"So, tell me about yourself" as an interview questoin

[LizzyM]

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If we held interviews outdoors with cocktails, would it sometimes go like this?
http://www.bostonglobe.com/2011/09/09/dilbert/NabRAVwt5vZnuxTqVLCuJM/story.html

 

[Womb Raider]

Haha have you actually had people bring up free will? Interestingly enough neuroscience is pointing more and more toward the reality that we don't have free will - free "won't" maybe...

 

[LizzyM]

No one I've interviewed has been this candid. Would cocktails help? (in vino veritas?)

 

[Womb Raider]

I think for a lot of people one or two drinks would help a lot actually, but as well all know there's a nice sweet spot, and once you go over there's no coming back.

 

[Lawpy]

No one I've interviewed has been this candid. Would cocktails help? (in vino veritas?)

It helps but not necessary.

 

[NeuResurgens]

It helps but not necessary.

Oh, the great conundrum that almost always requires some luck to overcome. Still not sure how I managed to get hired at a hospital.

I'm not a fan of the "tell me about yourself" question. It's very open ended, so I feel like it spawns a lot of pre-written answers.

 

[ShopgirlNY152]

Has anyone found some good interview prep materials? I'm a pretty shy person, and don't come off terribly well in interviews. For example, in my current field, I'd say I have 1 interview out of 10 which I really nail, and maybe 7 that I completely flop on. My interviewing has gotten better, but I find it hard to "turn on" instantly for other people, especially when I don't know them at all.

 

[WedgeDawg]

http://www.studentdoctor.net/2008/02/trick-question/?reload=1&r=1432491487465

When I interviewed and was invariable asked this question, I followed the advice in the above link and it worked pretty well. It allowed me to control where the conversation was heading and highlight the parts of my application that I thought were the most positive.

Unsure if wine or a cocktail would have helped, but I would have been down to try it out 😉

 

[ShopgirlNY152]

http://www.studentdoctor.net/2008/02/trick-question/?reload=1&r=1432491487465

When I interviewed and was invariable asked this question, I followed the advice in the above link and it worked pretty well. It allowed me to control where the conversation was heading and highlight the parts of my application that I thought were the most positive.

Unsure if wine or a cocktail would have helped, but I would have been down to try it out 😉

Thank you, I will definitely give this a read. As far as practice, did you just mock interview with friends & loved ones? I'm not sure if there is some sort of test prep company that will also help in preparation for interviews.

Also, apologies for taking over this thread. I liked the comic 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you, I will definitely give this a read. As far as practice, did you just mock interview with friends & loved ones? I'm not sure if there is some sort of test prep company that will also help in preparation for interviews.

Also, apologies for taking over this thread. I liked the comic 🙂

I'm glad you liked the comic.

There is an interview feedback tab at the top of the page... there isn't a lot of feedback for a given school but it will tell you something about some of the "favorite" questions at each school.

Rather than practice with friends or loved ones ask someone you know to fix you up with an adult you don't know well who works in a professional capacity in any profession. It could be a friend's parent (provided you don't know them well). Plan to meet them in an office setting and dress as you would for an interview. Let them ask you any questions they choose (show them the interview feedback site or anything else that might guide them.) The point is, it shouldn't be someone you are comfortable with or who knows you well and it should be someone who will be able to give you feedback and coaching about how you did. Some people are brave enough to be videotaped doing an interview and watching yourself can help you identify bad posture or verbal filler that is a distraction.

 

[ShopgirlNY152]

I'm glad you liked the comic.

There is an interview feedback tab at the top of the page... there isn't a lot of feedback for a given school but it will tell you something about some of the "favorite" questions at each school.

Rather than practice with friends or loved ones ask someone you know to fix you up with an adult you don't know well who works in a professional capacity in any profession. It could be a friend's parent (provided you don't know them well). Plan to meet them in an office setting and dress as you would for an interview. Let them ask you any questions they choose (show them the interview feedback site or anything else that might guide them.) The point is, it shouldn't be someone you are comfortable with or who knows you well and it should be someone who will be able to give you feedback and coaching about how you did. Some people are brave enough to be videotaped doing an interview and watching yourself can help you identify bad posture or verbal filler that is a distraction.

Goodness, I never thought of this, but it is perfect! That's the main pitfall I had, as I was already familiar with my mock interviewer, and felt it wasn't truly representative of what I'd see in an office setting.

I will definitely employ this approach!

 

[WedgeDawg]

Thank you, I will definitely give this a read. As far as practice, did you just mock interview with friends & loved ones? I'm not sure if there is some sort of test prep company that will also help in preparation for interviews.

Also, apologies for taking over this thread. I liked the comic 🙂

I actually didn't practice too much for interviews other than asking a friend to shoot random questions at me for an hour or so. The way I prepared was by going through lists of questions I found by googling "med school interview questions" and thinking of what I would say if asked this. I didn't come up with a rote answer, but instead thought of anecdotes or experiences I could use as a starting point for constructing an answer to a question, which allowed me to be flexible when it came to actually answering a question in an interview. Memorizing a canned response also sounds bad and is really easy to sniff out, especially for experienced adcoms who interview hundreds of people per year.

 

[caffeinemia]

The interviews where I just acted like myself and said whatever jackassish thing that came to mind were the ones that led to acceptances. Keepin it real was just easier than sticking with the canned responses. I felt and probably looked way more comfortable. Anyway, one of my favorites responses in the line of the OP's comic strip was something to this effect...

Interviewer: "Medicine is very demanding profession, what qualities do you think will help you succeed?"
Me: "I think the only thing I have that may be unique is perspective. I'm sure medicine is a worthwhile and challenging field, but.... uhhh.... I think it's over-hyped as being tough. Let me give you an example - my folks survived a communist purge, immigrated to this country with nothing, worked 16 hours a day in sweat shops, and left me at home to fend for myself at the age of 4. Seems like a lot of the same sacrifices without a lot of the payoffs. So I'm pretty sure I can do medicine. I'll probably spend a lot more time with the kids too."

 

[LizzyM]

Don't memorize your answers! don't even write anything down. Canned is not good although sounding a bit rehearsed by mid-November is expected if you are a top candidate as by that time you may have had 6 or more interviews.

But, being comfortable sitting in professional clothing answering questions asked by a stranger can take time and having a rehearsal or two isn't a bad thing.

 

[Goro]

To reiterate what my learned colleague has written, relaxed and polished answers are fine, but canned answers will keep you out of medical school.

Don't memorize your answers! don't even write anything down. Canned is not good although sounding a bit rehearsed by mid-November is expected if you are a top candidate as by that time you may have had 6 or more interviews.

But, being comfortable sitting in professional clothing answering questions asked by a stranger can take time and having a rehearsal or two isn't a bad thing.

 

[NeuResurgens]

To reiterate what my learned colleague has written, relaxed and polished answers are fine, but canned answers will keep you out of medical school.

I think it's kind of like the concepts you learn about in classes. Rote memorization to a T? You'll flounder when anything comes outside of that subset of concepts. But I think it's ok to brainstorm about what you might say to some common interview questions, and use the anecdotes and other thoughts you come up with to your advantage depending on the situation. When prepping for interviews, I think the important thing is saying what you would actually say, not trying to anticipate what the interviewer wants to hear.

 

[Lucca]

Lol I enjoyed that Dilbert cartoon. Like all of them reminds me of the engineers at my university. This one also reminds me of first semester philosophy students.