Is hiring an Interview Coach/tutor worth it?

[sky778]

Hey,
So I am preparing for my upcoming interview - and I am wondering if I should hire an interview coach/tutor to maybe fine-tune my interview skills. Generally, I THINK I am pretty competent at interviews (I got hired by biotech companies and so on) but I just want to make sure that everything goes smoothly.

Any input is appreciated!! and @Goro please tell me what you think about this 🙂

Thanks!

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[Person1345]

It sounds like you're good at interviewing, so no

 

[parpar2222]

It sounds like you're good at interviewing, so no

 

[Scrubs101]

Agreed with the above poster, I think it would only be a wise investment if you had serious interviewing issues. Sounds like you dont, so just be professional and be yourself! You'll be fine


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[JW2020]

Find someone to do a couple practice interviews with (an advisor, dr, friend who's a med student, etc) but don't waste your money on a coach.

 

[Goro]

Does your school have a career center? If yes, you can get interview help there.

Hiring a coach?? No way!!!!!!!

Hey,
So I am preparing for my upcoming interview - and I am wondering if I should hire an interview coach/tutor to maybe fine-tune my interview skills. Generally, I THINK I am pretty competent at interviews (I got hired by biotech companies and so on) but I just want to make sure that everything goes smoothly.

Any input is appreciated!! and @Goro please tell me what you think about this 🙂

Thanks!

 

[sky778]

Thanks people!
Hmmmm I guess its uncommon for people to hire a interview coach then haha.

 

[MADD!!!]

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[Goro]

Evidence, please.

Sorry but I beg to differ. I think many people hire them or some sort of help, but it's more taboo to be open about it. Like even to the point people won't tell their own best friends that they have hired someone to help them.

With that said, I think hiring someone would be a good idea if you can afford to do so and know that the person you hired has good credentials/good history of getting students into med school. Like @Goro has said in the past, many students may think their interview skills are great but don't see it from the other end. Having a professional who is aware of what Adcoms look for to help coach you could give you a better critique of your skills and where to improve.

This is not meant to be an alarm that everyone should go out and get an interview coach all of a sudden, but my take is that it can't hurt. If you have the option, use it in addition to the other resources you have. Am I holistic yet or what? (Joking 😛).

 

[MADD!!!]

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[MADD!!!]

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[DeezNutzonUrChin]

I dont know if its worth it for medical school. My friends did it for undergrad from highschool and they were a waste. I think your stats, then your EC's are what gets you in the door. Remember they only interview people who have a chance of getting accepted. Dont mention your previous history of drug abuse, fart or burp during your interview, say you dont want to become a nurse vs doctor because they wipe butts for a living. and youll be good. I dont think it is worth the money though to hire a coach because the way one group of interviewers view you may be totally different than another. And your coach can only give you one perspective, his own.

 

[JW2020]

To reiterate what I said above in case others reading this thread still are not convinced: THERE IS NO REASON TO SPEND MONEY ON AN INTERVIEW COACH. Find someone you know, and practice with them. If they are not in the field, look up common interview questions, tailor them to the interview you are preparing for, and hand them a list of questions to ask you. They can choose 4 or 5 questions out of 15 or so, for example. There are many ways to practice for an interview, but none of them should involve paying some "coach" who has likely never successfully interviewed in the med school process and would therefore have no actual insight into the matter.

 

[MADD!!!]

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[DeezNutzonUrChin]

I've seen them do some GREAT things for my friends. If I were applying to MD schools and had higher stats, I definitely would've looked more into it. Many of these coaches are people who worked on the med school admissions committees, so they know exactly what admissions looks for and who they don't.

They've pulled at least a few people from my town with sub 30 MCAT scores into good MD programs. They will admit that without the coaches, they wouldn't have had a snowballs chance of getting in. Conversely, another friend of mine with a 3.8 gpa and 31 (11, 9, 11)MCAT didn't get a single MD interview. If he had a coach to look over his materials beforehand, I know he would have benefitted immensely from it.

I think the key thing we need to note here is stats. Someone with like a 20 MCAT and 2.5 GPA is probably not going to get in even if Obama wrote him a recommendation letter in his own blood and swear and drool etc. But now that youve mentioned them pulling sub 30 MCAT scores Ill bite and ask, what were their GPA's ?

I agree with the last part, something must have went wrong, but it also shows you how messed up the current admissions system is that a 3.8 31 MCAT cannot get interviews anymore. Especially since 30 years ago they were primarily looking for people competent to finish, and be successful with the vigor of a medical school curriculum. Now its a who has the biggest dick contest.
Funny thing is the program director for a residency program at the Mayo Clinic said he usually ignores IV league "kids" who apply for residency and wouldnt trust them to operate on his dog since it takes a lot more than just good grades and memorizing to be a surgeon. Which is true, if they extended the basic sciences years another year or so a lot more students would be able to complete the program and it would allow people with other skills (motor control etc) to also enter the medical field.

anyway I digress, yes if you can afford to get a coach and if you have the stats, it may be worth it.

 

[JW2020]

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[MADD!!!]

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[JW2020]

I've seen them do some GREAT things for my friends. If I were applying to MD schools and had higher stats, I definitely would've looked more into it. Many of these coaches are people who worked on the med school admissions committees, so they know exactly what admissions looks for and who they don't.

They've pulled at least a few people from my town with sub 30 MCAT scores into good MD programs. They will admit that without the coaches, they wouldn't have had a snowballs chance of getting in. Conversely, another friend of mine with a 3.8 gpa and 31 (11, 9, 11)MCAT didn't get a single MD interview. If he had a coach to look over his materials beforehand, I know he would have benefitted immensely from it.

Aren't we talking about interview coaches? What can these coaches change about an applicant's chances if they aren't invited to interviews anyway? If you're talking about an advisor who goes over what medical schools look for in a student, what parts of their application to work on, and helps them with their secondary essays, that goes beyond my definition of an "interview coach". That sounds more like a paid med school app advisor. That's more on the right track, but again, with proper networking you can find such a person in the field who will not charge you money. Pre-med advisors don't always give good advice about the process anyways (mine gave horrible advice to me when I was doing my post-bacc), so many students need to look for outside sources of insight.

 

[MADD!!!]

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[DeezNutzonUrChin]

Yea I kind of strayed off topic to the general them of an app coach. And I agree with you, there's definitely alternatives and by no means is it a "necessity."

No Im still waiting to hear what the respective GPA's were for the students with sub 30 MCAT scores, and were they URM?

Because if not then it seems like a coach definitely is worth it.

 

[MADD!!!]

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[DrMikeP]

I've done academic coaching for students applying to professional schools and consulting for executives going for high end jobs. You can get the skills without hiring someone and even free at some colleges, BUT if you have a serious deficit then hiring the right person can give you needed honest and beneficial feedback. Hiring the right person can also get you there more quickly than doing it yourself.

The biggest issue I've seen that people need help to overcome for interviewing is clinically significant levels of introversion or extroversion. Either one is a serious threat to an interview and often one needs some help from a professional to overcome. You can't overcome serious personality issues with help from a friend.

The rest is more in line with learning what to and not to say or ask, what to wear, non-verbals, bad habits, etc and can be learned via google. That said, you'd be amazed at how often people screw up even simple things like not picking your nose, hanging body parts out during interviews, wearing jewelry that clangs, not answering questions asked at all, etc.

So it's up to you if you feel that you have a serious enough deficit to need to hire someone. If you do then find someone who has made it into a professional program successfully or worked in admissions for such. There are tons of "coaches" and many even "certified" ones couldn't help someone get out of a wet paper sack.

Best of Luck

 

[gotmilk1234]

A couple of my friends who applied to MD schools hired interview coaches who have knowledge/experience with the medical school interview process. Based on their feedback, the coaching helped them determine what areas they could improve on and boosted their confidence. Ultimately, I think it really is a case by case basis. If you have the means to afford an interview coach, I don't see the harm in hiring one. I definitely think that it is important to have mock interviews before you go to your real interview whether they be with an interview coach, your pre-med advisor, or a friend

 

[TessDancer]

A couple of my friends who applied to MD schools hired interview coaches who have knowledge/experience with the medical school interview process. Based on their feedback, the coaching helped them determine what areas they could improve on and boosted their confidence. Ultimately, I think it really is a case by case basis. If you have the means to afford an interview coach, I don't see the harm in hiring one. I definitely think that it is important to have mock interviews before you go to your real interview whether they be with an interview coach, your pre-med advisor, or a friend

Do you know which ones they used? I am trying to find a good interview coach.

 

[nebuchadnezzar90]

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Really backtracked on all your comments there.