Help! Mentioned religion during my interview - red flag??

[PARPcleavage]

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I recently had an interview -

I was talking about my hospice volunteering experience - and then I stated "I an now interested in a relationship with the lord" - then I realize I shouldn't be talking about my religion and then quickly said "I am an adaptive individual - this is how this place has influenced and changed me."

Because I mentioned this "relationship with the lord" - do you think I have raised a red flag - because talking about religion during interview is a big no-no???

 

[ScholarStud]

The answer is, it depends. If your interviewer has some sort of chip on his or her shoulder towards religion, then yes you may have screwed yourself. What was his/her reaction like?

 

[PARPcleavage]

It was a no reaction.

 

[tarheel1408]

It was a no reaction.

It's part of an interviewer's job to be calm and collected and make you feel as calm as possible. There's no way to know how big of an impact it could have. Like the previous poster said, if your interviewer was strongly anti-religion then it may be an uphill battle for you. On the other hand, if your interviewer is also religious then it could be a little +1 for you. It's also important to note that if your interviewer has strong ethics then it could be a non-factor - as schools aren't supposed to discriminate based on religion.

 

[Lollygag]

As long as you didn't give the impression of being fanatic or overly zealous then you should be okay. I've heard of people mentioning their faith before in interviews-- the bottom line is there is a way to do it and a way not to do it. If you have an extreme atheist as an interviewer then sure it could hurt, but I think a decent portion of adcom's could separate their views and remain fairly objective. From what you described, it seems like it was not something you dwelled upon. If the rest of your interview went well, then I can't see that one comment being a deal breaker.

 

[def1]

You're fine.

Not to mention, if the school rejected you over your religion that is A) illegal and B) probably not a good school for you to attend.

 

[La Presse]

Don't be ashamed of the Lord. I am sure you will be fine.

 

[darkjedi]

As the saying goes, don't talk about politics, religion and money at the dinner table.

Refrain from talking about controversial things during your interview because you just don't know what beliefs your interviewer holds. You are playing russian roulette as far as discussing your personal beliefs as it has the potential to dramatically hurt you if your beliefs run contrary to your interviewers beliefs. In your case with religion, there is a significant proportion of the scientific community that hold agnostic or atheistic views and who may be steadfast in their beliefs.

While of course it is illegal to judge a person solely on political standings or religions beliefs, interviewers only write an overall assessment of you, which may be colored by their own judgements about your beliefs.

Just as you would never talk about how great Obama/Romney is for America with an interviewer you've never met before, you shouldn't assume that your interviewer shares the same religious beliefs in you.

That said, your passing reference will likely be barely noticed or not matter at all.