Interview Concern

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I attended my first and only interview this past Friday as a 8 hour away OOS applicant for a well- known school with high post-interview acceptance rate.

Looking back to it now... I am not sure what happened exactly.

My first interview went great as a friendly conversation as per what everyone had been saying at the school- students, faculty.

But when it came to the second interview, it was just strange. As soon as I walked into the room, the interviewer seemed very disinterested and hesitant. They explicitly said that they weren’t sure what to ask me.
I had come in prepared with the usual strength, weakness, challenge, why this school answers but none of those were asked. Instead the conversation revolved for 20 mins out of a 30 min imterview around why I was switching professions, still within the health care field, except I could sense some sort of underlying concern which I articulated well in my statement, secondaries, and repeatedly throughout this interview. I just felt like the interviewer did not consider me as a serious candidate nor did he like the answers I was giving or had their mind set before interview. Towards the end, it almost turned into a career advising session that I should stay in my field and reapply way into the future.

Has anyone gone through a similar experience and can shed some light?
 
shrangau12 said:
I attended my first and only interview this past Friday as a 8 hour away OOS applicant for a well- known school with high post-interview acceptance rate.

Looking back to it now... I am not sure what happened exactly.

My first interview went great as a friendly conversation as per what everyone had been saying at the school- students, faculty.

But when it came to the second interview, it was just strange. As soon as I walked into the room, the interviewer seemed very disinterested and hesitant. They explicitly said that they weren’t sure what to ask me.
I had come in prepared with the usual strength, weakness, challenge, why this school answers but none of those were asked. Instead the conversation revolved for 20 mins out of a 30 min imterview around why I was switching professions, still within the health care field, except I could sense some sort of underlying concern which I articulated well in my statement, secondaries, and repeatedly throughout this interview. I just felt like the interviewer did not consider me as a serious candidate nor did he like the answers I was giving or had their mind set before interview. Towards the end, it almost turned into a career advising session that I should stay in my field and reapply way into the future.

Has anyone gone through a similar experience and can shed some light?
Click to expand...

First and foremost, relax. Just from browsing on SDN, you can easily find many threads where interviewees felt that "the interview went terrible" and later, they were accepted. Just the same, I've read numerous threads on "my interview went so well, but I was rejected - wtf?" Point is, your assumption of how the interview went may be far from reality.

Second, I had a very, very similar experience this application cycle. It was actually my third interview and on the drive home, I remember thinking "wow, that really did not go how I planned." Overall, I felt like the interviewer and I just did not connect. He seemed kind of standoffish and seemed to be unimpressed with any answers I gave. Simply put, he made me feel very much how you are explaining - like I was not a serious candidate. Fast forward, I ended up getting accepted. Better yet, THAT INTERVIEWER was the one who called with the acceptance! In addition, as far as your feelings that the end turned into a "career advising session" where it was suggested you stay in your current field, perhaps the interviewer was just looking for you to express why you were moving to medicine from your current field.

Lesson - post-interview thoughts can be maddening. The interview likely went very different than you think. Wait until you get a response before you start considering what went wrong, when very possibly, nothing went wrong and you will be accepted. I wish you the best of luck!
 
Jdp00921 said:
First and foremost, relax. Just from browsing on SDN, you can easily find many threads where interviewees felt that "the interview went terrible" and later, they were accepted. Just the same, I've read numerous threads on "my interview went so well, but I was rejected - wtf?" Point is, your assumption of how the interview went may be far from reality.

Second, I had a very, very similar experience this application cycle. It was actually my third interview and on the drive home, I remember thinking "wow, that really did not go how I planned." Overall, I felt like the interviewer and I just did not connect. He seemed kind of standoffish and seemed to be unimpressed with any answers I gave. Simply put, he made me feel very much how you are explaining - like I was not a serious candidate. Fast forward, I ended up getting accepted. Better yet, THAT INTERVIEWER was the one who called with the acceptance! In addition, as far as your feelings that the end turned into a "career advising session" where it was suggested you stay in your current field, perhaps the interviewer was just looking for you to express why you were moving to medicine from your current field.

Lesson - post-interview thoughts can be maddening. The interview likely went very different than you think. Wait until you get a response before you start considering what went wrong, when very possibly, nothing went wrong and you will be accepted. I wish you the best of luck!
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your insightful reply! It definitely gets nerve-wracking but hopefully there is some good news in the next week or so.
 
shrangau12 said:
I attended my first and only interview this past Friday as a 8 hour away OOS applicant for a well- known school with high post-interview acceptance rate.

Looking back to it now... I am not sure what happened exactly.

My first interview went great as a friendly conversation as per what everyone had been saying at the school- students, faculty.

But when it came to the second interview, it was just strange. As soon as I walked into the room, the interviewer seemed very disinterested and hesitant. They explicitly said that they weren’t sure what to ask me.
I had come in prepared with the usual strength, weakness, challenge, why this school answers but none of those were asked. Instead the conversation revolved for 20 mins out of a 30 min imterview around why I was switching professions, still within the health care field, except I could sense some sort of underlying concern which I articulated well in my statement, secondaries, and repeatedly throughout this interview. I just felt like the interviewer did not consider me as a serious candidate nor did he like the answers I was giving or had their mind set before interview. Towards the end, it almost turned into a career advising session that I should stay in my field and reapply way into the future.

Has anyone gone through a similar experience and can shed some light?
Click to expand...
You may think that you covered this ground, but I suspect that your interviewer clearly did not.

The interviewer may have had some negative experience with a different career switcher. or wasn't convinced that you weren't running TO medicine so much as running AWAY from another area.

And as jdp wisely points out, most people are terrible judges of their own interviews.
 
Goro said:
You may think that you covered this ground, but I suspect that your interviewer clearly did not.

The interviewer may have had some negative experience with a different career switcher. or wasn't convinced that you weren't running TO medicine so much as running AWAY from another area.

And as jdp wisely points out, most people are terrible judges of their own interviews.
Click to expand...

I completely understand. It is a sensitive topic that I knew would always come up in interviews, secondaries, and definitely mention able on the PS so I have been extra prepared in answering it receiving opinions of career advisers, mock interviewers, and current medical students in how to answer it from all sorts of angles. But it just completely dominated the conversation so much that there was no room to move beyond that despite me trying to put a positive light and truly explain what I had learned and how it fits into being a physician. However, I guess we are all at the mercy of the interviewers and their personal thoughts and experiences as well as our own interview nervousness which can really take the interview in different directions than anticipated.
 
If you had only one interview as of late February, and you are still on a waitlist after that interview, it is likely that there is something more about the last cycle that led to your lack of success. Reflect on that and make a plan so that you can move on.
 
Goro said:
Oh???
MD - Accepted but...
Click to expand...
Man you're fast! But seriously if this person is being dishonest, then they're really really slow. Who. Lies. Like. That?
what.jpg
 
I thought to update this old thread as closure to the interview situation but got later to it than intended. My apologies if it seems as a "lie".

In the meantime, yes, I did obtain other interviews and was finally accepted to a program of my choice.

Thank you all for your recommendations/ insights on the original question.
 
shrangau12 said:
I thought to update this old thread as closure to the interview situation but got later to it than intended. My apologies if it seems as a "lie".

In the meantime, yes, I did obtain other interviews and was finally accepted to a program of my choice.

Thank you all for your recommendations/ insights on the original question.
Click to expand...
Well then congrats! Sorry for saying sorry when I thought you were waitlisted earlier to then turn around and insinuate that you were dishonest. I'm two-faced sometimes😀
sorry.jpg
 
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