How to build rapport and stay calm during interview?

[mechtel]

I realize this is a very general question, but I was wondering if anyone could share any general advice about how to build rapport with an interviewer and remain calm. Any suggestions on how to read the person and get them to like you as a candidate?

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[JJMrK]

Just be yourself. If you're likable, the interviewer will like you.

 

[unleash500]

what if am not a likeable person?

 

[JJMrK]

Hope that your numbers make up for it?

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

I realize this is a very general question, but I was wondering if anyone could share any general advice about how to build rapport with an interviewer and remain calm. Any suggestions on how to read the person and get them to like you as a candidate?

Do you know how many books are written about this? If you have poor body language and rapport building skills (which developed over 20+ years), a post is not sufficient to curb a 20 year old habits.

I would recommend you Google Leil Lowndes on Amazon or something.

 

[mechtel]

I've read self-help books and have certainly developed some interpersonal skills over the years. I wanted to know if anyone had any constructive advice they've learned through the interview process. Any insights would be much appreciated!

 

[moonsovermyhamy]

Accepted!

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Take some MDMA. You won't have trouble chattin up anybody. 👍

 

[TheDuder]

Take some MDMA. You won't have trouble chattin up anybody. 👍

Great advice. "Just blow a big rail of cocaine before you walk in. You'll think that you did great!"

I haven't interviewed at med schools yet, but generally in interviews it's best to just be yourself and try to strike a relatively easy-going, conversational tone. Good luck!

 

[CCLCMer]

I realize this is a very general question, but I was wondering if anyone could share any general advice about how to build rapport with an interviewer and remain calm. Any suggestions on how to read the person and get them to like you as a candidate?

Interviewers are people, and there's no secret trick to building rapport with people. It's a matter of listening to them instead of focusing on yourself, and paying attention when they tell you what's important to them. That's not just true for interviews, but in general. As a physician, you will need to get patients to trust you enough to give you accurate and sensitive information. You can't do that if you're too busy talking at them instead of talking with them.

 

[TopSecret]

I realize this is a very general question, but I was wondering if anyone could share any general advice about how to build rapport with an interviewer and remain calm. Any suggestions on how to read the person and get them to like you as a candidate?

A good way to establish rapport is to be concerned with the other person's well-being and to express that concern with eye contact, especially when you're listening. It also helps to have self-deprecating humor to break the ice.

It's also okay to break eye contact from time to time when you're speaking. But you want to re-establish eye contact before you finish speaking because, otherwise, you would look disinterested and weak.

 

[amph119]

Before I hit the interview trail, my PI tossed me some advice. The words that most resonated with me were "humble and confident excitement." They want to see that you want to be there, but at the same time you don't want to seem cocky or anything.

Always start off with "thank you for your time, I'm really excited to be here" or something like that, practice your handshake, and make immediate eye contact with them when you first greet them.

Other than that, just be yourself with an appropriate amount of talkitaveness, you know how to do that, don't you?

 

[greatnt249]

I've read self-help books and have certainly developed some interpersonal skills over the years. I wanted to know if anyone had any constructive advice they've learned through the interview process. Any insights would be much appreciated!

Don't force it; if you can't be natural then you aren't doing it right.

 

[Gotaro]

take some mdma. You won't have trouble chattin up anybody. 👍

QFT. But not recommended.

 

[oaklandguy]

I find that drinking a 1/5th of vodka helps.

Vanilla Vodka + Coffee + Bailey's Irish Creme.
OR
Vanilla Vodka + Cream soda (or Root Beer).
OR
Regular Vodka + Beer + Pink Lemonade (preferably powdered).

Chase these with jungle juice and eat tons of licorice.

^ These things are the keys to success.

Best advice though, taking a public speaking class. If you can speak in front of a hundred people, you sure as heck can do well in a one-on-one setting. If you don't have the time to take a public speaking class before interviews I would just try to be loose, be yourself, not think about what you say too much cause it will get awkward, and practice interviews with your friends. If you have a pre-med club, find someone whose also applying and interview each other.

 

[LabMonster]

Hope that your numbers make up for it?

I like the "be yourself" approach. The faculty interviewing you have most likely interviewed many prospective candidates before you. Sell yourself, but be honest. If you get the "What is your greatest weakness?" don't answer, "Well, I require perfection in all my endeavors." Answer earnestly, truthfully, and thoughtfully. BS stinks, and it doesn't take an experienced interviewer to smell what you're shoveling.

Be yourself and be real; if you act like a donkey, it won't matter what your scores are.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

"Be yourself".... worst advice ever.


Should be "Be your BEST self". If for the last 20 years, you have bad eye contact, have bad posture, bad social skills, highly negative, poor rapport, then being yourself is a totally bad idea because you are doing the same bad habits over and over again. It doesn't mean be someone else or a totally different character, but there are universal traits that everyone should strive for. And if you haven't incorporated it, then you should

 

[LabMonster]

"Be yourself".... worst advice ever.

Should be "Be your BEST self". If for the last 20 years, you have bad eye contact, have bad posture, bad social skills, highly negative, poor rapport, then being yourself is a totally bad idea because you are doing the same bad habits over and over again. It doesn't mean be someone else or a totally different character, but there are universal traits that everyone should strive for. And if you haven't incorporated it, then you should

My question to you, ChemEngSoonMD is this: if you suck at all these things you've listed, should you be a physician?

Should you lie your way into medical school? If you attempt and succeed at masking your true self to an Adcom, it doesn't mean you've met some standard of human decency - it means you're an unethical a**hole. I don't want to work with those.

Be yourself. You will get accepted where you fit.

 

[oaklandguy]

My question to you, ChemEngSoonMD is this: if you suck at all these things you've listed, should you be a physician?

Should you lie your way into medical school? If you attempt and succeed at masking your true self to an Adcom, it doesn't mean you've met some standard of human decency - it means you're an unethical a**hole. I don't want to work with those.

Be yourself. You will get accepted where you fit.

You have to be yourself on your views on the questions they ask. But the way you carry yourself must be different than how you normally act. This is obvious just by the dress you wear. How many of us wear suits on a normal every-day basis? If we don't does that mean we should not be Doctors? Your personality and character should never change, but the way you carry yourself for an interview for medical school must be different than when you go grab a beer with your buddies for the same reason that you are different when on a first date than when you are on the fiftieth date. He's not saying not to be yourself from a personality standpoint, but he's saying to carry yourself in a more professional way than you would normally carry yourself. Speak with a wider vocabulary rather than speaking slang like you would with your friends/family. I have to agree with ChemEngSoonMD on this one.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

My question to you, ChemEngSoonMD is this: if you suck at all these things you've listed, should you be a physician?

Should you lie your way into medical school? If you attempt and succeed at masking your true self to an Adcom, it doesn't mean you've met some standard of human decency - it means you're an unethical a**hole. I don't want to work with those.

Be yourself. You will get accepted where you fit.

This is so far out of my reality that its not even worth a logical answer.

 

[LabMonster]

This is so far out of my reality that its not even worth a logical answer.

Likely why you're on probationary status.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

Likely why you're on probationary status.

I got mad at someone for making a post about "whats a standard deviation"

 

[LXS17]

I got mad at someone for making a post about "whats a standard deviation"

if you get mad at someone just for that, do you think that you will have the patience to deal with suffering patients as well as explaining the same information over and over again to their families?

one of my friends got that question during his interview after he said he doesnt like uninformed people.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

if you get mad at someone just for that, do you think that you will have the patience to deal with suffering patients as well as explaining the same information over and over again to their families?

one of my friends got that question during his interview after he said he doesnt like uninformed people.

1. You're his friend, what does that say about you?
2. Not all patients have a science background, thats acceptable. All aspiring doctors should. If a janitor asks a science question, I'll gladly answer it patiently in layman's terms. If a pHD graduate in math asks a question about whats whats cos (90), I'm not going to be happy about answering it.

Going back to studying.

 

[oaklandguy]

if you get mad at someone just for that, do you think that you will have the patience to deal with suffering patients as well as explaining the same information over and over again to their families?

one of my friends got that question during his interview after he said he doesnt like uninformed people.

It would be a horrible decision to bring up getting probationary status on SDN due to getting angry at someone not understanding standard deviation (which can be confusing to people) in a medical-school interview.

If you are on the internet you can google standard deviation. Patients will be in a hospital setting and you will be getting paid to help and inform them. It's probably a lot easier to be patient towards a patient than towards someone who easily can access the information yet still chooses to ask about it in an online forum. I cannot agree with nor promote ChemEngSoonMD's actions, but understand why he acted that way.

 

[LXS17]

It would be a horrible decision to bring up getting probationary status on SDN due to getting angry at someone not understanding standard deviation (which can be confusing to people) in a medical-school interview.

oh, you misunderstood me. I was looking out for chemengsoon. if he gets angry over something that trivial, it's most likely going to show during his interviews.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

oh, you misunderstood me. I was looking out for chemengsoon. if he gets angry over something that trivial, it's most likely going to show during his interviews.

Thanks for looking out for me 🙄. Don't worry, when I sign of SDN, I put my RL face on. No more derailing the thread. I'm going back to study.

 

[oaklandguy]

oh, you misunderstood me. I was looking out for chemengsoon. if he gets angry over something that trivial, it's most likely going to show during his interviews.

He won't be being himself during the interview. No need to worry about mocking the interviewers intelligence.

 

[LabMonster]

We were talking about maintaining cool with interviewers and establishing rapport. Well, we were initially.

I said "Be yourself."

ChemEngSoonMD said "Be your BEST self."

Others threw in also, but we've never given any way to "keep cool."

#1 - Don't take your dad's Beta blocker.
#2 - Be yourself, your best self. If you're not worried about making a 'false self' you'll be more calm.
#3 - Watch the caffeine. Starbucks will make you stink.
#4 - Really - be a human, a person and talk to people; get a feel for the place and go into your interview relaxed.

My advice.
You'll always get the sympathetic storm - know it's coming and use it.

The thing that got me through interviews, and the thing I'll be using during residency interviews this winter = have fun. It is fun when you shift your perspective 😉

 

[mechtel]

Please explain what the "sympathetic storm" is. Thank you for all for advice! Any other insights from the trail? 🙂

I think the advice about empathizing with interviewer and making them feel comfortable--much like you would do with patients--was particularly poignant. Thanks CCLCMer!

 

[dw2158]

smile. it will relax you and make you seem approachable and nice. even if you don't feel like it, slap a smile on your face.

My question to you, ChemEngSoonMD is this: if you suck at all these things you've listed, should you be a physician?

Should you lie your way into medical school? If you attempt and succeed at masking your true self to an Adcom, it doesn't mean you've met some standard of human decency - it means you're an unethical a**hole. I don't want to work with those.

Be yourself. You will get accepted where you fit.

am i crazy, or was ChemEngSoonMD not referring to himself in his post? LabMonster, i think you may have jumped the gun on that one...

 

[DendWrite]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenaline#Actions_in_the_body

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

smile. it will relax you and make you seem approachable and nice. even if you don't feel like it, slap a smile on your face.



am i crazy, or was ChemEngSoonMD not referring to himself in his post? LabMonster, i think you may have jumped the gun on that one...

I did have bad posture from working in front of the computer all the time haha. Not anymore, deadlifting cured it.

 

[TopSecret]

I got mad at someone for making a post about "whats a standard deviation"

Most people in college who are graded on a curve know what a standard deviation is...