Is this how people really interview?

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It is robotic and fake.

If you're actually answering, and now reading from a mind-script, you'll pause and wait for a subtle hint that the listener understands. People do this all the time in conversations. People scripting will rush because they don't want you to interrupt and throw off their script.
 
Yeah thats pretty awful.

Although, I've seen worse. At least she spoke.
 
Some people do, but I think that might just be their personality. That to me would imply a very dry personality. Her tone is boring, not exciting at all... to the point that I have no idea what she answered, even though I was listening.

Gotta be yourself and be somewhat exciting. You have to show passion for this at least to some extent, IMO.
 
one of the reasons i decided to pursue medicine is because my parents wouldn't pay for my school if I didn't go to medical school or law and I didn't want to have to keep worrying about billable hours. they also threatened to poison my kim-chee with cyanide, which as you know, is a poison that affects the electron transport chain. I also feel that my aformentioned knowledge of biochemistry will serve me well and enable me to thrive in one of the most demanding courses that first year medical students must take. The more I rehearsed this in front of the mirror the more I realized how much the medical field needs a compassionate, brilliant soul such as mine.

Are lectures mandatory?
 
The real trick to not sound scripted is to

-Vary your speech speed, slow down and speed up at different parts of sentences
- And use intonation! Emphasize words by changing your voice pitch.

These make it sound more like natural speech.
 
bobow98 said:
The real trick to not sound scripted is to not be scripted and just be a normal person having a normal conversation with your interviewer
Click to expand...

Ok now I agree.
 
seeing things like this freak me out.......I sounded nothing like that in my interview......I talked about playing blues...........I think they like to see that you aren't giving "the correct" answer, but still are in it for the right reasons......
 
I've seen that series. It's just gives you an idea as to the structure of the answer. Most people will stutter and stuff.

If you watch all the videos, there is a cute Asian girl in one of them that looks like my avatar.
 
Sometimes I wake up from nightmares where all of the other MS1's at my med school will be like this.

They won't, will they?
 
Have you ever been around the nervous guy at the bar who is twitching and anxious? Don't be that guy.

Have you been around the cool guy who is laid back, normal, positive and enjoying himself? Be that guy.

Normal, relaxed, and not trying too hard. Scripted = trying too hard.
 
If thats how you are supposed to interview then I must have gone about it all wrong.

I didn't script any answers what-so-ever for my interview.

I did research on the school so I could answer "why this school?" but other than that I completely winged it. I would come up with talking points as I went on the school tours and talked with faculty and students on interview day. I would then use those to guide my answers but everything was unscripted (and unrated).

I had fun with the interviewers and I think thats what got me acceptances with a sub-par application.
 
halethsonofhama said:
If thats how you are supposed to interview then I must have gone about it all wrong.

I didn't script any answers what-so-ever for my interview.

I did research on the school so I could answer "why this school?" but other than that I completely winged it. I would come up with talking points as I went on the school tours and talked with faculty and students on interview day. I would then use those to guide my answers but everything was unscripted (and unrated).

I had fun with the interviewers and I think thats what got me acceptances with a sub-par application.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the first few interviews I was reading about the school and what not.

But, like you said, I realized the best things to say about the school was whatever the faculty and students were saying about the school.

If they loved the community, then so did I. Loved the curriculum? So did I. Love the school brand? You get it.
 
Mornhavon said:
>"One of the main reasons I decided to pursue medicine is because I love public service."

LOOOOOOOL


Let's be honest:
-Bitches
-Money
-Being a hero
-Respect

Not necessarily in that order. 😀
Click to expand...

LOL this reminds me of the song MONEY POWER RESPECT is what you need in life lol

Also I do believe you your motto must be MOB= Money Over B*tches lol
 
MCAT guy said:
Yeah, the first few interviews I was reading about the school and what not.

But, like you said, I realized the best things to say about the school was whatever the faculty and students were saying about the school.

If they loved the community, then so did I. Loved the curriculum? So did I. Love the school brand? You get it.
Click to expand...

You don't need to be Shakespeare to have a great interview, being a parrot will suffice.
 
think about it this way, as future med students, we have the option ( if we choose to pursue it) of being part of the adcom.....who would you rather interview, somebody who is in essence acting, or someone who seems like a human being? I don't think I would want anything more than a person who can hold a conversation without wigging out :scared: or shutting off :lame:......
 
This is how it's done.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=purlWMac6-s[/YOUTUBE]
 
This is in response to an above post that said somthing like "in order to not sound like ur responses are scripted"

in order to not sound like your responses are scripted, don't have your responses scripted in the first place!

i interviewed 2 cycles and really got into trouble during one in which I had basic answers memorized. what happened was that they didn't ask the questions they same way i had practiced. For instance instead of asking why do you want to be a doctor (a question i had a great answer to), they asked about my personal experiences that made me want to be a doctor. even tho the questions are similar, i came to the interview overly confident in my pre-prepared answers, and totally butchered my response to a seemingly very easy question. my best advice is to have some basics in your head about the school and your application and freestyle the rest. i think the original posters video is a spoof or something, no one talks like that
 
I think it's good to have a somewhat prepared answer for certain questions during an interview (why be a doctor, why this school etc), however, one should NEVER be as monotonous and unenthusiastic as that girl in the video.
 
It is very important to keep it real...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIDjMCxNHSg[/YOUTUBE]
 
FIREitUP said:
one of the reasons i decided to pursue medicine is because my parents wouldn't pay for my school if I didn't go to medical school or law and I didn't want to have to keep worrying about billable hours. they also threatened to poison my kim-chee with cyanide, which as you know, is a poison that affects the electron transport chain. I also feel that my aformentioned knowledge of biochemistry will serve me well and enable me to thrive in one of the most demanding courses that first year medical students must take. The more I rehearsed this in front of the mirror the more I realized how much the medical field needs a compassionate, brilliant soul such as mine.

Are lectures mandatory?
Click to expand...

😆 If only applicants were so honest, this job would be much more fun.
 
In general... I think most people sound something like that during interviews, all professional interviews, not just medical school. Even if you want to seem relaxed, and impromptu, you should have some idea of how you're going to address very basic questions, and how you want to phrase your answer. Its better to have a clear and concise description of your employment, volunteer experiences, research experiences, etc. than describe them in a meandering way.

Some interviews are a little more conversational but you can't count on that. Its better you prepare to give a short presentation on yourself, even if its a little dry, in a worst case scenario.

If you go into an interview totally unprepared, confident that you can "be yourself" and everything will work out okay - you'll get tripped up or go blank, and end up posting in the Worst Interview Answers thread the next day.
 
BiopsychStudent said:
In general... I think most people sound something like that during interviews, all professional interviews, not just medical school. Even if you want to seem relaxed, and impromptu, you should have some idea of how you're going to address very basic questions, and how you want to phrase your answer. Its better to have a clear and concise description of your employment, volunteer experiences, research experiences, etc. than describe them in a meandering way.

Some interviews are a little more conversational but you can't count on that. Its better you prepare to give a short presentation on yourself, even if its a little dry, in a worst case scenario.

If you go into an interview totally unprepared, confident that you can "be yourself" and everything will work out okay - you'll get tripped up or go blank, and end up posting in the Worst Interview Answers thread the next day.
Click to expand...

The first part of the answer seemed scripted and insincere and not responsvie to the question. She than came around to answering the question... even though it was a question about what people will say after you're dead, she should have managed a bit of a smile at the thought (the joy) of having made a difference in other people's lives.
 
LizzyM said:
😆 If only applicants were so honest, this job would be much more fun.
Click to expand...

I'm glad someone got a kick out of that. I learned to not take myself too seriously in Mali working to eliminate AIDS and kwashiorkor, where it was apparent that despite their difficult life, Malians were able to embrace life and enjoy it...

🙂
 
Scripted or not she hit the hammer on the nail.....or something like that. That is what people want to hear!!!
 
Yea,
Welcome to the real world - that's what impresses people. Don't lie, but have your shiz together when you go to an interview. Prepare out common question and common answers. What are your strengths what are your weaknesses what's the name of the last chick you railed what's your favorite color why do you want to do medicine do you think stewie griffin is really gay....you have to think these things out and have an idea for what to talk about.
Simple.

Been through the interview process sooo many times now. It's a way to weed people out. Be yourself, but if you aren't "prepared", then why should we accept you as a medical student/resident/fellow?

Everyone is going to be nervous and everyone is going to have robotic answers...well, almost everyone - if you have something special that you think makes you stand out, then put it in your personal statement and bring it up...

The main issue I saw with this girl was she talked for too long. If someone asks you a question, you should keep your answer to about 30 seconds max. She had an essay ready for it.

Why Medicine?
1) I like to work with people
2) As I wrote about in my personal statement, "x" experience really got me first interested and since then I have really set forth to try and do my best to enter the medical field.
3) And I have held onto that dream and worked my booty off to make it here and plan to continue working hard.

No more than 30 seconds with that.


What's your biggest weakness?
I am not good at sucking moose di4K
I cried during The notebook
I tried but can't shotgun a full four loko
I talk/cry too much during sex
I think about banging every chick I see
--- Come up with something - Don't use mine, they're too good.
 
I like her "oh-no-you-didn't!" type head movement. I'll make sure to incorporate that into my next interview.

Really, for my interview, I just pretended I was the Dos Exxis guy
 
Scooby Doo said:
Yea,
Welcome to the real world - that's what impresses people. Don't lie, but have your shiz together when you go to an interview. Prepare out common question and common answers. What are your strengths what are your weaknesses what's the name of the last chick you railed what's your favorite color why do you want to do medicine do you think stewie griffin is really gay....you have to think these things out and have an idea for what to talk about.
Simple.

Been through the interview process sooo many times now. It's a way to weed people out. Be yourself, but if you aren't "prepared", then why should we accept you as a medical student/resident/fellow?

Everyone is going to be nervous and everyone is going to have robotic answers...well, almost everyone - if you have something special that you think makes you stand out, then put it in your personal statement and bring it up...

The main issue I saw with this girl was she talked for too long. If someone asks you a question, you should keep your answer to about 30 seconds max. She had an essay ready for it.

Why Medicine?
1) I like to work with people
2) As I wrote about in my personal statement, "x" experience really got me first interested and since then I have really set forth to try and do my best to enter the medical field.
3) And I have held onto that dream and worked my booty off to make it here and plan to continue working hard.

No more than 30 seconds with that.


What's your biggest weakness?
I am not good at sucking moose di4K
I cried during The notebook
I tried but can't shotgun a full four loko
I talk/cry too much during sex
I think about banging every chick I see
--- Come up with something - Don't use mine, they're too good.
Click to expand...

I love this guy. Not for the things he says... but how he says them
 
This had the feel of a nervous swimmer diving headlong into a frigid pool at the sound of the gun. Probably not best to begin with "okay," a skyward glance, and a deep breath. Too long-winded and obviously contrived...

People who are this mechanical scare the hello out of me, and for all an adcom's attempts to identify intellectuals with a humanitarian bent, it's telling that the health professions are those most highly represented among serial killers 😳

Seriously, though, where be da soul, mon? Preparedness is good, yes, but the interview - as I understand it - is not a test of preparedness. It is a test of personality, philosophy, motives, etc., which are all most honest when expressed extemporaneously. Plus, as a doctor, you don't always have the luxury of preparing a diagnosis the night before. Improvisation IS a virtue.

Memorizing for interviews is like using dating websites. You may look good from afar, but you're bound to disappoint.
 
BHaus9 said:
This had the feel of a nervous swimmer diving headlong into a frigid pool at the sound of the gun. Probably not best to begin with "okay," a skyward glance, and a deep breath. Too long-winded and obviously contrived...

People who are this mechanical scare the hello out of me, and for all an adcom's attempts to identify intellectuals with a humanitarian bent, it's telling that the health professions are those most highly represented among serial killers 😳

Seriously, though, where be da soul, mon? Preparedness is good, yes, but the interview - as I understand it - is not a test of preparedness. It is a test of personality, philosophy, motives, etc., which are all most honest when expressed extemporaneously. Plus, as a doctor, you don't always have the luxury of preparing a diagnosis the night before. Improvisation IS a virtue.

Memorizing for interviews is like using dating websites. You may look good from afar, but you're bound to disappoint.
Click to expand...

...and if this does not work. Read a lotta Franck and Schweitzer!! :laugh:
 
I am also assuming that this Video is for a company to coach you in interview skills.

So keep in mind that they are cashing in on peoples fears.

Its like Kaplan giving a free sample MCAT; they make it super hard so people feel like a kaplan course is the only thing to save them and thus pay gazillions of dollars.

Not med school related, but I read that some SAT tutors are getting paid $685 an hour... now that is nutz!
 
BHaus9 said:
Preparedness is good, yes, but the interview - as I understand it - is not a test of preparedness. It is a test of personality, philosophy, motives, etc., which are all most honest when expressed extemporaneously. Plus, as a doctor, you don't always have the luxury of preparing a diagnosis the night before. Improvisation IS a virtue.

Memorizing for interviews is like using dating websites. You may look good from afar, but you're bound to disappoint.
Click to expand...

Disagree completely.

I'm a veteran when it comes to interviews. I'm not stroking my own junk...well, yes I am...I've been on a crapload..and I've only had 1 bad interview, and it was because he caught me offguard and I got flustered for the entire thing....He was effin' with me but it still got to me..that was improv....

So, back to your comments....

When you had your first kiss, did you think about how to do it? Did you talk about it with your friends? Did you practice on stuffed animals, like scooby doo? ah shiz, you know my secret to my name now.... but seriously, did you just go throw your tongue in some hoes mouth and hope she sucked on it? If you did, sucks for you cuz she probably left your arse pretty damn quick. How about when you laid pipe? Did you just cross your fingers and hope to not lose it in about 30 seconds? Hellz no! You practiced nightly...well, at least after the 30 second encounter. You become confident and good at things you do with practice.
True, there are some savants who pick stuff up immediately -- good for you, I hope that solo you are playing on the guitar can make up for your other gene deletions... but not trying to pinpoint you on this or piss you off. It's common sense - prepare.

Patients don't want their doctor to "improvise" if they didn't prepare and don't know what their disease can cause... They don't want to say they have Shlockweiger-Finnester-Binstein disease and have you go "Gosh, that's funny sounding, are you from New York?" Yea, even if you prepared you probably wouldn't have know what the hell they were talking about...HOWEVER, if a patient comes in and says "I have fibromyalgia and Crohn's disease and I'm taking yada yada yada"....a more common thing, you better as filznuck know what they are talking about.
Yea, it's ok to Improv on the questions that are equivalent to a random disease (Name your favorite song and why it relates to you?)....but if someone asks you "Why do you want to go to medical school?" you better as hell have a damn good reason and answer that isn't "improv"...

Yea, dating websites disappoint...but you rarely see a person who puts a butt ugly picture up and then you see them in person and they are smoking hot. right? They do their ABSOLUTE BEST to represent themselves.....and you better do the same for your interviews. Practice, Prepare, Peni$....oh wait, Yea, just practice and prepare....ok?

I refer all further questions or comments to the Tyson interview answers...
 
Scooby Doo said:
Disagree completely.

I'm a veteran when it comes to interviews. I'm not stroking my own junk...well, yes I am...I've been on a crapload..and I've only had 1 bad interview, and it was because he caught me offguard and I got flustered for the entire thing....He was effin' with me but it still got to me..that was improv....

So, back to your comments....

When you had your first kiss, did you think about how to do it? Did you talk about it with your friends? Did you practice on stuffed animals, like scooby doo? ah shiz, you know my secret to my name now.... but seriously, did you just go throw your tongue in some hoes mouth and hope she sucked on it? If you did, sucks for you cuz she probably left your arse pretty damn quick. How about when you laid pipe? Did you just cross your fingers and hope to not lose it in about 30 seconds? Hellz no! You practiced nightly...well, at least after the 30 second encounter. You become confident and good at things you do with practice.
True, there are some savants who pick stuff up immediately -- good for you, I hope that solo you are playing on the guitar can make up for your other gene deletions... but not trying to pinpoint you on this or piss you off. It's common sense - prepare.

Patients don't want their doctor to "improvise" if they didn't prepare and don't know what their disease can cause... They don't want to say they have Shlockweiger-Finnester-Binstein disease and have you go "Gosh, that's funny sounding, are you from New York?" Yea, even if you prepared you probably wouldn't have know what the hell they were talking about...HOWEVER, if a patient comes in and says "I have fibromyalgia and Crohn's disease and I'm taking yada yada yada"....a more common thing, you better as filznuck know what they are talking about.
Yea, it's ok to Improv on the questions that are equivalent to a random disease (Name your favorite song and why it relates to you?)....but if someone asks you "Why do you want to go to medical school?" you better as hell have a damn good reason and answer that isn't "improv"...

Yea, dating websites disappoint...but you rarely see a person who puts a butt ugly picture up and then you see them in person and they are smoking hot. right? They do their ABSOLUTE BEST to represent themselves.....and you better do the same for your interviews. Practice, Prepare, Peni$....oh wait, Yea, just practice and prepare....ok?

I refer all further questions or comments to the Tyson interview answers...
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you aren't saying prepare via memorization.

I went into my interviews with talking points (picked up as I went through campus tours). Organized them in my head so when the time came I had a structure for my answers, but they weren't rigid.

I connected with most of my interviewers, we laughed and cried, shared fleeting moments etc... because I was able to improvise and tailor my answers to what they wanted to hear (not lying, just emphasizing different aspects for different people). Improv is King in my book; but that doesn't mean you don't go to an interview without a few tools in your bag (I'll leave Scooby to make that dirty)
 
Hama-
Yea, agreed but your improve relates on how you relayed what you had prepared.

Yea, the whole point of this is talking about the youtube video of the chick. Yea, it's scripted. Of course it is. It's meant to show you a "perfect answer" - not the perfect delivery. Of course we aren't all like her or want what she wants etc etc. However, it's got content of key points that are important. Structure your own interview the way you want with your own info and improv your delivery of it if you want.

You friggin cried on an interview? Shiz, if I were your interviewer, I would have told you to take your sissy pants out of my interview room and go request a spine transplant you friggin lil' kittykat - jk, love ya man... but yea, I wouldn't ever admit that again....The "tools" in your bag must include an enema since you had "fleet" moments. Ah....stretching too much for that...ah well...


Props if you connected on your interviews - that's always key and hopefully it all works out.
 
Scooby Doo said:
Disagree completely.

I'm a veteran when it comes to interviews. I'm not stroking my own junk...well, yes I am...I've been on a crapload..and I've only had 1 bad interview, and it was because he caught me offguard and I got flustered for the entire thing....He was effin' with me but it still got to me..that was improv....

So, back to your comments....

When you had your first kiss, did you think about how to do it? Did you talk about it with your friends? Did you practice on stuffed animals, like scooby doo? ah shiz, you know my secret to my name now.... but seriously, did you just go throw your tongue in some hoes mouth and hope she sucked on it? If you did, sucks for you cuz she probably left your arse pretty damn quick. How about when you laid pipe? Did you just cross your fingers and hope to not lose it in about 30 seconds? Hellz no! You practiced nightly...well, at least after the 30 second encounter. You become confident and good at things you do with practice.
True, there are some savants who pick stuff up immediately -- good for you, I hope that solo you are playing on the guitar can make up for your other gene deletions... but not trying to pinpoint you on this or piss you off. It's common sense - prepare.

Patients don't want their doctor to "improvise" if they didn't prepare and don't know what their disease can cause... They don't want to say they have Shlockweiger-Finnester-Binstein disease and have you go "Gosh, that's funny sounding, are you from New York?" Yea, even if you prepared you probably wouldn't have know what the hell they were talking about...HOWEVER, if a patient comes in and says "I have fibromyalgia and Crohn's disease and I'm taking yada yada yada"....a more common thing, you better as filznuck know what they are talking about.
Yea, it's ok to Improv on the questions that are equivalent to a random disease (Name your favorite song and why it relates to you?)....but if someone asks you "Why do you want to go to medical school?" you better as hell have a damn good reason and answer that isn't "improv"...

Yea, dating websites disappoint...but you rarely see a person who puts a butt ugly picture up and then you see them in person and they are smoking hot. right? They do their ABSOLUTE BEST to represent themselves.....and you better do the same for your interviews. Practice, Prepare, Peni$....oh wait, Yea, just practice and prepare....ok?

I refer all further questions or comments to the Tyson interview answers...
Click to expand...

Well of course you can't just drift through life making stuff up. I pork stuffed animals with the best of them, sometimes because I"m trying to be prepared.

But seriously, I think you're creating a false dichotomy here. I'm not an opponent of preparedness. Obviously as a practicing physician you need to work hard to accumulate and maintain knowledge pertinent to your field - in short, you have to be prepared.

Where I probably erred was using the word "improvise." Really I meant "be adaptable." You want your decisions to be based on a solid foundation (and I guess improvisation implies the opposite), but just know that sometimes you have to be able to think on your feet, and I think interviews can be very revealing in that respect. Given two people who give equally compelling responses to a question, I think I'd favor the one who looked like he/she hadn't rehearsed... But maybe that's just me. The key, as you said, is not to get flustered. Sometimes, though, I think the person who is loose and without expectations is less likely to get thrown off than a person who prepared responses but failed to consider all possibilities, and inevitably got asked a question he didn't prepare for. What you CAN do, though, is practice being spontaneous. That may sound paradoxical, but promoting yourself as a real live person and not as a robot has its benefits.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is: memorize scientific facts, not personal opinions. Don't present yourself in the same way you would a scientific publication. You look like an ass.

And yeah, interviewing is a lot like laying pipe and making out, but here's why: to be successful at either, you need to be responsive to the person with whom you're interacting. When you're drolly reciting lines in a mirror, as the girl in this video obviously did, you're not doing that.

And please, refrain from calling my mother a ho 🙂
 
And yeah, the stretching can be pretty huge...
 
BHaus9 said:
And yeah, the stretching can be pretty huge...
Click to expand...

Damn straight - It's like she had an 11 pound baby when she's done with us. 😛

Well, you obviously have your shiz together and know how to answer stuff and sound like you are competent. A lot of people aren't. Hell, I don't even know if I'm competent half the time. But basically, improv doesn't work for a lot of people. Works for you and Hammas and whoever...but preparedness and ability to answer it is good.

Yea, your mom ain't a ho, she jus' likes to crush a lot...

And here's the bottom line - at least it was about 10 years ago - maybe things have changed a lot ---- and I'm sure lots of little peons will jump at this and say "OMG scooby it's so different now, they actually request a semen sample at interviews now too!" --- and my response is "I gave that to them whether they requested it or not...so give it up"
but yea, bottom line - Interviews are looking for normal people who they wouldn't mind having a conversation with - and they are looking for red flags. If you improv and you aren't good at it, red flags will pop up. If you have quality stuff, and are all set up, then interview is gonna seal the deal -- so don't blow it.
If you have prepared good answers, EVEN IF THEY SOUND CONTRIVED, you are in better shape than someone who wings it and flails on a few questions.
Prepare. Write it down. Practice if you can.
I've been on both sides - top - and bottom ...um,, jk...but yea, been interviewing, been the interviewer...done it all...been on committees ...
Preparedness trumps other stuff.
They aren't looking for your personality when they say "Why do you want to go to medical school?"
They are looking for your personality when they ask "What is the last movie you saw? What do you do for fun? How do you relax?"
Those questions you should have prepared for, but you should be yourself during answering them.
Once you interview over 5 places, saying I love medicine becomes contrived no matter what even if you didn't prepare b/c you are saying the same thing every time.
 
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