mock interviews

[docmayer]

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Who here is planning on doing mock interviews? I personally think doing mock interviews will only end up stressing me out more about the actual interview. I plan on just reviewing my app and PS and go over answers to general questions in my head. When I spoke with a DO radiology resident, he said he did not prepare for his interview at all and his reasoning was that if I am here it is because I want to and I should not have to prepare answers to any questions. Thoughts?

 

[drshark]

you should be as prepared as possible... mock interview will only help you assess your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. The interview is a vital component, why wouldn't you want the upper hand in this case?

 

[Ost3oclast]

Who here is planning on doing mock interviews? I personally think doing mock interviews will only end up stressing me out more about the actual interview. I plan on just reviewing my app and PS and go over answers to general questions in my head. When I spoke with a DO radiology resident, he said he did not prepare for his interview at all and his reasoning was that if I am here it is because I want to and I should not have to prepare answers to any questions. Thoughts?

I agree with him. Maybe practice a bit to get the general flow of an answer you will give but dont practice to the point where your answer is going to sound like you are reading out of a book. Im going to to 3 practice interviews (1 a week) with one of family members before my interview at DMU. I want to make sure I have an outline in my head of what I want to say but not practice it enough to sound like a robot.

 

[DrWily]

you should be as prepared as possible... mock interview will only help you assess your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. The interview is a vital component, why wouldn't you want the upper hand in this case?

+1, practicing helped me out a lot. Also, bombing my first interview helped me out a lot for the second one

You work hard studying for A's in class, you volunteer a lot of hours to show dedication to the profession, study months for the MCAT, you write multiple drafts for your personal statement and get people to read it over to correct mistakes, you write secondaries with the utmost scrutiny to get that illusive interview invite, and then you don't prepare for the interview? Wat da fuq? Be prepared, seriously. Formulate answers to questions, but DON'T rehearse them. Have a general idea of what you would answer to each question.

 

[NeuroLAX]

you should be as prepared as possible... mock interview will only help you assess your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. The interview is a vital component, why wouldn't you want the upper hand in this case?

+1, practicing helped me out a lot. Also, bombing my first interview helped me out a lot for the second one

You work hard studying for A's in class, you volunteer a lot of hours to show dedication to the profession, study months for the MCAT, you write multiple drafts for your personal statement and get people to read it over to correct mistakes, you write secondaries with the utmost scrutiny to get that illusive interview invite, and then you don't prepare for the interview? Wat da fuq? Be prepared, seriously. Formulate answers to questions, but DON'T rehearse them. Have a general idea of what you would answer to each question.

Hah, +1. Great advice, as always.

 

[psychgirrrl]

I had a mock interview this week. It wasn't a real "interview" he asked a a couple generic questions then we discussed my answer and he gave me a lot of tips on how to make a good impression and how to make it really hard for the school to say "no" to me.
He then gave me a list of commonly asked questions and we discussed them talking about what each question is looking for.

It was a good way to rationalize an interview for me, and in my opinion will make me a lot more laid back vs. emotional/nervous since I already have rationalized through it.

Of course you can't have your answers memorized, try to show your personality, but being prepared is a good thing. You were prepared for everything else in this game, why not the interview?

 

[Akecheta]

go over answers to general questions in my head

Do this, but the mock interview will help you get those answers to your questions from your head to your mouth. Even its just a friend. Cuz they definitely don't always come out right the first time!

 

[angldrps]

Just bought Tough Decisions: Cases in Medical Ethics, The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success, and The Medical School Interview: From preparation to thank you notes.
The first one was recommended by someone on SDN, the second one has amazing reviews everywhere, and third one is written by an author I trust to give good advice. Hoping these can help me prepare (not memorize) better answers to common questions.

 

[michow87]

If you do mock interviews, make sure that you are doing it with a lot of different people. Just doing it with the same person over and over will just make your comfortable with that person specifically and not necessarily help you when the real interview comes around. I learned this the hard way. I recommend asking your friends to help you out. Also, I would go through the interview feedback area and prepare answers to some of those questions as well as ways to address your application weaknesses

 

[dododr]

I did a mock interview provided by my university pre-med advisement. It did two things-1)gave me a couple of tough common questions that I didn't have the answer for me to think about(Two in particular about my weaknesses) and 2) GAVE ME CONFIDENCE. I know it isn't the real thing, but it was still a little nerve racking to have all these questions drilled at you and try not to come off like a nervous dummy. But I feel more confident after the mock interview, and realizing "hey I am not a complete idiot, I am actually a very cool fellow" I recommend it

 

[Back 5]

+1, practicing helped me out a lot. Also, bombing my first interview helped me out a lot for the second one

You work hard studying for A's in class, you volunteer a lot of hours to show dedication to the profession, study months for the MCAT, you write multiple drafts for your personal statement and get people to read it over to correct mistakes, you write secondaries with the utmost scrutiny to get that illusive interview invite, and then you don't prepare for the interview? Wat da fuq? Be prepared, seriously. Formulate answers to questions, but DON'T rehearse them. Have a general idea of what you would answer to each question.

How did you bomb your first interview? Were you unable to clearly and concisely articulate answers to the questions? Were there specific questions that threw you off?

 

[Goro]

Concur STRONGLY with this. If a mock interview is going to stress you out, you'll melt into a puddle on the floor at one of ours.

you should be as prepared as possible... mock interview will only help you assess your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. The interview is a vital component, why wouldn't you want the upper hand in this case?

 

[docmayer]

Concur STRONGLY with this. If a mock interview is going to stress you out, you'll melt into a puddle on the floor at one of ours.

Well then...you just scared the crap out of me. I am going to schedule a mock interview with the DO I shadowed. Looks like i'll be making a visit to the US.

 

[Goro]

If possible, arrange a mock interview with some of your Faculty.

Well then...you just scared the crap out of me. I am going to schedule a mock interview with the DO I shadowed. Looks like i'll be making a visit to the US.

 

[Akecheta]

Well then...you just scared the crap out of me. I am going to schedule a mock interview with the DO I shadowed. Looks like i'll be making a visit to the US.

If you use the previous year's class threads you can get a general idea of the most often asked questions (why medicine, etc). You could have anyone conduct the mock interview including family, friends, SO. If your in a bind it doesn't have to be faculty or even physician.

 

[michow87]

If you use the previous year's class threads you can get a general idea of the most often asked questions (why medicine, etc). You could have anyone conduct the mock interview including family, friends, SO. If your in a bind it doesn't have to be faculty or even physician.

Or you could go to the Interview Feedback section of this forum and get an overall better understanding of how a specific school does their interviews, what types of questions they asked (the weird ones, the difficult ones, etc.), and better prepare yourself for an interview.

 

[Akecheta]

Or you could go to the Interview Feedback section of this forum and get an overall better understanding of how a specific school does their interviews, what types of questions they asked (the weird ones, the difficult ones, etc.), and better prepare yourself for an interview.

good call. totally forgot how much i used those haha

 

[michow87]

good call. totally forgot how much i used those haha

👍

 

[UrshumMurshum]

Did my mock today. I would definitely recommend others to do at least one mock interview so you flush out everything you're probably going to say in front of someone.

She said I didn't look nervous and gave me an 8/10. The only thing is my mouth gets really dry, anyone else have this problem? How do y'all manage it? It's not anything dramatic, it just feels weird talking when your mouth feels like the sahara desert.

 

[michow87]

Did my mock today. I would definitely recommend others to do at least one mock interview so you flush out everything you're probably going to say in front of someone.

She said I didn't look nervous and gave me an 8/10. The only thing is my mouth gets really dry, anyone else have this problem? How do y'all manage it? It's not anything dramatic, it just feels weird talking when your mouth feels like the sahara desert.

You should definitely do more than one mock interview. Doing more can only help!

 

[angldrps]

since I read so many good things about mock interviews, I am scheduling one with a counselor from my school's career center. Should I email this counselor a list of questions from the Interview feedback surveys on SDN ? Do you guys get fully dressed in your interview suits for these mock interviews?

 

[Dmr6186]

since I read so many good things about mock interviews, I am scheduling one with a counselor from my school's career center. Should I email this counselor a list of questions from the Interview feedback surveys on SDN ? Do you guys get fully dressed in your interview suits for these mock interviews?

I scheduled a mock interview with my school as well. Yep, you wanna treat this as an honest to goodness medical school interview. The suit, hair, body posture, everything.

If you e-mail a list of questions, you'll already have them all rehearsed ahead of time and it won't seem as legit as a real interview, IMO. What's the fun in that? 😀 Go in it blind and see how you do. Mess up this time so you can fix it before the real time.

 

[docmayer]

I can schedule a mock interview a week before my interview, is that too late? I can't do it earlier because I won't have m suit tailored till the 30th of August, and I want to wear it to stimulate the real thing. Thanks.

 

[DrWily]

I can schedule a mock interview a week before my interview, is that too late? I can't do it earlier because I won't have m suit tailored till the 30th of August, and I want to wear it to stimulate the real thing. Thanks.

No, you should be fine if you are only stimulating a week beforehand.

 

[angldrps]

I scheduled a mock interview with my school as well. Yep, you wanna treat this as an honest to goodness medical school interview. The suit, hair, body posture, everything.

If you e-mail a list of questions, you'll already have them all rehearsed ahead of time and it won't seem as legit as a real interview, IMO. What's the fun in that? 😀 Go in it blind and see how you do. Mess up this time so you can fix it before the real time.

This is an excellent point. I may just send a link to my counselor for the interview survey to give her an idea of what kind of questions are commonly asked.

 

[docmayer]

Just thought I would send a little update. I had my mock interview with my school today. I will safely say it helped. I did not prepare for ANY question they asked me. They never even asked why medicine. So it was definitely tough and made me think on my feet. I would recommend it to anyone (most of you are probably saying "no ****".). I was also given a recorded copy of my interview, so I can re-watch it later. If anyone would like to watch it, and critique/compliment certain aspects of my mock interview I would appreciate it. There are obvious flaws and a few things I have said that make me cringe now, but nevertheless it was practice. Let me know!

 

[Jay2910]

How long is a mock interview and approximately how many questions do they ask?

I have prepared answers to like 10 of them . . . . I want to know if I should prepare answers to any more.

 

[tripl3s3v3n]

Or you could go to the Interview Feedback section of this forum and get an overall better understanding of how a specific school does their interviews, what types of questions they asked (the weird ones, the difficult ones, etc.), and better prepare yourself for an interview.

This. It's like having the answer key before a test. It also gives you an opportunity to understand and know your answers. Record yourself answering the questions so that you can see if your answers flow and appear genuine.

Just thought I would send a little update. I had my mock interview with my school today. I will safely say it helped. I did not prepare for ANY question they asked me. They never even asked why medicine. So it was definitely tough and made me think on my feet. I would recommend it to anyone (most of you are probably saying "no ****".). I was also given a recorded copy of my interview, so I can re-watch it later. If anyone would like to watch it, and critique/compliment certain aspects of my mock interview I would appreciate it. There are obvious flaws and a few things I have said that make me cringe now, but nevertheless it was practice. Let me know!

I think this is key. A recording allows you to see your body language and vocal mannerisms (ie "umm") to make sure you are not acting in a distracting way.

For what it is worth I didn't do any practice interviews, however, in the Navy I was tasked with giving intelligence briefings so I had plenty of experience talking in front of key people. If you don't have experience talking in front of groups or people you should definitely do mock interviews. It was fairly obvious at my interview that many did not prepare, at least not to the point of overcoming their nervousness. Good luck.

 

[csx]

I think if you are a normal person, a mock interview is unnecessary. If you have an idea of the questions you will be asked and you have a general idea of the answer to said question, I think you should be fine. Maybe I'm just a 'natural' at interviews.

 

[thegreatjaspy]

Does anyone have a recommendation for where to do a mock interview if I am no longer in school (and don't live near my school)? I would love to do some with someone that has experience with the medical school process but don't know where to start...