Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)

I Almost Didn't Send My CV To You. I'm Glad I Did!

A message I received this week, shared with permission, kept anonymous.

This person had been told, by someone they trusted, that their international experience "probably wasn't strong enough" for the role they wanted.

They almost didn't apply at all. They sent me their CV more out of curiosity than hope.

It wasn't a weak CV. It was a strong, genuinely evidenced career that had simply never been translated into the language an NHS panel knows how to score.

The experience was always there. Nobody had ever shown them how to make it visible.

This happens more than people realise. Talented, capable clinicians quietly talk themselves out of applying for roles they are genuinely qualified for, because somewhere along the way, someone — a friend, a forum, a stranger online — told them their background "probably wouldn't count."

I want to say this plainly, on a Thursday evening, to anyone reading who's been sitting on an application they're scared to send: let someone who actually knows how NHS shortlisting works tell you whether your experience counts, before you decide it doesn't, on your own, based on a guess.

Most of the time, it counts for more than you think.

If that's you tonight, send me a message. I'd rather tell you honestly that something needs work than have you never find out at all.

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