Is the question "tell me about yourself" ="why you want to be a doctor"?
Interview quesition
- Thread starter AKMCAT
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NO. I hate when interviewees do that, using that opening question as a launching point for their 3-5 minute schpeal about their passion for medicine.
Just a few sentences about who you are.
Just a few sentences about who you are.
When I go into an interview, I typically have 3-4 things I want the adcoms to know. If I cover these 3-4 things, I consider the interview to be successful because I was able to say what I wanted to say. If I was given the opportunity to open with a "tell me about myself" question, I would tell them very brief, quick things about those 3-4 things. So if the interviewer has any follow up questions, they are asking straight from my agenda.
These 3-4 things may not necessarily be from my application as they already have that in writing, but they tend to be a little things that highlight who I really am.
These 3-4 things may not necessarily be from my application as they already have that in writing, but they tend to be a little things that highlight who I really am.
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I think this question is a good way to focus on who you are and allows your interviewer to cherry pick what you just said. In essence, it's a way to make sure you get your 3-4 points across. For example, I mention where I grew up and with who (childhood/family life), one sentence about why I am interested in medicine, elaborated on my high school (something I felt worth mentioning and cannot be found in my app), in college I liked doing xyz. The xyz was research, volunteering, mentoring. This lead to a conversation about something I had mentioned. The best part was I felt comfortable talking about it which is why I made sure to say it in my answer to "tell me about yourself".
Prepare a simple script so you know what you want to talk about. Then turn that script into bullet points with 3-4 ideas you want to get across. Randomly practice answering the question out loud. Every time I did this my answer would not be identical but I would be comfortable answering questions without stumbling and saying umm too much, which was one my problems. If you don't have this problem then forgo the script and just practice getting across your main points. Keep it to under 2 minutes.
Prepare a simple script so you know what you want to talk about. Then turn that script into bullet points with 3-4 ideas you want to get across. Randomly practice answering the question out loud. Every time I did this my answer would not be identical but I would be comfortable answering questions without stumbling and saying umm too much, which was one my problems. If you don't have this problem then forgo the script and just practice getting across your main points. Keep it to under 2 minutes.
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Yeah well that's what you get for asking such an open ended question.
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Actually no, it's a matter of the interviewee answering what they THINK we're looking for instead of just answering the question.
Imagine if someone came up to you and asked you to summarize yourself in 3-4 sentences. That's what it is. You can mention medicine, that's fine, but it's not the time to rehash your personal statement.
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Yeah. That kind of response reminds me way too much of a presidential debate. Talking points instead of answering the frakking question.
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This is definitely one of the most common interview questions and any serious applicant would be well advised to have a plan for answering it. Personally, I use the opportunity to talk about my family, my upbringing, and my values -- things that I didn't have much room to talk about in the application itself. These kind of humanizing things are hard to convey on paper so I take any chance I get to talk about them. I always tie it up with my motivation for the field and some easy segues for interviewers to use for asking follow up questions.
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Lol no, the question, "tell me about yourself" is completely different in terms of open endedness than, "summarize yourself in 3-4 sentences". If I were asked the latter and went on to discuss my dream of becoming a doctor for the next 5 minutes then it would be appropriate for you to question my listening skills and ability to follow directions.
Like you said, the interviewee will respond with their best estimation of what the interviewer wants to hear. You can't fault the interviewee for answering a question in a way you don't prefer when absolutely no scope for focus is provided.
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I'll use myself as an example. When asked that question I would give a brief back ground on my upbringing and some basic interests. I would then discuss how I developed a passion for medicine - it usually took about 2 minutes. Please tell me how that doesn't answer the question.
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I'm sorry, if a person's response to "tell me a little bit about yourself" is "Well, I first realized I wanted to be a doctor when..." they missed the scope of the question.
It's no huge fault, it's not like I dock points or anything. It's just a pet peeve.
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I used to ask a similar question, but I think for a different goal. Something like "Hypothetically, let's say you cannot become a doctor for whatever reason. What would you do as a career instead?" I got a lot of fun responses out of that, mainly to see what other passions people had. A lot of people just said research or nursing or something, and that's fine too. Not really looking for anything in particular.
