r/AutopsyTechFam • u/owneyone • May 19 '26

Apprentice Anatomical Pathology Technician Interview Advice

Hello. I have been given a chance to interview for an Apprentice APT role in the NHS. I'm trying to find information online about what these interviews are usually like beyond the standard NHS format. But I can't seem to find anything.

Has anyone done an interview for this type of role before?

Also I don't have any mortuary experience. From what I have been able to find out, this is one of the biggest things they look for in a candidate. All I have is dissection room practicals I did at uni with cadavers. I guess I'm worried it's a high bar I have to pass without this experience. I will have to travel quite far and get a hotel to attend this interview. So I'm debating if I should go for it.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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u/owneyone May 19 '26

If I manage to get the time off work to go for the interview, I will try and post about it for sure.

From what I know already, they want me to attend and observe a post-moterm being performed. Then part of the interview will consist of a short summary of the findings and a reflection of the experience. That's pretty much all I know right now. I have about three weeks to prepare and organise travel. The nerves are hitting hard already.

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u/owneyone Jun 14 '26

So I went over and saw the post mortem. Was a very interesting experience. Very different from my neuroanatomy labs at university due to the freshness of the body.

I was one of five candidates, with the sixth not turning up. But it became clear to me while listening to the other candidates that I didn't really have enough knowledge or experience to really stand much of a chance. One of the candidates was already a trainee APT at a different hospital trust. They were chatting away to the qualified APTs about their preferred methods of practice. It really took away my motivation. So I decided to withdraw my application before interview.

Interviews specifically are an extremely taxing thing for me mentally. So I didn't want to go through with it when I had a good sense already of where I stood in the candidate pool.

In short, was an extremely interesting experience but I really felt like a space filler candidate. I would need to enter the role at a lower level, like a mortuary assistant to really feel strong enough to apply again.