as they will be the only person who will be able to track your performance from your first few informal vivas all the way to formalised vivas.  It is good to ask your sponsor to play the part of an observer as you'll be fairly used to their line of questioning by this point.  Personally I liked having my sponsor present in all my mock vivas as I trusted his review of my performance without question and I wanted to impress him to show that I have been putting the work in!

By this point both you & your sponsor should be in a good position to assess your readiness for submission.  For me my final test was to arrange a formal mock viva with one of the dragon's themselves.  It is worth remembering that usually your sponsor and any other QPs giving mock vivas only have experience of 1 real viva (unless your sponsor is an assessor, or they took more than 1 attempt...) whereas an assessor has had the 'pleasure' of sitting through numerous vivas and will provide a definitive review of your performance.  My formal mock was with Alex (@QPQuandary) who provided me with a recreation of an actual viva, including all the preamble regarding the purpose of the assessment and potential confidentiality issues.  My sponsor and I had decided that if this mock viva went well then I would submit my application form so it gave me something to work for.

Learning Points:

• You are allowed to say 'I don't know' as long as you can tell the assessor where you would look to find the answer
• You can move the line of questioning to cover products you are more familiar with
• Listen to and answer the question, not the question you thought (or wished) you had heard
• If you remember an answer to an earlier question that previously alluded you mention at a later stage in the viva
• Mock vivas are tiring, especially if they are examining all areas of the study guide.  Short breaks will be needed if the mocks last more than 2 hrs.
• Learn from your mistakes and take constructive criticism positively!
• vary your 'assessors', don't rely solely on your sponsor so dig out those business cards from your networking sessions
• Play the part of the assessor for a few informal vivas as this will give you a different perspective to the viva process.

Summary

Mock vivas are a great tool to help with your preparation for the real thing.  They can provide a good insight into your readiness for submitting as long as you are ready to go through the process.  Having a mixture of formal and informal mock vivas should ensure a thorough test of your knowledge, provide you with ample opportunities to polish your answers to common viva questions and take your scenario strategy for numerous test runs.  Good Luck!

Think interview not firing squad!

Study Toolbox Part 1:  The Onion
Study Toolbox Part 2:  Introduction to Mindmaps 
Study Toolbox Part 3:  Keeping up to date 
Study Toolbox Part 4:  Training Courses
Study Toolbox Part 5:  Visits
Study Toolbox Part 6:  Teleconferences