Post-interview angst thread

[chocolate-e]

Okay folks, if there's already a thread like this let me know ... but I think we need a place to air out the stupid things we may have said or done in interviews ... an opportunity to laugh at each other and ourselves.

So, anyone who has realized that the thing to worry about is not what the interviewers will ask, but how many times you will put your foot in your mouth ... fire away with your best faux pas!

 

[Haven711]

My worst experience was getting hopelessly lost in the maze of construction at WashU as I tried to walk to my doctor interview. I was a full 20 minutes late for the interview, and the doctor was noticeably irate and proceeded to talk about himself for the remaining time and then cutting the interview short.

Can't IMAGINE why I haven't heard from them yet.

 

[Electrophys]

I guess I'll chime in here...out of the 12 schools I interviewed at...my WORST interview happened with a student interviewer (my only student interviewer). We got into a debate over the elections (hadn't happened yet) and over which candidate offered the best remedies to the health care system. I thought I argued my point of view well...but she was REALLY dead set in her point of view that she wouldn't at least concede to agree to disagree. She told me it would be a good idea "to go to johnkerry.com or georgebush.com and brush up on my knowledge of health policy."

 

[Psycho Doctor]

too many to list right here..i've become very good at screwing up interviews ; and interestingly enough, they weren't my first ones. If i can think of something not too personal to post, i'll respond later. At least considering the nature of it all my interviewers have been quite understanding , so it may not be all bad; i'm just pretty embarrassed over how i handled some things.

 

[Sparky Man]

most of my interviews go well and i feel good about them, but there's this one that really got to me.

the doctor didn't change his facial expression, real dead-pan, just drilled me with questions and he usually moved on before i had a chance to give a nice answer.

What makes you laugh?
What makes you cry?
...and so on...for a good half hour
Discuss the good and bad of health care in the united states.
Discuss your upbringing in terms of ethics.
...more of this...

So far, i felt ok. stressed, but ok.

THEN he asked: What's the last movie you enjoyed?

Ok, when he said that, i drew a blank. I had been so busy the last couple weeks. I thought about it for 30 seconds and once i rembemered, I uttered..."Apocolypse Now." Holy cow, i couldn't believe I just told him that!! I explained it was a dark movie, but that i was drawn to it on TV considering our country is at war. Anyway, i'm over it. If i don't get in because of that, whatever. Felt like a mistake, but it was the truth... The guy probably thinks I'm crazy.

Sparky

 

[Dr. Donkey]

Is it just me or are you guys in general over critical of yourselves after an interview - especially if you get a waitlist or rejection afterwards? I feel like a pick out something a blow it out of the proper significance and then I'm like sheyet, I really screwed that part up.

Now I'm worried because I think I might have gotten some spittle in my interviewer's eye...oops. Don't know if she even noticed though.

 

[chocolate-e]

Is it just me or are you guys in general over critical of yourselves after an interview

Absolutely. In normal conversations I can laugh off stupid things I say; say something stupid in an interview, and I'll be chastising myself for it for days.

Like the time the interviewer asked me to name one thing that set me apart from other medical school candidates. Standard interview question, but my mind went blank and I blurted out something about being confident that I could handle med school academically and that I really care about people. As if that sets <i>any</i> applicant apart! Maybe that's why the interviewer had this look on his face like he thought everything I said was silly ...

Oh well. I figure, one of two things can happen:
1) I get into the school in spite of the interview, or
2) I don't get in and never have to see the interviewers again

 

[JuicyDay]

i was asked a fairly standard interview question, something that i had definitely put on my "get a good answer to this question" list in my head, but i realized when she asked this question that i hadn't come up with ANY answer.

the question was: what career would you choose if you don't get into medical school?

i really don't know what my facial expression was, but in my head, i was thinking "****, i really need to find an answer RIGHT away b/c if i don't, they'd know that I haven't thought about this!! big oops!!"

so then i said that i wanted to be an electrical engineer. (this was in my head b/c i had met a fellow interviewee who majored in that!! there was NO OTHER rationale behind that statement or why it popped in my head).

the panel interviewers were kinda taken aback, b/c it's soooo irrelevant to medicine. the student finally asked, "why? have you had ANY experience in the field??"

and then my mental capacity finally came back to me. i told him that i was in this magnet math/science/engineering thing at my public high school, and we took 2 yrs of CAD, electricity, pneumatics/hydraulics, etc. i just sputtered off the stuff i did in HIGH SCHOOL. it was all true, but it was back in HIGH SCHOOL!! i didn't take any engineering classes as an undergrad! clearly i messed that up pretty good... woops!

 

[ellia08]

I've had a lot of interview fun (more than my fair share as a math and bio major):

The Aggressive Interviewer:
"[Oh silly applicant] your research is massively overfunded!",
"So you sing? why? You're not coming to medical school to sing!"

The Role Playing Interviewer
"Doctors can be frightening to children, Pretend I am a child facing a dangerous surgery. Soothe me with a song"

The Offtopic Interviewer
"tell me about emotion"
"what is ingenuity? how do you use that in research?"
"how do you feel about research?"

The Uncomfortable Interviewer
"You know, its funny but you remind me of someone. Oh! I've got it! you remind me a lot of my....
[look of sheer horror and despiration! seeks any answer to substitute and cant find one]...
uh... my wife."


and those are just first hand.