APPIC Interview - How to know if the interview went well or not?

[abouttobeadoctor]

Hi there! I feel so lost. To be honest, this past academic year has been a rollercoaster and a half, and honestly, the interviews feel like a blur too because I feel like I cannot assess them properly. In the past, I have been able to be confident in my interviews (for jobs or graduate schools) and do relatively well on them, but this interview season feels like another beast all together. Do you all have any advice on how to tell if the interview went well or not? And also, if you matched into your top site, even though you felt iffy about the interview?

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[spacegiraffe]

Honestly, beyond considering how you might answer certain questions similarly or differently for future interviews, I would really recommend not trying to evaluate your own interview performance and instead focus on how you felt about the sites. If you overthink your own performance and rank based on how you think sites will rank you, you may miss out. Also, a lot of sites have applicants ranked beforehand and many rankings don’t change substantially following the interviews. Rank your sites in order of your true preference!

 

[GregK]

I want to emphatically support SpaceGiraffe's message to rank in order of your true preference. While I can appreciate that you'd like to know how your interviews went, that's often extremely difficult to do. The only way to really know is to ask, and it's fine to ask for feedback from a Training Director (although it's probably best to wait until a bit later in the process); some will provide feedback and others choose not to do so (or are told not to do so by their HR departments). But it doesn't hurt to ask.

As you may remember from my recent MATCH-NEWS messages, you should NEVER take into account your perceived chances at getting into a site when constructing your Rank Order List. So, for example, if you think you totally bombed the interview at your top choice site, and it remains your top choice, you should absolutely rank it #1. Doing so won't lower your chances of being matched to any other site on your list if your top choice doesn't work out.

So, as Space Giraffe stated, ranking in order of YOUR true preferences is key. To do otherwise can jeopardize your getting the best possible match.

Greg Keilin

 

[psych.meout]

Greg is lying to you. If it went well, the TD will give you one of these at the end of the day:

 

[summerbabe]

Do you all have any advice on how to tell if the interview went well or not?

I try to be warm and wish everybody good luck with the process at the end of every individual interview. But I hope that I'm not conveying anything specific beyond trying to be appreciative of having had the opportunity to chat.

Plus, for sites like mine that score via standardized rubrics, I will do my scoring after the interview concludes so I won't even know how somebody officially did until later. Plus our site does 2 individual interviews and our training director won't even get all of the final data/ratings until days or weeks after the interview day.

Some people may connect really well with their interviewer so they feel really positive but their content can be lacking. Or the interview may feel 'cold' interpersonally but you're actually nailing every question and be rated as stellar. So basically, there are way too many factors to make any sort of accurate prediction.

Also my program's final ranked list aggregates the application and the interview with significantly more weight placed on application materials (other sites may vary).

I've generally found that how my site ranks pre-interview and post-interview usually doesn't change massively. If somebody was lacking in a core competency compared to most of our pool but kills the interview, they will likely receive a small bump but that bump won't overcome something like poor research experience. Or if somebody has a really solid and well-rounded application but is only OK at interviewing, they might drop a few spots (if any) in the ultimate ranked list.

So please rank based on how you feel about the site and ask questions if you're feeling uncertain about anything or have come to realize that you need more info to feel more confident about properly ranking a site. Good luck!

 

[Indiana_Jane]

As others have stated, ranked based on how you feel about the site. I thought I did terribly during my first interview, and it was at a site that I loved. I ranked it lower than I probably should have (it wasn’t my #1, but top five). I later learned that I was ranked in the top at the site. Point being, rank based on what YOU want and do not try to interpret how you think you did.

 

[abouttobeadoctor]

Thank you all for your responses! It eases my anxiety considerably to know that I should not worry as much about how I think it went because it is hard to know and there are several other factors. I will rank it as my first still then

 

[psych.meout]

Thank you all for your responses! It eases my anxiety considerably to know that I should not worry as much about how I think it went because it is hard to know and there are several other factors. I will rank it as my first still then

Yep, just rank them based on how you truly feel about the interview and the overall program. Not only will that mean you're more likely to enjoy working at that site and have it meet your training goals, but you're also probably more likely to match there because you feel the fit is so good.

 

[borne_before]

The headache test! How do you feel after the interview?

Ask your loved ones how you sounded after your interview at a place. Were you stoked? Did there seem to be any places you were more excited about by your voice?

Ask them where you seemed more enthusiastic or surprised about.

Your loved ones will know based your affect/nonverbals/etc.

Did you have a headache after?

 

[psych.meout]

The headache test! How do you feel after the interview?

Ask your loved ones how you sounded after your interview at a place. Were you stoked? Did there seem to be any places you were more excited about by your voice?

Ask them where you seemed more enthusiastic or surprised about.

Your loved ones will know based your affect/nonverbals/etc.

Did you have a headache after?

Dis u?

 

[psychconsultant]

Honestly, beyond considering how you might answer certain questions similarly or differently for future interviews, I would really recommend not trying to evaluate your own interview performance and instead focus on how you felt about the sites. If you overthink your own performance and rank based on how you think sites will rank you, you may miss out. Also, a lot of sites have applicants ranked beforehand and many rankings don’t change substantially following the interviews. Rank your sites in order of your true preference!

As a former senior psychologist at an APA-accredited internship/postdoc site in NYC, I agree that most applicants are ranked beforehand, and the interview is mostly used to assess social dynamics (will this person fit in here). Additionally, the majority of successful applicants are internal candidates or live in the local area, because the stress of relocating to NYC is usually too much for interns.