Interview help - religion

[CRCprofessional]

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Hi all-

I have some interviews coming up that I have been practicing for. These will be my first ones, so I'm learning the dos and don'ts. In some of my answers, I want to mention my faith (ie- questions regarding difficult times, support, etc.). What is proper protocol for this? Steer clear to be safe or is it ok? (No specific religious discussion necessary here...)

Thanks!

 

[BabyDoc86]

Hi all-

I have some interviews coming up that I have been practicing for. These will be my first ones, so I'm learning the dos and don'ts. In some of my answers, I want to mention my faith (ie- questions regarding difficult times, support, etc.). What is proper protocol for this? Steer clear to be safe or is it ok? (No specific religious discussion necessary here...)

Thanks!

I didn't necessarily mention my faith directly in interviews, but I did mention my volunteer work with hospice, my church, etc. and left it at that. However, at Marian I did mention my faith since the school has a religious undertone, even though they say it is not interwoven into the curriculum at all. I guess my advice is to just be careful with it, since there may be an opportunity to offend someone.

 

[Member000000]

I didn't necessarily mention my faith directly in interviews, but I did mention my volunteer work with hospice, my church, etc. and left it at that. However, at Marian I did mention my faith since the school has a religious undertone, even though they say it is not interwoven into the curriculum at all. I guess my advice is to just be careful with it, since there may be an opportunity to offend someone.

Pretty much this. If the school has a religious affiliation, I do not see why you shouldn't. However, I'd still be careful as to not lean too heavily on it. If they are not religiously affiliated, I would suggest minimal mentions such as in the cases BabyDoc stated.

 

[Mosonik]

I didn't necessarily mention my faith directly in interviews, but I did mention my volunteer work with hospice, my church, etc. and left it at that. However, at Marian I did mention my faith since the school has a religious undertone, even though they say it is not interwoven into the curriculum at all. I guess my advice is to just be careful with it, since there may be an opportunity to offend someone.

I agree with this. There is I think a subtle art that can be used to doing this. I wanted to be sure I could mention aspects of my faith which were extremely relevant to certain questions that they had pertaining to my background and experiences but I didn't dwell on it. If you can find a way to include it so that a gets the attention of the interviewer but does not make them uncomfortable you should be good.

 

[MedPR]

Hi all-

I have some interviews coming up that I have been practicing for. These will be my first ones, so I'm learning the dos and don'ts. In some of my answers, I want to mention my faith (ie- questions regarding difficult times, support, etc.). What is proper protocol for this? Steer clear to be safe or is it ok? (No specific religious discussion necessary here...)

Thanks!

3 goals of interviewing.

1. Be likeable
2. Learn about the school
3. Understand that biases/discrimination is real even if people tell you it isn't.

If you are so religious that you come off as a fanatic, your interviewer might be turned off. Often your interviewer is your advocate to the adcom. You need them to love you.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[NurWollen]

As others have said, you don't want to come across as a fanatic, but if faith is a big part of who you are, you don't want to hide that. You want them to see who you are. If you have faith-based volunteer work, they might very well ask you about it. Talk about why it was important to you, but don't make it sound like it's the only reason you want to go into medicine. It's good to have a mixture of faith-based and non-faith based volunteer work on your app, because it helps you seem sincere without seeming like a fanatic.

 

[abolt18]

As others have said, you don't want to come across as a fanatic, but if faith is a big part of who you are, you don't want to hide that. You want them to see who you are. If you have faith-based volunteer work, they might very well ask you about it. Talk about why it was important to you, but don't make it sound like it's the only reason you want to go into medicine. It's good to have a mixture of faith-based and non-faith based volunteer work on your app, because it helps you seem sincere without seeming like a fanatic.

+1

I agree with this completely. I've mentioned my faith in every interview, been accepted at all 3. For me when asked about why DO, in part of my answer I mentioned that I grew up very religious and that spirituality plays an essential part in my life. I then explained how I loved that osteopathic medicine tries to really focus on mind, body and spirit as I've seen that one's mental, physical, and spiritual well-being can play a pretty essential role in someone's overall health.

Also I served a 2 year proselyting mission in France for my church from age 19-21 and put that on my app (mostly just put the service and leadership, didn't talk about proselyting) as that was 2 years of my life that I spent learning and doing a LOT. This also came up in 2 of my 3 interviews and was talked about briefly. So Just show them it's an important part of your life, but don't start preaching to them or anything 👍

 

[gc91]

I go to a Jesuit university so when they asked why DO I mentioned that Jesuits follow similar to principles in their approach to education that Osteopathic philosophy does to medicine. And I've also done service trips to a religious affilated establishment so I mentioned that as well. And when I talked about rural medicine I think I mentioned something about going to the same church as the doctors I shadowed. I would try to be general rather then specific, try to avoid using specific identifiers. Don't say "God gets me through hard times" say "My faith helps me to overcome difficulty."

 

[Goro]

There's nothing wrong with discussing your faith. Just be honest. Loyola doesn't have a 100% Catholic class, and the Touros don't have 100% Jewish classes.

Hi all-

I have some interviews coming up that I have been practicing for. These will be my first ones, so I'm learning the dos and don'ts. In some of my answers, I want to mention my faith (ie- questions regarding difficult times, support, etc.). What is proper protocol for this? Steer clear to be safe or is it ok? (No specific religious discussion necessary here...)

Thanks!

 

[jp6285]

Similar to politics, I dont know that its a problem to mention it as long as it pertains to the discussion, but dont force it into the conversation. The last thing you want it to come off extreme

 

[zipnogg]

Hi all-

I have some interviews coming up that I have been practicing for. These will be my first ones, so I'm learning the dos and don'ts. In some of my answers, I want to mention my faith (ie- questions regarding difficult times, support, etc.). What is proper protocol for this? Steer clear to be safe or is it ok? (No specific religious discussion necessary here...)

Thanks!

Do not discuss unless asked.

 

[Night Hawk]

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[CRCprofessional]

Well, I am definitely not planning on bringing it up unless it is directly relevant to an answer that I have (ie- a difficult situation and how I got past it). I will be sure to tread lightly and mention it in passing so as not to offend anyone or go into an intense discussion.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Night Hawk]

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[CRCprofessional]

Best of luck! I attached a file with tons of interview questions in the "your toughest interview thread" that you're welcome to check out.

Thanks! It's nice to see on SDN people that are willing to help others out instead of put each other down 🙂 We're all in this together, right?

 

[abolt18]

Thanks! It's nice to see on SDN people that are willing to help others out instead of put each other down 🙂 We're all in this together, right?

Just to point out, those that said "don't mention it" are people who did not say anything about religion in their interview, and therefore do not have first-hand experience. As you see, all those that said go for it, have mentioned it/talked about it in their interviews without negative effects. But I think the overwhelming agreement is you can talk about religion and its influence in your life (you don't have to talk about God or your specific beliefs) but it's just one aspect of your life that has made you who you are. Show that.