Saying "I don't know" in an interview?

[LyraGardenia]

Sorry if there's already a thread that addresses this, but I've been obsessively reading every thread I can find about interviews since I have an interview at Mizzou tomorrow afternoon (eek!), and the only thread I found that addressed this this was over 7 years old (this one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/vet-school-interview-feedback.339334/).

So I've heard it's pretty common for interviewers to ask you questions that they don't think you'll know the answer to in order to try to trip you up, see how you'll react, if you'll admit you don't know rather than BS-ing something, etc. The vet I worked for told me to NEVER say "I don't know" in an interview, but rather "I don't recall at this time." I will say that if they ask me something I should know but honestly have forgotten, but to me it seems a little dishonest to make it sound like I've just forgotten something if I actually have no idea. His suggestion would certainly make me sound like less of a dimwit, though. Any thoughts here?

Also, while I'm here I've got another question... So from what I've heard it's also common for schools to ask "why [this school]?" Fair enough, but is it common for schools to ask that of in-state applicants? Mizzou is my IS, and although I'd love to go there because I've heard nothing but great things about the curriculum, faculty, atmosphere, etc., there's also the major plusses of in-state tuition, and being only three hours away from my family and friends. I imagine lots of other students would have the same thoughts regarding their IS. If it is common to ask this of IS applicants, would it sound bad to say I want to go there because of tuition and location?

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[Bearby]

The "I don't know" depends on the question. If they are asking you about a specific law or current event that you honestly haven't heard about, definitely don't BS it, instead say that you are not familiar and inquire about it. It may be viewed as a negative if it's something related to your area of interest (ex: Blackfish if you're into marine mammals, PEDV if you're into food animal - it's a pig virus, a few years ago it was all about horse slaughter). If they're asking you a situational/behavioral question "If this happens, what would you do?" you need to come up with an answer. I know when I was helping with interviews this year, it wasn't about whether the applicant said the answer that is expected but that they had a plan and they were going to stick with it. Don't be flip-floppy.

As far as the tuition and location, those are both totally acceptable reasons for you to want to go to a particular school for the same reason that salary and location are acceptable reasons to choose one job offer over another.

 

[Rainheart]

I definitely said "I don't know" in my Mizzou interview at least once and got in no problem. Just be honest- it was a question that had to do with a project I did, but kind of out of context (just a trivial question, really). I did a project on Lyme disease and my question was 'Where was Lyme disease originally from" or something like that. I really had no idea and was honest
If they ask why you want to attend Mizzou, why not just say what you stated above! Of course, they know it is your IS and I'm sure most do want to go there because it is cheaper.

Hope all goes well tomorrow! What time is your interview! Finals are this week, so we are all pretty stressed, but I'll be there for most of the day tomorrow

 

[LyraGardenia]

Thank you both for the feedback! I think I'm overthinking things a bit at this point. I forgot to clarify I was asking mostly about fact-based questions that you pretty much either know or you don't, not situational stuff.

Rainheart, I'm at 3:10 tomorrow! Thanks for the well-wishes.

 

[Rainheart]

You should be perfectly fine to say "I don't know" in that situation. I'm sure the in-state interviews are just as relaxed as OOS, so you should do fine. Just be yourself. Good luck!!

 

[dalmatiandoc17]

If it makes you feel better I never got a question from Mizzou that I had to say "I don't know" (although definitely don't feel bad if you have to say it) because they mostly focused on me. They did ask a bit about the disease I assist with research on, and I don't know a TON about it because it's super complicated so I just said that then told them what I know. Mizzou was my absolute favorite interview, I even had fun in the interview! It was very enjoyable and relaxed! Good luck tomorrow!!!

 

[muggy]

as far as mizzou, because it wasn't a behavioral interview and was based more on my application, i never really felt like they were trying to trip me up so i never felt the need to say "i don't know" to anything because it is about me and my application (and i would think I'm pretty knowledgable about myself). but if you say i don't know to a question, i really don't think it would be a deal breaker as long as it wasn't your answer to why you want to go to mizzou. like you said you don't wanna BS an answer. but i'd have to agree with Rainheart, what you stated above would be a perfect answer! it shows that your passionate about the school and not just the cheaper tuition. good luck!

 

[LetItSnow]

The vet I worked for told me to NEVER say "I don't know" in an interview, but rather "I don't recall at this time." I will say that if they ask me something I should know but honestly have forgotten, but to me it seems a little dishonest to make it sound like I've just forgotten something if I actually have no idea. His suggestion would certainly make me sound like less of a dimwit, though. Any thoughts here?

I think it might help to reframe it a bit in your mind.... it's not so much that the words "I don't know" are bad - they aren't - it's that you need to go beyond that. Part of the point of questions like that are to see how you deal with being put on the spot without all your resources. So you can't say ONLY "I don't know" and then drop the question on the floor; you need to say "I don't know, but ........." and then give them something to show how you'd handle it. Or a different angle on the question. Maybe the method you'd use to arrive at an answer or find the information. That sort of thing.

Bearby's advice seems right on-target to me.

Good luck!!

 

[shortnsweet]

Haha I say "I don't know" all the time, and somehow managed to get a job. You'll be just fine

 

[that redhead]

Sorry if there's already a thread that addresses this, but I've been obsessively reading every thread I can find about interviews since I have an interview at Mizzou tomorrow afternoon (eek!), and the only thread I found that addressed this this was over 7 years old (this one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/vet-school-interview-feedback.339334/).

So I've heard it's pretty common for interviewers to ask you questions that they don't think you'll know the answer to in order to try to trip you up, see how you'll react, if you'll admit you don't know rather than BS-ing something, etc. The vet I worked for told me to NEVER say "I don't know" in an interview, but rather "I don't recall at this time." I will say that if they ask me something I should know but honestly have forgotten, but to me it seems a little dishonest to make it sound like I've just forgotten something if I actually have no idea. His suggestion would certainly make me sound like less of a dimwit, though. Any thoughts here?

Also, while I'm here I've got another question... So from what I've heard it's also common for schools to ask "why [this school]?" Fair enough, but is it common for schools to ask that of in-state applicants? Mizzou is my IS, and although I'd love to go there because I've heard nothing but great things about the curriculum, faculty, atmosphere, etc., there's also the major plusses of in-state tuition, and being only three hours away from my family and friends. I imagine lots of other students would have the same thoughts regarding their IS. If it is common to ask this of IS applicants, would it sound bad to say I want to go there because of tuition and location?

Re: "I don't know"...there are other, better ways to convey the same message. Saying something like, "Well, what I do know about [that condition/breed/legislature/etc] is [explanation relevant to the topic] but haven't yet heard about [what they asked about]". Basically put a positive spin on your lack of knowledge - they don't expect you to know everything and saying, "I don't recall at this time" sounds like you're a British butler who can't remember where he left the tea set.

I don't think it hurts to mention the additional benefits of being IS, but I'd put them toward the back of the list (unless you have an ailing parent, small child, etc).

 

[WolvesDragon55]

I did actually get a question at Mizzou that I had no idea about. They weren't trying to trip me up, it just wasn't something I had experienced in the volunteer field they had asked about. I said something to the effect that I had never had that particular experience, but based on other experiences I would probably do x, x and x. My ending point was essentially that I didn't know and would need more experience dealing with that to be able to make a fully formed and appropriate decision under the circumstances. I I still got in.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

I was once asked about something I didn't have any clue about during a vet school interview. I replied with something along the lines of "I am not familar with that, but I will look it up when I get home." And then I think I did what a lot of people have suggested, I said something about something I did know that was correlated with what they asked me about.

 

[LyraGardenia]

Thanks again for the input, everyone! I think it went well today, I only got one question that I had no clue on. It was even among the ones I read on the interview feedback, but I assumed it was related to something on that person's app, so I didn't look it up. I'm kicking myself a little bit, but I said something along the lines of "I don't know, but I'd be interested to learn" and I think it came across okay. And they didn't ask me "Why Mizzou?", so I worried about that for nothing!

 

[Rainheart]

Glad it went well! Hope to see you in the fall

 

[LetItSnow]

I say "I don't know" more and more often the further I get through vet school......

 

[shortnsweet]

I say "I don't know" more and more often the further I get through vet school......

Pretty much.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I say "I don't know" more and more often the further I get through vet school......

And the more often it is that you realize that no one knows

 

[kittyy]

Didn't read the other responses, but during my Ohio interview they asked me about an interesting case I worked with the vets on and I told them and they asked me about the disease and how it affects the kidneys (or something?) and I told them what I knew about the disease and then I said "as far as how it affects the kidneys, I really dont know, and I dont want to pretend like I do, but I would love to know and that's why Im here"

And I was accepted

 

[StartingoverVet]

Anyone who doesn't accept "I don't know" as an answer to a question is messed up.
It is one of the MOST IMPORTANT skills to learn.

Not a "I'm stupid, I don't know" but just recognizing everyone has limitations to their knowledge.
You could always answer with how you would find the answer, to demonstrate your problem solving capabilities.

I like to use my flight examiner exam to demonstrate answer to all questions… cause it was harder than vet school…..
When they asked questions on oral I didn't know (which happens to everyone), the correct answer was always "I don't know that off the top of my head, but I have with me the ________ , where I can find the answer in the section on _____", at which point you get out your reference and the question is usually over (sometimes they call your bluff. ha ha).

But really, the most important thing I have learned whether it was in teaching or business/marketing, or flying is don't BS, cause you will get caught by someone who is testing you. Be honest, and show you know how to solve the problem.


When you are in an exam with a client and your patient, you had better get used to saying you don't know the answer exactly but will check and get back to them… cause people might not know shat about medicine, but they often can recognize BS when they hear it.

The only people I have ever seen saying "I don't know" is not an appropriate answer is students with no life experience, and teachers on exams!

 

[DVMDream]

When you are in an exam with a client and your patient, you had better get used to saying you don't know the answer exactly but will check and get back to them… cause people might not know shat about medicine, but they often can recognize BS when they hear it.

There were many, many times where clients would ask me questions as a tech and I had no idea what the answer was. My response was always, "I don't know, but give me a few minutes to go discuss this with the vet and I will be back." You get used to telling clients that you don't know or are not sure but you will figure it out for them. I have never had a client get mad or upset with me for clarifying a question for them and getting them a proper answer.

 

[dovelover]

At the zoo I worked at I used to have to do educational talks where I'd take one of our friendly resident patients out and talk to people about our hospital and about the patient, and sometimes I'd get people who were really into it and ask me questions I didn't know the answer to (because lets be honest, we had a few hundred species of birds and I wasn't by any means an expert...) I couldn't exactly say, "I don't now but I'll get back to you" because I'd never see these people again (so kinda like a vet school interview). So usually I would say "I don't know, but..." and go on to talk about something similar that I could sort of extrapolate back to what they said, so that I was at least providing them with some information, even if it wasn't exactly the answer to their question. ie, "I don't know what the lifespan of this species is in the wild, but other similar species have lifespans of about 10-12 years, so that's probably a good estimate." Of course, your ability to do that depends entirely on whether you know anything related to the subject.

I said "I don't know" in my Ohio State interview when they asked about how the disease we had been talking about (one I had treated a whole bunch of doves for with ICU care and lots of cool stuff that I talked about in my app), and I was a little caught off guard and fumbled a bit, because as far as I knew it couldn't be diagnosed in vivo, only post mortem. He told me you can diagnose it using lung biospy, but my interviewer forgave me my moment of confusion because he realized we probably wouldn't be doing lung biopsies on a bunch of homing pigeons. I got accepted there. I also passed on a question at AVC (they let you do that there, not sure if anyone else does), because I couldn't for the life of me think of an answer... and that was even a behavioral interview. And I got accepted there too.

Moral of the story, in a profession as diverse as vet med, you'd better get used to saying "I don't know" gracefully.