Advice for Group Interviews

[Jdario86]

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So I’ll be going on my first GROUP interview for pharmacy school and I need some tips and advice. To those who’ve been on group interviews, are there any good tips and advice you can give me?

Are there any things that one can do in a one-on-one interview that you cannot do in a group interview?

Are we allowed to ask questions to other interviewees during the group interview?

Thanks!

 

[Jammerdez1]

Couple of things:

1) Try and be the first one to answer at least once during the group interview.

2) Don't repeat answers. If you don't answer first, use the time the other people are answering to come up with a unique answer. Since there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, finding a unique answer is not difficult, especially if you've prepared for the interview.

3) Don't interrupt other people's answers! (Might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised.)

 

[calisoca]

Couple of things:

1) Try and be the first one to answer at least once during the group interview.

2) Don't repeat answers. If you don't answer first, use the time the other people are answering to come up with a unique answer. Since there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, finding a unique answer is not difficult, especially if you've prepared for the interview.

3) Don't interrupt other people's answers! (Might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised.)

Great advice. I'll add some...

1) Don't overpower your peers when responding (ie: take up most of the time). They want to see how you work with your peers, and somebody who runs their mouth and doesn't let anybody else speak is almost surely going to the waitlist or rejection pile.

2) Answer the question that is asked! This sounds stupid but in my group interview people went off on the strangest tangents and a large part of your evaluation is can you answer what is asked of you in a concise manner.

3) same point as Jammerdez, do NOT interrupt others for any reason. It does sound silly but people do it alllll the time. I did it in a job interview when I was in highschool and was rejected sooooo fast.

4) From a strategic standpoint, sit in the middle seat as opposed to an end. Just in case they ask questions from one end to the other you will have 2 or 3 people ahead of you answering which gives you time to formulate your own answer. If they ask for volunteers (like they did in mine) go first once or twice but not every time, it might come off as overpowering.

5) If you are afraid somebody else is going to take your answer (and I hear this complaint all the time) then your answers are not unique enough to begin with. Be prepared with answers that only you could answer with; make yourself shine.

 

[bluesickle]

Are there times when people speak at the same time and then someone has to yield to the other person? I think I would prefer it to be more structured.

I'm envisioning a group of students sitting in a round table with the interviewer but for those who've been on group interviews, how is everything situated?

 

[Sparda29]

At Touro, the group interview was the first thing, it was the board room and the set up was basically like one of those long office tables, worked like a circle. We first talked to Assistant Dean's Assistant, Assistant Dean, the Dean popped by for a little bit.

My advice would be to be yourself, don't try to be the center of attention, and tell the truth. Making up stuff will just make you even more nervous since your brain will have to work much harder. LOL, I think that for part of the interview, the candidate should be in a CATScan, while the interviewers are in the other room and ask questions over the microphone, that way they can look for any activity in the limbic system(part needed for lying)

After that, we pretty much went to the individual interviews and came back later for a group assignment, I gotta admit that ours was a bit weird. Basically, the situation was that we were in a boat crash on some deserted island and we had to decide the top 12 supplies needed to survive, write down your individual answers and then collaborate with the group and have a group decision on that.

 

[Jammerdez1]

At Touro, the group interview was the first thing, it was the board room and the set up was basically like one of those long office tables, worked like a circle. We first talked to Assistant Dean's Assistant, Assistant Dean, the Dean popped by for a little bit.

My advice would be to be yourself, don't try to be the center of attention, and tell the truth. Making up stuff will just make you even more nervous since your brain will have to work much harder. LOL, I think that for part of the interview, the candidate should be in a CATScan, while the interviewers are in the other room and ask questions over the microphone, that way they can look for any activity in the limbic system(part needed for lying)

After that, we pretty much went to the individual interviews and came back later for a group assignment, I gotta admit that ours was a bit weird. Basically, the situation was that we were in a boat crash on some deserted island and we had to decide the top 12 supplies needed to survive, write down your individual answers and then collaborate with the group and have a group decision on that.

Now see... that's an awesome group interview/session. I would love to have an interview like that.