Interview Expectations

[Greencircle]

Hello, all.

Recently, I have received interview offers from my applied institutions in upstate New York (two public) and North Carolina (one private). Having completed two bachelor degrees in both chemistry and biology as well as a minor in biochemistry, I have been nervous about my outlook on the interview based on my first PCAT score ranked in the 39th percentile.

An admission advisor of the last institution that I have applied asked me, via e-mail, about my A & P II grade for the past Spring Term; however, I replied to the person by informing that I could not provide a letter grade because I have not heard back from my professor who lectures a related class section that I enrolled. Although, I should have informed the advisor that the professor has assigned an incomplete status to my grade for the course. The advisor has not yet offered me a day when I may interview the private institute's admission committee.

Although I have read a section in a Kaplan prep book about what to expect from an interview, I would like to know of personal experiences from pharmacy students who were former interviewees and succeeded in the interview process.

What traits must I present to an interview? How should I present myself as an excellent candidate?

Generally, I am an introvert and dislike giving impromptu responses in interviews; instead, I prefer preparational types. However, if I feel passionate about responding to a specific topic, then I would gladly do so in a thoughtful manner.

What are your thoughts? I will consider all suggestions.

Sorry for the long text.

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[BC_89]

1) Dress Professional

2) Minimize fidget motions

3) Stay precise and communicate clearly

Put on a friendly front and be confident. No one can teach you how to approach a question other than giving your honest answer. This is the best way to test your critical skills and you should practice with another individual to play this part to a "T" … Start with these questions then practice with the hyperlink I sent out.

List of Questions:

1) Tell me about yourself (in other words: highlight your accomplishments and activities as a student and/or preparations leading up to academics)

2) Why Pharmacy?

3) What do you believe are the vital roles of a pharmacist?

4) What draws your attention to this pharmacy program? (vs another program)

5) What experiences do you have in a pharmacy setting? (ie have you worked as a technician in outpatient and inpatient settings)

6) Tell me of a time you had to take on a leadership role. How did you resolve any of the problems you encountered?

7) What are your strengths? If you had to name a weakness you have what would it be?

8) Wat makes you stand out from your peers and other applicants?

9) You walk into a hospital room and a patient is arguing with the doctor about his/her medication. How would you approach this situation and resolve it?

http://www.pharmacyschoolhq.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/175-Pharmacy-School-Interview-Questions.pdf

 

[Jungkookie]

some pharm scenario questions too for future readers of this thread!

Scenario - Selling Syringes Without a Prescription
You are a pharmacist at a small, independent pharmacy. A patient approaches your counter and requests needles and syringes. They do not present a prescription, and based on the records you can access, they are not receiving treatment for diabetes. Do you sell the syringes or not?

Scenario - Ethical Sources of Funding
You are the CEO of a large pharmacy chain that is struggling to generate funds. You are approached by a famous fast food company that is willing to meet all of your financial demands in exchange for opening a chain store in a few of your pharmacies. What will you do?

and more questions and answers I found on this page!!

 

[Coleorlo]

I just recently had my interview about three weeks ago and was accepted into the school that following week.

From my recent personal experience:
1. Wear a suit. Too many of the male and female applicants I felt didn’t dress appropriately for the interview - so much so that I had one of the P4 student come up to me multiple times and compliment me on my attire. So wear a suit.

2. Practice, then practice some more. If you have difficulty giving spot-on answers then make sure you right down and memorize responses for the most commonly asked pharmacy school interview questions. By preparing, and preparing some more you shouldn’t be startled by any question they throw at you. This will also elude confidence even if you don’t think you have much. Here are some the questions I was asked:

Why pharmacy?

Can you tell us about a time when you were part of a group or team and some of the members were different from you. How did you coop with this?

What do you think is the most pressing issue facing pharmacist today?

3. Don’t focus a lot on the written response question. You won’t know what you’re writing about until you go in the room and actually sit down and look at the prompt. Just study up on present pharmacy issues (which you should be doing already) and write some practice prompts and you’ll be fine.

4. Ask A LOT of questions. One thing that I think made me stand out was that I asked many interesting and relevant questions to the professors and P4 students about the current issues in pharmacy today. For example,
What’s your opinion on the job market in the next four years? (It’s suppose to stagnant)
Are there any programs to help students get jobs after graduating?
Where do you see the profession transitioning too in the next four years?


If you feel like you’re an introvert then try to step outside you’re boundaries a bit. At my interview they put us in teams and made us do a team exercise to see if we weren’t some super shy introvert person that can’t work with people. Because as a pharmacist you’ll have to work with and communicate with multiple people in different settings throughout the day. So try and work on that.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[JustFillIt]

There is no more room for introverts in pharmacy anymore.

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

There is no more room for introverts in pharmacy anymore.

There is no room. Period.

OP have you not been reading this forum. Doesn't matter what you've done in undergrad nor what you do in pharmacy school, the chances of you getting a job after graduating is rapidly approaching zero. If you majored and minored in multiple science degrees, you should be able to figure out what your outcome would be based on current statistics and predictions.

Go find another profession.