How is Everyone Preparing for Interviews?

[koalabear]

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Hi guys,
I have a few interviews coming up and am really nervous for them. I am usually good at talking to people, but for some reason I totally choke and get tongue tied and really shy in interviews. I was wondering how everyone was preparing for interviews and if anyone has any tips/suggestions for me. Thanks!

 

[45408]

I'm planning on having my roommate or brother interview me with standard questions, and I'm also going to practice interviewing in Spanish (because I said I can speak it).

 

[baby4you]

I'm planning on having my roommate or brother interview me with standard questions, and I'm also going to practice interviewing in Spanish (because I said I can speak it).

seguro que no estas diciendo mentira? 😉

 

[Centinel]

Hice lo mismo. Aunque no hablo con fluidez perfecta, todavía creo que entiendo bastante para conversar con pacientes en el futuro.

A condición de que no dijéramos que hablamos perfectamente, ellos no expectarán fluidez completa, ¿verdad?

 

[willthatsall]

I'm just running up in there like whatever. And if I get asked a really hard question I'm just going to stare at him for a few seconds before saying, "Oh, did you say something?" Hopefully he'll forget by then.

 

[Labslave]

Hice lo mismo. Aunque no hablo con fluidez perfecta, todavía creo que entiendo bastante para conversar con pacientes en el futuro.

A condición de que no dijéramos que hablamos perfectamente, ellos no expectarán fluidez completa, ¿verdad?

Eso es lo que pienso yo....

 

[funshine]

wow, i'm glad i didn't indicate fluency in spanish even though I've taken 5+ years and my school considers me fluent. I can follow a written conversation in spanish, but I can't even come up w/ a typed spanish response 😳

 

[boathouse34]

I did a mock interview, which helped a LOT and I would suggest it strongly. I also am making a "cheat sheet" for each school I am interviewing at - pros and cons that I see so far, questions I want answered, and a few questions from SDN feedback that I want to make sure I can answer. That way I write down the info when it is fresh in my mind, look it over a couple times beforehand, and know what I am talking about when I go into the interview (I haven't actually tried this yet, but will do so later this week!)

good luck

 

[bwells46]

Hi guys,
I have a few interviews coming up and am really nervous for them. I am usually good at talking to people, but for some reason I totally choke and get tongue tied and really shy in interviews. I was wondering how everyone was preparing for interviews and if anyone has any tips/suggestions for me. Thanks!

I'm not preparing at all because the med school gods have thus far not smilied upon me 🙄

 

[MoosePilot]

Reading interview feedback, reading whatever paperwork I've sent them (AMCAS), thinking through what I might get asked, getting my clothes ready, just stuff like that.

I don't prepare for actual questions too much, because I tend to be a spontaneous person and I don't want to rattle it off like a robot.

 

[sequencer]

it's a really good idea to have a few stories ready to go-
have a few themes about yourself that you are wanting to get out there (like service, research, your hobbies, your interests)
and weave those into your stories- this way you can tell the interviewer something interesting about yourself in a way that they will want to listen to- tell them about your great service activity and what you got out of it in a narrative form rather than just saying i really liked the er at my local hospital

know what each school is looking for- research, community med, rural med, service and see how your attributes fit with those- be ready to highlight different things about yourself at different places- i'm saying lie or portray yourself as someone you're not but be sure to bring out the things about yourself that fit best with each school

read the news paper and know the current topics in medicine. know what the problems are and have opinions about how to solve them. and be prepared to admit when you are not informed enough to make anything other than a statement about your opinion/ perception

hope this helps- i did a lot of interviews feel free to pm me if you have questions

 

[humuhumu]

Hice lo mismo. Aunque no hablo con fluidez perfecta, todavía creo que entiendo bastante para conversar con pacientes en el futuro.

A condición de que no dijéramos que hablamos perfectamente, ellos no expectarán fluidez completa, ¿verdad?

Espero que no. Hablo bastante bien, pero me faltan muchas palabras que tienen que ver con la medicina y el cuidado de salud....

 

[baby4you]

aja, 😎
veo que tenemos muchisimas personas que hablan espanol,
ya no soy la unica, 😀

 

[45408]

yeah, I'm sure. It didn't ask if you were fluent in any other languages, just whether or not you can speak them. I took two years in HS and four semesters worth of Spanish in college, so I can read and speak, but I wouldn't brag about my abilities or anything.

 

[bwells46]

Je souhaite que je pourrais parler espagnol de sorte que j'aie pu comprendre ce que dans le monde vous peuplez dites

 

[waterlily]

i did a mock interview with a friend. And as I was telling a story that's emotional to me, I began sobbing. Boy, let's just say I'm glad I did that with her and not at a real interview! At least that prepares me to NOT use that story at interviews

 

[sfbear]

Interview feedback!! I copied the questions that were posted there into a word document, supplemented them with some of the standards, and then had my husband mock interview me. if you don't have someone to mock interview you, at least practice saying them outloud. in my experience, the questions in interview feedback were pretty much exactly what they asked me. On a side note, if you're flying, DO NOT check your suit or shoes. I almost did on my way to one interview but decided not to at the last minute. and guess what? my luggage took a detour and was a day late. The more you practice answering questions, the more comfortable you'll be. Best of luck!

 

[pseudoknot]

I did a mock interview with my school's premed advisor and watched it on video twice afterward. Other than that I didn't do much to prepare. I agree on the checked luggage issue; I actually just wore my suit on the flight, figuring that it was better to have a few hours' worth of wrinkles than to risk not having it arrive at all.

 

[Gauss]

get a small rollable carryon bag and garment bag for suits
most airlines (except southwest) will hang up your garment bag if you ask them to
jordan's trying to impress some hot stewardess with his suit and maybe get a free hotel room for the night
stud