Scheduling Dental school Interviews when you have a job

[als33]

I recently got a job offer, but I did not tell that I am applying to dental school this cycle because I was rejected to other job interviews by informing it.
Now I am worried about my dental school interview dates... I have heard that they are mostly during the weekdays, and I am not sure if I can handle it. I have few days off for vacation, but now I am afraid it won't be enough. I was hoping it to be a virtual interview this cycle too, but I am expecting it to be mostly in-person since one of my interview invite is the on-site interview.

So... are there any advice for this? I am starting new at my job, and in 2-3 months I would have to have lots of days off for my job if I get interview invites. This is giving me headaches, and am considering to reject the offer. But after the interview, I really have nothing to do for the next 9 months, and this is something I don't want to do... I have applied to about 20 schools. Are there any suggestions? Thanks.

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[macsak]

I recently got a job offer, but I did not tell that I am applying to dental school this cycle because I was rejected to other job interviews by informing it.
Now I am worried about my dental school interview dates... I have heard that they are mostly during the weekdays, and I am not sure if I can handle it. I have few days off for vacation, but now I am afraid it won't be enough. I was hoping it to be a virtual interview this cycle too, but I am expecting it to be mostly in-person since one of my interview invite is the on-site interview.

So... are there any advice for this? I am starting new at my job, and in 2-3 months I would have to have lots of days off for my job if I get interview invites. This is giving me headaches, and am considering to reject the offer. But after the interview, I really have nothing to do for the next 9 months, and this is something I don't want to do... I have applied to about 20 schools. Are there any suggestions? Thanks.

tell the truth...

 

[HKSZYU]

I did my interviews while working full time. My company did not know I was applying.

I think it really depends on how many days off your company allots you and what restrictions they have on using them. In my company, we got ~10 days off per year to use as we choose, so I just used those. I tried to schedule interviews on days where there weren’t super important tasks at work, and if I had to travel for an interview, I tried to schedule geographically close interviews on the same trip to cut down on travel time/cost.

 

[als33]

I did my interviews while working full time. My company did not know I was applying.

I think it really depends on how many days off your company allots you and what restrictions they have on using them. In my company, we got ~10 days off per year to use as we choose, so I just used those. I tried to schedule interviews on days where there weren’t super important tasks at work, and if I had to travel for an interview, I tried to schedule geographically close interviews on the same trip to cut down on travel time/cost.

Did they ever question why you were taking so many days off on the month (October/ November)?
I have 15 days off... I hope this is enough.

 

[als33]

tell the truth...

This could be one option but I prefer not to😂

 

[HKSZYU]

Did they ever question why you were taking so many days off on the month (October/ November)?
I have 15 days off... I hope this is enough.

No. I tried to make sure I scheduled interviews on days where there wasn’t anything super major going on at work. I also tried to put in my time off requests with a decent amount of lead time, so that it wouldn’t be jarring or disruptive.

 

[Blueshirts]

Be prepared to work all day, red eye flight at night and interview in the morning, then fly out at night, catch a few hours rest and get back to work, obv do your best not to lag at work. Request the hotels to put out an iron and ironing bored. You'll be tired but doing both is possible and doable. If you are in the NE or flying to the NE be prepared for possible flight delay bc of inclement weather.

 

[HKSZYU]

Be prepared to work all day, red eye flight at night and interview in the morning, then fly out at night, catch a few hours rest and get back to work, obv do your best not to lag at work. Request the hotels to put out an iron and ironing bored. You'll be tired but doing both is possible and doable. If you are in the NE or flying to the NE be prepared for possible flight delay bc of inclement weather.

Adding on to this, if you’re in the NE, take trains where possible. I found it was typically faster (less security, less waiting), more comfortable, and more reliable than flying.

 

[MG14]

All depends on how serious you are about dentistry and getting into dental school.

Some schools I got interviews to basically told me the day and time to be there for interview, while others gave me the option to pick between a few different days. But yeah, all except one of my interviews were on weekdays.
I’d take the job, and if/when you start getting interviews cross that bridge with taking sick days or working it out with your employer when those come.

 

[als33]

All depends on how serious you are about dentistry and getting into dental school.

Some schools I got interviews to basically told me the day and time to be there for interview, while others gave me the option to pick between a few different days. But yeah, all except one of my interviews were on weekdays.
I’d take the job, and if/when you start getting interviews cross that bridge with taking sick days or working it out with your employer when those come.

Yeah I'm dead serious with dental school haha... Yes, I did take the job. I wanted to play safe in case I need to apply for next cycle again, and also I want to work during my gap year. I hope it works out with my sick days/vacations....🙃

 

[als33]

Be prepared to work all day, red eye flight at night and interview in the morning, then fly out at night, catch a few hours rest and get back to work, obv do your best not to lag at work. Request the hotels to put out an iron and ironing bored. You'll be tired but doing both is possible and doable. If you are in the NE or flying to the NE be prepared for possible flight delay bc of inclement weather.

Thanks for the advice. But I have not applied to schools that are in NE haha. I am hoping there are some virtual interviews this year.

How does everyone think of choosing virtual interviews when both are offered? Do you think the schools prefer in-person interview?

 

[Blueshirts]

Thanks for the advice. But I have not applied to schools that are in NE haha. I am hoping there are some virtual interviews this year.

How does everyone think of choosing virtual interviews when both are offered? Do you think the schools prefer in-person interview?

I've been doing some Q&A for residencies this year and although not exactly the same, the directors I've talked to have thought that the virtual has been more productive for interviewing and lets people loosen up a bit to be a little more personal, so if that is the case across the board then virtual may be better. BUT you should try to reach out to people in your target schools exactly because they may have a different opinion, and really its a person to person opinion so you will want to know who likes what before deciding.