Interview Question

[SquirrelsEverywhere]

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Thanks for everyone's advice.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hi everyone, I know the advice has always been to avoid over-thinking your interviews, but it seems like I am quite bad at following this wisdom. At one of my interviews, I said that the reason I wanted to be a physician specifically (instead of another profession in medicine) was because there will always be something more for me to learn, and opportunities for me to improve myself in my career. I didn't think much about this during the interview, but afterwards I realized that my response could have come off as arrogant or condescending, as in I didn't think other professions in medicine also offered continuous learning and growth opportunities. This is definitely not what I intended to say, but I realize now that it could have been interpreted this way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I apologize if I'm being neurotic, but this was one of my favorite schools, and I couldn't help but think that I sunk my chances because of this.

This wasn't picked up in any of your mock interviews?

 

[SquirrelsEverywhere]

.

 

[Goro]

On the surface, OP, your answer doesn't sound arrogant in the least.

Chill

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree. It doesn't really come off as arrogant to me. Every profession fits the description of lifelong learning and growth. It's just like saying you want to help people.

 

[Fluidity of Movement]

The above two are the experts but it's difficult to talk about yourself and all of the great things you did and sell yourself to someone without at least one person thinking you are at least a little conceited. There is a fine art to it but at the end of the day, you won't be able to please everyone. It's one thing I hate about interviews because talking about your accomplishments in general could be construed as arrogant, and language is tricky especially when you are passionate and proud about the work you have done.

One trick I learned is to always share the accomplishments when possible. "What was the most difficult class? What class are you most proud of?"

"It was x class, and surprisingly I spent the least amount of time studying for that class, even though it was the most difficult. I had a really good tutor and the professor's material was great. I wracked my brain a lot getting through it, but once it clicked that was it!"


On topic though, your response was not arrogant. I think it was insightful to the interviewer because it showed that you found the other career options to be something that would seem stagnant *to you*, whereas being a physician is something that seems exciting and ever changing *to you*. Thus you answered the question honestly and it gave a good reason.