Interview Portfolio

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GoldfishPharmD

GoldfishPharmD

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How necessary is it to bring a portfolio to the interview? I'm debating if I should make one or not.
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thephoenician88 said:
I think it's necessary. I'll bring extra CV, some paper, pen, my tablet?
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Do you mean like a portfolio binder? I meant like making a portfolio of all your presentations, journals clubs, drug monographs, etc. Sorry if that's what you meant, but it just sounded like you meant a binder. :D
 
thephoenician88 said:
well i was thinking leather portfolio

but writing assignment from each appe?

i guess i'll bring pt case + poster and presentations but otherwise...i think too much stuff would be just that, too much.
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xiphoid2010 said:
Journal clubs, drug info response, presentations, posters/pamphlets, drug monographs, etc. Here is where hospital rotations tend to result in much more stuff than retail. But that also support your interest in residency. Also included research, leadership stuff in there under a different section.

I bought a professional fabric, zippered, black, ringed folder, cost around $28. Sorry, didn't care to spend money on a leather one.

Organized mine this way:
Table of contents
CV with business card attched
Each rotation section in chronological order
Each rotation section with preceptor eval followed by most to least proud project
Thumb drive containing all the files
Final section with all the non-rotation works

Of course don't keep any HIPAA stuff in there

Yes it might be a bit of over kill, but I did want to have any regrets for not having tried hard enough.
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I'm bringing this here from the old thread.

I feel like it has a lot of good info, but again it's not everything I would bring. I would bring my pt cases, a couple presentations, I haven't done any major drug info/ monograph things but my presentation should help.
 
One site asked that I bring a portfolio with 4 samples of my work, so I'm just bringing 2 papers, 1 printed out Journal Club, 1 case presentation, and one care plan. I don't think they have to see every assignment i've done at every rotation. that seems like overkill. Just bring the ones you think best represent your abilities and work.
 
lactonerx said:
1 assignment from each of my APPEs
1 formal writing sample
Copies of my posters
thats all
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That sounds like a good plan. I was going to add a case about my "best" drug intervention from a patient and the outcome.
 
This is a dumb question but-other than your name and Pharm.D Candidate what do you put on the first page of the portfolio?
 
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balab said:
This is a dumb question but-other than your name and Pharm.D Candidate what do you put on the first page of the portfolio?
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Are you handing them the portfolio or just select documents from your stash when you bring it up/they ask for it?

I'll probably do the latter
 
I will be handing them a portfolio
 
lol...no, I am going to get it professionally printed and bound.
 
balab said:
lol...no, I am going to get it professionally printed and bound.
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Wow that's expensive. What I did for a portfolio last year was printing out my most impressive work that I've done on rotations and putting it in a binder. Didn't even pull it out once during interviews.
 
I've had two interviews so far and brought a portfolio to both. At the first program, pretty much every interviewer was interested and took time to page through my binder. I was also able to highlight some of my work using examples while answering questions. At the second interview, I didn't even unzip it the whole day. So it's really going to depend on the program. For me, it's worthwhile to have it and bring it along just in case.
 
Nottingham said:
I've had two interviews so far and brought a portfolio to both. At the first program, pretty much every interviewer was interested and took time to page through my binder. I was also able to highlight some of my work using examples while answering questions. At the second interview, I didn't even unzip it the whole day. So it's really going to depend on the program. For me, it's worthwhile to have it and bring it along just in case.
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exactly, something you have and bring to show, but i'm not going to make bound portfolio's. I'm running on empty here (bank acct).
 
I think it depends on which institution you're interviewing at. I think most places want to get to know you more than what you are capable of doing on paper. They already see that from your CV. Use this time to be comfortable with future colleagues! You can bring one just in case and if they ask you about something on your CV that relates to your portfolio, take it out. But if they don't ask you anything, I would leave it zipped up. At my last interview, they barely asked about the presentations I did and if they did, it was very briefly on the process of how I put it together, rather than what the content was.
 
I went without one and no one asked me anything about my CV. They just asked me questions about myself.
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
I went without one and no one asked me anything about my CV. They just asked me questions about myself.
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A part of that is to learn how to use it in a show and tell, make it fit naturally into your interview, not as a forced or forgotten aspect.

There will bound to be questions like: what's your favorite rotation. Use the portfolio to show them why as a part of your answer. This is also why you should schedule your least favorite residency site first to use as practice and familiarization. All is fair play.
 
xiphoid2010 said:
A part of that is to learn how to use it in a show and tell, make it fit naturally into your interview, not as a forced or forgotten aspect.

There will bound to be questions like: what's your favorite rotation. Use the portfolio to show them why as a part of your answer. This is also why you should schedule your least favorite residency site first to use as practice and familiarization. All is fair play.
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My second interview they asked me tons about my many projects, and I was confidently able to go into detail about my presentations/projects/activities. I didn't take out anything from my portfolio though. I don't know, does it take away that I didn't pull it out and hand it to them if I could tell them all the details?
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
My second interview they asked me tons about my many projects, and I was confidently able to go into detail about my presentations/projects/activities. I didn't take out anything from my portfolio though. I don't know, does it take away that I didn't pull it out and hand it to them if I could tell them all the details?
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Yes and no. Different modes. I remember when I was a resident. Our process involved 50% pre-interview (paper) matrix + 50% interview score., followed by a final meeting to make last minute adjustments. I was a tasked with doing a statistical analysisof what was the best predictor. Anyway,since the paper score was predetermined before the interview, anything that makes you stand out during the interview in a positive way can only help.

To speak frankly, don't hate me, at the VA, a good intern is all but assured a spot. The chief and assistant chiefs was able to speak up for their candidates without resistance and move them up significantly. The old addiage its who you know does matter. Although if you are a super star on paper, its makes overt opposition less likely.
 
A good intern is assured a spot??? Youre talking about people who rotate through VA? Isn't that biased and unfair then?
 
jyw003 said:
A good intern is assured a spot??? Youre talking about people who rotate through VA? Isn't that biased and unfair then?
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No, I'm talking about actual pharmacy interns. We had a good one and he was #1 on the ranking order by faaaaar. There was no discussion. We had 4 residency spots and his was assured. Unfair? Not really. He was a good intern and a good student 100% without any room for doubt. Who would question a sure winner?
 
xiphoid2010 said:
No, I'm talking about actual pharmacy interns. We had a good one and he was #1 on the ranking order by faaaaar. There was no discussion. We had 4 residency spots and his was assured. Unfair? Not really. He was a good intern and a good student 100% without any room for doubt. Who would question a sure winner?
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Agree...what is unfair? If you like the person and they applied...then you are free to rank them as high as you want.

Programs are not supposed to discuss ranking with candidates, but there is nothing wrong with the program deciding early on that this is the candidate they will rank #1. We had students that were interns at our program and they were the first to get interviews. It is about networking and putting your best foot forward in the opportunities you have. These students did that. It is hard to judge based on a short intervew or an application. These students have proved they are good. Trust me, some of the residents we think will be great based on interview/applications end up being duds. It is a crap shoot really.
 
karm12 said:
agree...what is unfair? If you like the person and they applied...then you are free to rank them as high as you want.

Programs are not supposed to discuss ranking with candidates, but there is nothing wrong with the program deciding early on that this is the candidate they will rank #1. We had students that were interns at our program and they were the first to get interviews. It is about networking and putting your best foot forward in the opportunities you have. These students did that. It is hard to judge based on a short intervew or an application. These students have proved they are good. Trust me, some of the residents we think will be great based on interview/applications end up being duds. It is a crap shoot really.
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+1
 
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