Quote:
Originally Posted by PHRM
I know exactly how you feel! I also have my interview this saturday and i am extremely nervous, specially about debating and working with someone else (the collaboration questions). Any tips from people who have gone through the interview or are preparing for it would be helpful, for example what steps did you take to prepare for your interview or any tips on how to calm down during the interview would be really appreciated! Again goodluck to everyone who has an upcoming interview =D
|
You shouldn't really worry about the collaboration stations. Both yourself and the other candidate want to succeed, and they won't go out of their way to screw you over. This is because BOTH of you will be graded, and the marking will be based on how well you
communicate. It doesn't matter if you complete the task successfully in the 7 minutes. They want to know if you and your partner understand and can communicate effectively. Very, very few people actually finish the task for these stations, so don't feel horrible if you don't either.
Also, remember that you have 10-11 stations, and you can fail one of them and still have a very good chance of admission. They pretty much expect every candidate to mess up one station (usually the first station), since you may be unfamiliar with how it works at first. Also remember that every station is a "blank slate" since it's a different interviewer. So messing up the previous station won't make your next one look bad, since they don't know
Also, don't panic at the interviewers' facial expression. Although they state that every interviewer will have a neutral "poker" face, most can't help but give subtle expressions (or nods). It's a psychological thing
I do admit though, that those who do wear the neutral poker face may make you want to keep on talking the entire 7 minutes. If you finish before the 7 minutes, and the interviewer is writing down notes with a neutral expression, and you're just sitting there afterwards in awkward silence (no prompt questions given)... it's pretty intimidating.
But do resist the temptation to talk further after you've already made your point (unless they give prompt questions).