How do interviews work?

[CareerNumTwo]

For those of you who have already endured/enjoyed the interview experience... Can you indulge my neurotic desire to plan every detail of my life a year+ in advance? thanks!

1) Do the schools give you a couple dates to choose from or do they only offer one date?
2) Are the interviews usually scheduled on specific days of the week or is it totally random?
3) How far in advance do they usually schedule your interview? Two-three weeks? One-two months?
4) If something last minute comes up when you had an interview scheduled (I'm talking emergencies), are schools willing to reschedule? (Assuming it's something that warrants a reschedule).

Is there anything else you wish you knew? I know enough about interview questions, what to wear, do's and don'ts, pre versus post-december invites, etc. but I'm sure there's other questions I should be asking...

Since I work full time and I'll have a new boss by the time this is relevant, I'm trying to figure out how to prepare my boss to understand that I might be missing work to fly places (assuming I'm lucky enough to actually get an interview somewhere).

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[PerioDont]

For those of you who have already endured/enjoyed the interview experience... Can you indulge my neurotic desire to plan every detail of my life a year+ in advance? thanks!

1) Do the schools give you a couple dates to choose from or do they only offer one date?
2) Are the interviews usually scheduled on specific days of the week or is it totally random?
3) How far in advance do they usually schedule your interview? Two-three weeks? One-two months?
4) If something last minute comes up when you had an interview scheduled (I'm talking emergencies), are schools willing to reschedule? (Assuming it's something that warrants a reschedule).

Is there anything else you wish you knew? I know enough about interview questions, what to wear, do's and don'ts, pre versus post-december invites, etc. but I'm sure there's other questions I should be asking...

Since I work full time and I'll have a new boss by the time this is relevant, I'm trying to figure out how to prepare my boss to understand that I might be missing work to fly places (assuming I'm lucky enough to actually get an interview somewhere).

Pretty much all of these vary school to school. One school I interviewed at literally had interviews everyday for a month and you could pick any weekday. Another had a Thursday every week that you could choose from. I schedule approximately two months in advance for one interview, other one was a week and a half later. I have no idea about emergencies.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

For those of you who have already endured/enjoyed the interview experience... Can you indulge my neurotic desire to plan every detail of my life a year+ in advance? thanks!

1) Do the schools give you a couple dates to choose from or do they only offer one date?
2) Are the interviews usually scheduled on specific days of the week or is it totally random?
3) How far in advance do they usually schedule your interview? Two-three weeks? One-two months?
4) If something last minute comes up when you had an interview scheduled (I'm talking emergencies), are schools willing to reschedule? (Assuming it's something that warrants a reschedule).

Is there anything else you wish you knew? I know enough about interview questions, what to wear, do's and don'ts, pre versus post-december invites, etc. but I'm sure there's other questions I should be asking...

Since I work full time and I'll have a new boss by the time this is relevant, I'm trying to figure out how to prepare my boss to understand that I might be missing work to fly places (assuming I'm lucky enough to actually get an interview somewhere).

1) Depends on the school. Some schools do a couple giant interview days (60+ people) and some do a bunch of small ones (<10 people). The latter are usually more flexible, but I've been able to switch both types of interviews when I had a valid excuse.
2) Usually schools have one or two days they interview on. If you're lucky, it'll be a Monday or Friday. I've also had Tuesday and Wednesday though, so while it's not random, it's whatever is convenient for the school.
3) Depends. Most of mine were a month or two. Schools have your current address. If you live 10 states away, I'm sure they'd give you more notice than if you live 20 min away. Some schools just said "call to schedule your interview" and you can pick as far out as you'd like it to be
4) Yes, they likely would. If it's a family emergency or something, they'd probably be understanding. After all, they offer you an interview because they are interested in you just as much as you're interested in them!

 

[fogorvostan]

Hi! I am a nontraditional applicant and had to deal with scheduling interviews while working full-time. Let's just say that I got "sick" pretty often last fall.

1) Do the schools give you a couple dates to choose from or do they only offer one date?
MWU AZ, UNE, and LECOM had several different choices. The later you get your interview offer though, the more likely dates will be filled up.
2) Are the interviews usually scheduled on specific days of the week or is it totally random?
Depends on the school. I unfortunately ended up with all T/R interviews and that messed with my work schedule. If I could have gotten other days of the week, it would have been easier with flying and not missing work.
3) How far in advance do they usually schedule your interview? Two-three weeks? One-two months?
Two of my interviews were scheduled about a month in advance. One of them was less than a week.
4) If something last minute comes up when you had an interview scheduled (I'm talking emergencies), are schools willing to reschedule? (Assuming it's something that warrants a reschedule).
I'm going to say yes as long as there are still open dates. If you are intervewing towards the end of the cycle, I wouldn't expect schools to be as flexible because spots are more likely to be taken.

 

[CareerNumTwo]

Awesome. Thanks for the input everyone. Nice to hear from another non-trad @fogorvostan!

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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