Interview Tips

[sw33tm3]

Hi!
I am having my very first interview this week and currently making my Q&A list.. and I am VERY nervous!!
Can someone share some helpful tips on before and during the interview please??

Thanks!

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[Confessabear]

I know exactly how you feel, I was also applying for the 2014 school year and am glad to be done. Some tips I picked up along the way are:

1. Be confident. ( I know it may be easier said then done, but as long as you be comfortable with yourself and walk in with a big smile, everything will be alright
2. Know yourself and know your drive to become a pharmacist.
3. Look up the school's mission statement and curriculum, since some interviews might include an essay about it/ question what you liked about it.
4. Make talking points for potential questions and practice them in front of the mirror
5. prep 4-5 questions to ask them, since there will always be time for you to ask questions, and it shows your interest in the school or field. ( Interview works two ways, they want to see if your right for them and you want to see if they're right for you).
6. Don't worry too much if your interview is too short or too long compared to other candidates, as long as you give them a good picture of how you are as a person, timing is irrelevant. Its more about the quality of the discussion and not the quantity.

Hope this helps! And feel free to PM if you have any other questions/concerns.

 

[sw33tm3]

I know exactly how you feel, I was also applying for the 2014 school year and am glad to be done. Some tips I picked up along the way are:

1. Be confident. ( I know it may be easier said then done, but as long as you be comfortable with yourself and walk in with a big smile, everything will be alright
2. Know yourself and know your drive to become a pharmacist.
3. Look up the school's mission statement and curriculum, since some interviews might include an essay about it/ question what you liked about it.
4. Make talking points for potential questions and practice them in front of the mirror
5. prep 4-5 questions to ask them, since there will always be time for you to ask questions, and it shows your interest in the school or field. ( Interview works two ways, they want to see if your right for them and you want to see if they're right for you).
6. Don't worry too much if your interview is too short or too long compared to other candidates, as long as you give them a good picture of how you are as a person, timing is irrelevant. Its more about the quality of the discussion and not the quantity.

Hope this helps! And feel free to PM if you have any other questions/concerns.

Oh thank you so much for these tips! I know I just gotta really calm myself and get my points across, but my nerves are just getting to me.. lol the more I prepare the more nervous I get... Did you encounter any questions that really threw you off??? I am so afraid of those...

 

[Confessabear]

Some thinker questions I've come across were the ethical kind. "Like what would you do if you caught a friend cheating on an exam?, name a time you went above and beyond?, if the candidate they interview before you was more qualified, would you pick them over yourself?, etc..." Honestly, its kinda hard to prep for these questions, but as long as you can think on your feet, you'll be fine. All else fails, take a deep breath and think about it. A generic template I used was: explain the situation, what action did you take and why, and what were the results? It works wonders when your drawing blanks.

Trust me the nervousness never goes away entirely, but you get use to it. I've been to five interviews, and I still get the gitters before each one. But, I will let you know that the prepping stage is far worst than the interview ( you won't know it till after the interview is done, but I'm sure you will agree). Come the interview day, you'll be running on adrenaline and answering questions left and right like its nobodies business, assuming you've done your homework . Most interviewers are nice and just want to get to know you, but occasionally there will be one that will try to grill you. If you get a mean interviewer, just pretend they're testing you on how well you handle pressure and remain calm and collected. Just remember, that your smart enough on paper to get an interview, so convince them that you have the personality and work ethic to make through pharmacy school. To let you in on a little secret, you do have some control on what the interview will be asking you, depending on what information you present. Sometimes interviewers will cater their subsequent question based on your previous answer. This applies more to close file interview,considering they know nothing about you to prevent them from being biased. One more thing, make sure you try to get a good night sleep the day before and eat a wholesome breakfast since some interviews last 6 hrs. Good Luck!

 

[Jeanine B]

Confidence is key! You can convince people of a lot of things if you just act really confident and smile. Be yourself, you'll be fine. The only thing I can suggest is to not only prepare for questions about yourself. Thats what I did before my interview at Regis and it ended up that all of my questions were situational except one. Just take a second to think about why they're asking you that question.. Typically they all have something to do with your ethical views or something that has to do with going into pharmacy or being a pharmacist. I was asked something about what types of qualities do I think a leader should possess and to explain.. Stuff like that.

 

[88888888]

Hi!
I am having my very first interview this week and currently making my Q&A list.. and I am VERY nervous!!
Can someone share some helpful tips on before and during the interview please??

Thanks!

Being interested in your interviewer is key.

Going through the pharmacy interview question bank is key. Many questions are verbatim.

Dressing nice is key.

Being genuine is key.

 

[trangtn]

Know and remember your experiences and how they shape you. Bringing them up as examples during situational questions can give the interviewer a better picture of who you are.
It's easy to talk about yourself (well, I find it easy), but what I really regret not doing at some interviews is just answer the questions without really drawing a conclusion about how that makes me who I am today/how that makes me a good candidate for the school.
Also research extensively on the school. What makes their program unique, find something that draws you to the school and talk about it. It shows your interest and that you know what you're getting into.

2 questions that will come up in every interview without fail:
1. Why pharmacy?
2. Why this school?

If you can nail those two answers, you're probably set for 50% of the interview already.

 

[sw33tm3]

Thank you so much guys!! I will do my best!