Worst imaginable thing to say in an interview!

[NickNaylor]

I've never had problems with things people said but, instead, with what people didn't say. Oftentimes the most concerning thing about interviews is the person's attitude or general demeanor during the interview. Most people are intelligent enough to not say anything absolutely ridiculous, though I'm sure it does happen on occasion. But things like "aggressive," "not interested," "seemed scripted," "immature," "frantic," and things of that nature will sink you immediately.

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[Clubmeh]

The first time I ever heard the phrase "make bank" was in an answer to the question "what brought you medicine?" It was also the first time I heard "be a hero."

Surely...

 

[medic86]

The first time I ever heard the phrase "make bank" was in an answer to the question "what brought you medicine?" It was also the first time I heard "be a hero."

An even better idea: combine them!

Interviewer: "What brought you to medicine?"

Interviewee: "To be a hero and make bank doing it. Kind of like Batman."

 

[gyngyn]

An even better idea: combine them!

Interviewer: "What brought you to medicine?"

Interviewee: "To be a hero and make bank doing it. Kind of like Batman."

Wow, that's not far off! It went something like:
Gyngyn: How did you become interested in medicine?
Applicant: You know, the usual reasons, be a hero, make bank.

 

[WingedOx]

Interviewee: "I didn't prepare an answer to that question, so instead I'm going to tell you about XXXX." (Gives an obviously scripted, unrelated monolog on a useless topic.)

Same person used this line about 5 times during the interview.

Reminds me of every time Rahm Emanuel gives a press conference.

 

[Goro]

Now you're making that up!

Wow, that's not far off! It went something like:
Gyngyn: How did you become interested in medicine.
Applicant: You know, the usual reasons, be a hero, make bank.

Nick, I can assure you that I have literally written every one of those comments at one time or another, except "frantic" Haven't seen that one (yet). "Aggressive" has been the rarest, while "not interested" seems to have been the most common.

Most people are intelligent enough to not say anything absolutely ridiculous, though I'm sure it does happen on occasion. But things like "aggressive," "not interested," "seemed scripted," "immature," "frantic," and things of that nature will sink you immediately.

 

[Rogert]

Now you're making that up!



Nick, I can assure you that I have literally written every one of those comments at one time or another, except "frantic" Haven't seen that one (yet). "Aggressive" has been the rarest, while "not interested" seems to have been the most common.

Most people are intelligent enough to not say anything absolutely ridiculous, though I'm sure it does happen on occasion. But things like "aggressive," "not interested," "seemed scripted," "immature," "frantic," and things of that nature will sink you immediately.

Do you mean physically agressive?

 

[caffeinemia]

"I think I need to go poop."

 

[ZymurgySurfer]

...Too soon?

 

[Spinach Dip]

"I think I need to go poop."

Saying that may be bad, but it would be even worse to NOT say it.

 

[Rogert]

Saying that may be bad, but it would be even worse to NOT say it.

I'm pretty sure the actual worst is a demonstration.

 

[amad01]

Interviewer: "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?"
Interviewee: "Ya. Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'donnell, Kathy Bates: You gotta f*** one, kill one, marry one- GO!"

"Because I wanna make bank BRO.. I wanna get A$$... and I wanna drive a Range Rover"

 

[tartesos]

I've been told I'm very nice when I'm sober

 

[amad01]

I will give one of my own that still haunts me:

Interviewer: (talking about my research which consists of studying bacteria deterrence n such) "So what's the next step for your research?"
Me: without even thinking, I do not know why I said this. I do not know where this came from at all. I swear some being possessed me for an instant to cause me to say such a stupid, stupid response, "I think we are going to be applying for human trials"
Interviewer: "Oh wow! Have you tested it on animals yet?"
Me: "... (damnit where TF did that come from???) umm no we haven't yet buuuut it takes a long time to get approved so we will just test the animals in the meantime............... "

 

[emraldragon]

"I don't like old people. . .or stupid people"

 

[notbobtrustme]

"look, in my defense, she looked 18"

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

"I think I need to go poop."

See, your problem here is with insecurity and lacking confidence. I don't want to hear, "I think I need to go poop," "I believe I need to go poop," or "In my opinion, I need to go poop." Just say, "I need to go poop." Show me that you are confident and have an opinion.

 

[Spinach Dip]

I'm pretty sure the actual worst is a demonstration.

Who knows? I'm sure some gastroenterologists can imagine worse things...

 

[caffeinemia]

I love how my poop joke started this

 

[palatopharyngeus]

I'm pretty sure the actual worst is a demonstration.

an illustration would be a close second

 

[NickNaylor]

Do you mean physically agressive?

I'm assuming not. By "aggressive" I mean in the interview - intense, always wanting to get a word in, coming across as overly interested, etc..

 

[gyngyn]

I'm assuming not. By "aggressive" I mean in the interview - intense, always wanting to get a word in, coming across as overly interested, etc..

I remember one guy, staring intensely, leaning forward on the table with a clenched fist saying "metrics, that's what got me here." Scary.

 

[NickNaylor]

I remember one guy, staring intensely, leaning forward on the table with a clenched fist saying "metrics, that's what got me here." Scary.

 

[Cytarabine]

"So what are you hoping to get out of the shadowing program we're offering?"

"Well I really just want to get my hands bloody"

I'm assuming not. By "aggressive" I mean in the interview - intense, always wanting to get a word in, coming across as overly interested, etc..

^This. It's something I've rarely seen outside of inpatient psych

 

[Spinach Dip]

I remember one guy, staring intensely, leaning forward on the table with a clenched fist saying "metrics, that's what got me here." Scary.

I didn't know the kph/mph debate could elicit such emotions!

 

[breakintheroof]

I remember one guy, staring intensely, leaning forward on the table with a clenched fist saying "metrics, that's what got me here." Scary.

I don't have any idea what this guy meant, but it just makes me think of this.

"I want to say one word to you, just one word: Metrics."

Did he get in anywhere? Would make me feel a just little less safe if he did.

 

[it'sabeautifullife]

I remember one guy, staring intensely, leaning forward on the table with a clenched fist saying "metrics, that's what got me here." Scary.

You are getting more than your fair share of the interesting ones...

 

[Goro]

I think another one might be "Where do you keep the sharps?"

 

[tartesos]

...And that's why I dont mix E ,blow and jose Cuervo anymore

 

[gyngyn]

Did he get in anywhere? Would make me feel a just little less safe if he did.

You and me, both.
I'll check on April 1st and get back to you.

 

[acapnial]

From a guy I met on a plane, who was applying to PhD psych programs:

He was in a group interview, and the question was, "What personal qualities do you want your classmates to have?"

Everyone finished answering, and most of them said something along the lines of "people that are friendly," "people I can grab a beer with after class," and so on. He said "I want classmates who can handle criticism well. I'm tired of working with people who don't take it well when I give them constructive criticism on their performance. I expect better from my colleagues."

He said he hadn't gotten any acceptances and then spent about 10 minutes angrily complaining that the interviewers and other applicants were all too sensitive.

 

[sat0ri]

"So where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

...don'tsaydoingyourwife,don'tsaydoingyourwife,don'tsaydoingyourwife...

"Doing your...son?"

 

[sat0ri]

"Because I wanna make bank BRO.. I wanna get A$$... and I wanna drive a Range Rover"

That's the worst I've heard so far... Range Rovers are terrible. Definite reject.

 

[username456789]

I'm pretty sure the actual worst is a demonstration.

I'm pretty sure that was heavily implied in the post to which you responded.

 

[MaybeDr]

I will give one of my own that still haunts me:

Interviewer: (talking about my research which consists of studying bacteria deterrence n such) "So what's the next step for your research?"
Me: without even thinking, I do not know why I said this. I do not know where this came from at all. I swear some being possessed me for an instant to cause me to say such a stupid, stupid response, "I think we are going to be applying for human trials"
Interviewer: "Oh wow! Have you tested it on animals yet?"
Me: "... (damnit where TF did that come from???) umm no we haven't yet buuuut it takes a long time to get approved so we will just test the animals in the meantime............... "

what was the result? Rejected, waitlisted, accepted?

 

[Nesmall2]

"So where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

...don'tsaydoingyourwife,don'tsaydoingyourwife,don'tsaydoingyourwife...

"Doing your...son?"

Family guy reference!

 

[baskintheglow]

1: (Interviewee) I have always wanted to know what it felt like to take someone's life, but I am afraid of guns.

2: (Interviewee) The doctor I worked with never seemed to do much other than sit around and look important, so I said to myself, 'hey, I can sit around and look important, why don't I become a doctor?'

3: (Interviewer) Tell me about a time you faced difficulty and overcame it.
(Interviewee) Well, this one time me and my buddy T-Bone were in Cabo and these two chicks challenged us to a drinking contest...

 

[emraldragon]

". . . On the plus side, the restraining order will have expired by the time I matriculate this fall."

 

[breakintheroof]

Here's one I saw. At an interview day this year after the interviews were completed, when several interviewees were chatting with the Dean.

Dean: "Boyhood was an absolutely amazing film. The way they followed those actors for twelve years, it was just incredible."

Applicant: "Yeah, I just saw this movie, Blended, and it was really good. It had a bad score on Rotten Tomatoes, like 60% boogers or something, but I watched it and it was like, 'Damn! That's funny!'"

I liked this guy. It was hard to see him get escorted immediately off the premises with a note for his premed adviser firmly requesting that no more applications be sent from his school.

Okay, that didn't happen. Also, the number of "boogers," assuming he meant rotten tomatoes, for this movie was 86%.

 

[Lucca]

Interviewer: talk about a challenge you have had to overcome in your life.

Interviewee: everywhere I go there's a terrible fire and no one survives but me. I have learned to thrive by being perfectly alone.

 

[familyaerospace]

Good grief. How is it possible for someone who GOT AN INTERVIEW to be so socially clueless?

You would be amazed. On the interview trail, I have actually pondered how some people get out of their house in the morning.

As for my contribution to this thread.

Last year when I was interviewing at MCG, someone who was finishing his undergrad at Harvard informed us that his Mommy drove him to the interview and was going to pick him up so that he didn't have to drive the few miles from his house.

All I could think about was the following: You are 22 or so years old and you are calling your mother Mommy and making her drive you to a professional school interview.

I know that was horribly judgmental of me to think as he might have had a real reason that he could not drive. But it made me ponder if she was going to drive him to medical school every day too. Perhaps she is going to sit outside the anatomy lab as well?

The closest I came to being driving to a medical school interview was being driven to the MCAT and then being driven past a school where I was going to be interviewing.

 

[familyaerospace]

@gyngyn people really do that?

Yes, someone on SDN have offered to pay to have me write their primaries and secondaries. The offer was 5K for the primary and up to 30 secondaries. I told them I want their real name and the school list they are applying to. Amazing how fast the offer vanished when I asked for the names of the schools they were applying to (obviously I was going to turn them in after the money was collected). Pity, could have used the 5K. ;-)

 

[aprimenumber]

You would be amazed. On the interview trail, I have actually pondered how some people get out of their house in the morning.

As for my contribution to this thread.

Last year when I was interviewing at MCG, someone who was finishing his undergrad at Harvard informed us that his Mommy drove him to the interview and was going to pick him up so that he didn't have to drive the few miles from his house.

All I could think about was the following: You are 22 or so years old and you are calling your mother Mommy and making her drive you to a professional school interview.

I know that was horribly judgmental of me to think as he might have had a real reason that he could not drive. But it made me ponder if she was going to drive him to medical school every day too. Perhaps she is going to sit outside the anatomy lab as well?

The closest I came to being driving to a medical school interview was being driven to the MCAT and then being driven past a school where I was going to be interviewing.

It's more the "Mommy" part that bothers me a little. The being dropped off part isn't necessarily that bad, like if the applicant is a college student who happens to be flying back to his/her hometown for an interview, and their family doesn't own too many cars, then it kind of makes sense.

 

[f4reignbeauty]

@familyaerospace couldn't we all! aha

Yeah... that's so interesting.

 

[familyaerospace]

It's more the "Mommy" part that bothers me a little. The being dropped off part isn't necessarily that bad, like if the applicant is a college student who happens to be flying back to his/her hometown for an interview, and their family doesn't own too many cars, then it kind of makes sense.

The Mommy part bothered me. There were better ways to say it.

Example : Well, I paarked my caaar in havaaard yaaard and flew in and despite only living down the street, my mother offered to pick me up and drop me off."

 

[caffeinemia]

I don't have any idea what this guy meant, but it just makes me think of this.

"I want to say one word to you, just one word: Metrics."

Did he get in anywhere? Would make me feel a just little less safe if he did.

No my friend. The word was PLASTICS. And it was sooo right.

 

[breakintheroof]

No my friend. The word was PLASTICS. And it was sooo right.

Exactly how do you mean?

 

[cactus8910]

You would be amazed. On the interview trail, I have actually pondered how some people get out of their house in the morning.

As for my contribution to this thread.

Last year when I was interviewing at MCG, someone who was finishing his undergrad at Harvard informed us that his Mommy drove him to the interview and was going to pick him up so that he didn't have to drive the few miles from his house.

All I could think about was the following: You are 22 or so years old and you are calling your mother Mommy and making her drive you to a professional school interview.

I know that was horribly judgmental of me to think as he might have had a real reason that he could not drive. But it made me ponder if she was going to drive him to medical school every day too. Perhaps she is going to sit outside the anatomy lab as well?

The closest I came to being driving to a medical school interview was being driven to the MCAT and then being driven past a school where I was going to be interviewing.

Agh! I noticed something similar at an interview this cycle. After the interview day ended, I saw an applicant reunite with his parents in the lobby, just down the hall from the admissions office. They sat down and started going through the info packet right there! I mean, imagine if the dean had walked by and the parents introduced themselves. That's a great way to demonstrate that you're not a mature, independent adult. (Of course, the yellow tie with pandas on it didn't help either...)

 

[familyaerospace]

(Of course, the yellow tie with pandas on it didn't help either...)

Could be worse. I have two Scooby Doo neckties as well as another cartoon one that my daughter bought me. I didn't wear them to interviews though.

 

[amad01]

what was the result? Rejected, waitlisted, accepted?

WL, still alive haha. Although I firmly believe that answer dropped me from acceptance to WL