Anybody out there remember what sorts of questions were asked during their job interview? Most of my 15 residency interviews (other than Goldberg at Beth Israel asking about what to do if your coworker showed up drunk) were pretty predictable with the only real question being "Why pathology?" and spending most of the rest of the time selling the program. This question is directed primarily at people who actually went to job interviews that weren't just a formality and who didn't already have the job in the bag via networking. Thanks.
Questions during interview
- Thread starter Milky Way
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Some questions are logistical type - i.e. what kinds of things do you want to sign out, what things do you not want to do, will you cover cyto, etc. They may ask questions getting at where you want to live (and whether you would be taking this job as a place holder until you can get the job you want in Miami). Others are related to your personality and how you will work with the group dynamics. To be honest though, a lot of it is just simply how your personality meshes. Sorry I can't really come up with more specifics. You will definitely be asked about your background and training.
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If you are asked about your weaknesses is it generally better to give specific answers (i.e. I struggle with inflammatory derm) or keep it safe (i.e. sometimes I just work too hard, etc)? I know what I would say for a med school interview, but a real job is a different animal.
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I don't know - it would depend on the situation, unfortunately. Try to keep it safe, but don't be too boring or say things that sound made up. Saying that a weakness is that "I work too hard" might come off arrogant or something else negative, depending on how it is said and what the context is.
Thanks for the advice! Ironically, I just got an email from the medhunters website about "how to ace an interview", and one of the articles was about how to answer the tough questions (written by a career coach). It recommended *never* saying anything negative in the interview. I thought I knew what that meant, but apparently not...the author suggests that in response to the weakness question you say "Hmm...I can't think of any weaknesses that would compromise my ability to perform this job." That just seems hokey to me, and I'd be pretty annoyed as the interviewer to get an answer like that.
Anyway, hopefully, it'll work out!
Anyway, hopefully, it'll work out!
I would agree to in general avoid being negative. And definitely try to shift conversations or questions towards your strength. Showing enthusiasm also helps, as well as attempting to demonstrate that you have a solid work ethic, are going to behave ethically and as a good colleague, things like that. It's amazing how often some people seem to focus on "getting the right answer" in interviews for school, residency, and jobs when the whole purpose of the question is often just to see how you think and respond.
If someone told me, "well gee I don't have any weaknesses at all!" I would be a little perturbed and probably a bit disturbed. You can answer it by talking about a specific area of pathology that you are weak in, I suppose, with the addition that you are trying to work on that area in your remaining training or conferences. But in most groups of enough pathologists, you are likely not going to have to do everything, so by admitting a weak area you might be able to get out of doing it 😉
When they say, "never say anything negative" it often refers to not saying negative things about your past employer, past training program, other colleagues, attendings, etc. Because that makes you look petty. To me it demonstrates a healthy sense of self-awareness to acknowledge our own weaknesses. Maybe it's just that you talk too much. Or you tend to be too analytical. You don't want to admit things that are going to be true problems, however, like "I drink too much" or "I have a bad temper, and I take out my frequent frustrations by punching things" or "I tend to be too overconfident when I make diagnoses."
Basically, you "ace" an interview by establishing a connection with the person interviewing you. If you have a good sense of self-awareness and awareness of other people, you can often gauge the interviewer's personality style and what they want out of you in the first few minutes, and you can guide your answers that way. I remember when I interviewed one of the partners seemed really interesting in figuring out whether I would be always looking for a job where I could focus even more on my subspecialty, so I made sure to keep talking about general path. Another one was obsessed with financial issues so I made sure to talk about that more often. The thing is though, you definitely want to be yourself. If you pretend to be someone you are not and they hire you on that basis, the job is probably not going to be a good one for you.
If someone told me, "well gee I don't have any weaknesses at all!" I would be a little perturbed and probably a bit disturbed. You can answer it by talking about a specific area of pathology that you are weak in, I suppose, with the addition that you are trying to work on that area in your remaining training or conferences. But in most groups of enough pathologists, you are likely not going to have to do everything, so by admitting a weak area you might be able to get out of doing it 😉
When they say, "never say anything negative" it often refers to not saying negative things about your past employer, past training program, other colleagues, attendings, etc. Because that makes you look petty. To me it demonstrates a healthy sense of self-awareness to acknowledge our own weaknesses. Maybe it's just that you talk too much. Or you tend to be too analytical. You don't want to admit things that are going to be true problems, however, like "I drink too much" or "I have a bad temper, and I take out my frequent frustrations by punching things" or "I tend to be too overconfident when I make diagnoses."
Basically, you "ace" an interview by establishing a connection with the person interviewing you. If you have a good sense of self-awareness and awareness of other people, you can often gauge the interviewer's personality style and what they want out of you in the first few minutes, and you can guide your answers that way. I remember when I interviewed one of the partners seemed really interesting in figuring out whether I would be always looking for a job where I could focus even more on my subspecialty, so I made sure to keep talking about general path. Another one was obsessed with financial issues so I made sure to talk about that more often. The thing is though, you definitely want to be yourself. If you pretend to be someone you are not and they hire you on that basis, the job is probably not going to be a good one for you.
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My personal experience has been in the relatively niche field of forensic path, and my interviews -- on site or by phone -- always had a "getting to know your personality" sort of feel. There were a few standard questions, like where I went to med school, residency, fellowship and how that was going, and where I saw myself/wanted to be in 5 or 10 years. But a lot of it really seemed like them trying to sell their job more than the other way around. And, of course, trying to decide how our personalities meshed. That's maybe not so much the case in other subspecialties or particularly competitive jobs.
Overall, I always felt I was more successful (and I always saw other people as more successful) when they weren't OBVIOUSLY playing the game and trying to say the perfect thing and ONLY the perfect thing. It's one thing to talk carefully, and another to act like a used car salesman turned politician. Be personable, find a comfort zone where you can show as much confidence as you've got, ask THEM a lot of questions (put them in a position to comfortably sell themselves) and essentially be yourself...just perhaps a little more cleaned up and on slightly better behavior.
Overall, I always felt I was more successful (and I always saw other people as more successful) when they weren't OBVIOUSLY playing the game and trying to say the perfect thing and ONLY the perfect thing. It's one thing to talk carefully, and another to act like a used car salesman turned politician. Be personable, find a comfort zone where you can show as much confidence as you've got, ask THEM a lot of questions (put them in a position to comfortably sell themselves) and essentially be yourself...just perhaps a little more cleaned up and on slightly better behavior.
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