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What You Did, Not What You Saw

Work Experience · 6 minMMIMedium

Answer the question

Answer out loud against the clock, or type your key points.

What You Did, Not What You Saw

Don't tell me what you saw - tell me what you actually did during your work experience.

Likely follow-ups
  1. 1What's the most independent thing you were asked to do?
  2. 2Did you ever refuse something out of scope?
  3. 3What did the staff trust you with by the end?

Speak it out loud and we'll type it for you (free), or type your own notes — then mark yourself below.

We check your answer as you go: speaking time, structure, examples and filler words.0 words
Resources & frameworks
  • Reflect, don’t report: what you saw → what it taught you → how it shapes you.
  • Tell stories with STARR: Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection.
What strong answers do
Reveal the benchmark

Hidden so they don't bias your answer. Score yourself first, then reveal them to compare.

  • Avoid passive language ('I observed', 'I watched'). Tutors want action verbs.
  • Even if your scope was limited, name concrete tasks: tidying, escorting patients, helping with mealtimes, presenting on a topic.
  • Acknowledge limits honestly - 'I was asked to take an observation set and I declined because I wasn't trained' is a strong answer.

A worked example: how a strong answer is built

A structure to adapt, not a script to memorise — examiners spot recited answers instantly.

Answer in active verbs about things you personally did, however small: "[what you were actually asked to do]" — tidying, restocking, escorting patients, taking a meal order, running a session, presenting on a topic, chasing a form. The examiner has asked this question precisely because most candidates default to "I observed", and the point of the station is to see whether you can be specific and honest under a direct challenge.

Be accurate about scope. A school-age or pre-clinical placement legitimately involves very little hands-on care, and pretending otherwise is more damaging than a modest answer. Saying that you were offered a task and declined it because you were not trained to do it is a strong answer, not a weak one — it demonstrates you understand where competence ends.

Then draw the lesson from the limits themselves: what it is like to be the least useful person in a busy room, how you made yourself useful anyway, and what that taught you about how teams absorb someone new.

Framework: Action verbs → honest scope → what the limits taught you

Mark yourself

Score each skill against the question's mark scheme, then add a line of evidence.

Scale0Not shown1Emerging2Solid3Strong
Quick mark:
Completion: 0%

Realism

Look for: Honest about role limits

0/3

Reflection

Look for: Distinguishes action from observation

0/3

Communication

Look for: Precise

0/3

Integrity

Look for: Aware of scope of practice

0/3

Reflect & score

Note what you'd change, then give the whole answer a mark out of 10.

Your overall score / 10

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Your results

Mark yourself first, then reveal the model answer to compare.

Your score, charted against a model answer

  • Score ring and verdict
  • Skills radar, you vs the model
  • Strongest skill and next step
  • Checks on your wording
Total: 0/12
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