Advise for interviewers?

[Atl21]

---

Members do not see this ad.

HOw do you guys practice for interview? Any comments and advices would be nice! tHANK YOU

 

[omnione]

Perhaps the career center at your school has a service for mock interviews. If you go that route, then just make sure that you practice both open-file and closed-file even though most pharmacy schools go the closed-file route.

Also, use SDN's Interview Feedback section to look up past questions. You can even compile a huge list of questions for your mock interviews. Just remember not to get into the habit of memorizing answers as adcoms will detect any rehearsed answers. You really want to practice being yourself while conveying your desire to go into pharmacy.

 

[binghamkid]

HOw do you guys practice for interview? Any comments and advices would be nice! tHANK YOU

Another good way to practice is in front of a full-body mirror. Have some prepped questions in front of you, and watch how you act while you are speaking. Do you use facial expressions that are involuntary? Are you fidgeting a lot? When you speak, do you notice your mouth not moving? These little things can really add up during an interview. How you work the audience is a key element in communication.

To practice content, I would first sit down and brainstorm. Think about why you really want to be a pharmacist, what your moral and ethical priorities are, and what you think the profession is going to be like while you're in school and when you get out of school. All of these considerations form the basis of knowledge for your answers to any question they may ask. Think about any circumstances/weaknesses/strengths that you may feel you need to talk about.

Don't write out your responses word-for-word; I can tell you that admissions committees can DEFINITELY tell if your answers are rehearsed. Have guidelines so you can organize your thoughts and sort out what you need to say. You don't need picture perfect speaking skills. They definitely help, but if you act like a robot in your interview, you won't go very far.

Finally, practice practice practice. If you aren't comfortable and natural in an interview, get practice like omnione said through mock interviews. Friends, family members, and even faculty members who you know can actually serve as people who can evaluate you. What needs to come across in that 1 to 2 hour process is the real you. Your personality, your character, and your knowledge all needs to come together at that one point in time. Everyone gets nervous during the interview process; we all know that. Your job is just to showcase who the real YOU is. You've already gotten to the interview! you don't need to impress people with your GPA and your PCAT =) rest assured it's all on file. You just need to show us that you are the proper fit for our school. Are you professional? Do you work well in a team? Can you lead and follow? These are just some things to consider =)

 

[Utterdevotion]

HOw do you guys practice for interview? Any comments and advices would be nice! tHANK YOU

I'd search for more threads on this topic as well...but here are two links:

the FAQ sticky goes over essays:
Essay Link

I wrote a post awhile back about interviews: Workshop Link

 

[Atl21]

thank you all!

 

[fenixtnlfan]

We recently had the dean of the pharmacy school here come talk to us at a pre-pharm meeting. He said the most common note interviewers make about candidates is that they sound rehearsed, which isn't the best positive. So rehearse but keep it spontaneous. I know this is going to be a hard one for me because I tend not to form the best of sentences when I'm nervous. Thankfully I've gotten better as I have practiced giving speeches and such.

 

[aboveliquidice]

Look at the Mods & asst. mods attack... haahahah - Is that a question I read??? Let me assist!!!!!!!

Fo' shizzle - SDN pre pharm has the BEST mod team ever 😀

~above~

To the OP - if somehow it snuck through the cracks - check out the Interview feedback section - reading other people's experiences helped me a great deal.

 

[WhiteSnows]

HOw do you guys practice for interview? Any comments and advices would be nice! tHANK YOU

You should interview your friend to see how he or she responses to that question. Learn from them.