Tackling Rambling at interviews

[snowys435]

So I have interviews coming up and I'm kind of a nervous person. It's hard for me to be concise and be articulate about my main point. I've been trying to tame and control that but I found that doing it make me sound more put together but I also end up sounding boring and unenthusiastic and kind of choppy.....

I'm not sure about how to tackle this for interviews? Should I try to be myself but I know I might end up sounding like an idiot or like I don't know what I want to say. Or should I try to control it?

Do you guys have any suggestions? Anyone have the same issues?

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[rellak]

I haven't done any med school interviews yet, but I have successfullypassed a lot of job interviews so I will try to give you some advice. Take it or leave it! I'm not sure how much it's worth anyway 🙂

What I often find to be a good rule of thumb is treating the interview like a conversation. When you're talking with your friends, you often don't speak more than 45 seconds at a time unless you're telling a story. I try to follow the same rule for interviews, unless I'm being asked to elaborate on something. Then I will stretch all the way to 2 minutes but rarely past that.

If you keep talking like 4 minute+, people will sort of glaze over. But you don't want to sound choppy either! I would say next time you talk to a friend, glance at your wrist watch and see how long your average responses are. And then wear a watch to the interview so you can check yourself. That's what I do! If I don't watch out, I chatter forever haha

 

[Lya]

1) Taking a pause before you answer helps. Ask yourself, "If I could answer this in one sentence, what would it be?" And then after that, explain your rationale and support with examples.


2) Approach interview questions like you are answering secondary essay questions. But think about it as talking about your conclusion first (going back to #1 above) and then go into your body paragraphs, instead of talking about the introduction first.


3) Making a list of key words as a preparation helps. Keep your focus on these key words, so that your answer sounds more like a little essay with one or two central themes. It will prevent rambling.


4) Practice, practice and practice. When I say practice, I mean, you need to practice saying things naturally like you did not memorize them, even though you sort of memorized them as your preparation. My first interview went horrible, but the second one and on, I became more spontaneous, answering questions genuinely even though I remembered key words and key sentences that I need to emphasize. It helped focus and articulate my answers.


5) Your attitude should be, you are there to have an informative interview and you are there to learn, not just Q&A. If your attitude is about just answering questions, you will be nervous. But, if you tell yourself that you are there to have a good, memorable conversation and you are there for a reason, you will look more enthusiastic and confident.

 

[Chir0nex]

1.Think about answers to common interview questions. You don't need to have a stock answer, but know the essential points of what you want to say and then stick to that. Once you have hit those main topics you are done, and don't need to say anymore.

2. Take a moment to consider the question before starting to answer. Don't start talking with a complete answer because you will then have to stall as you think through your response. This is especially true for ethics or policy questions. Also, if it is a complex question with multiple aspects (common in ethics) you can even start by listing a the main points to it, giving you some structure to your response, and all letting the interviewer know that you have thought out your response even if it is long.

3. Don't get more nervous if you make a mistake. If you mess up one answer and ramble, don't get flustered and mess up the next one. Show that you can move past it and stay composed. Related to this is know when to stop. If you are 1 minute into and answer and have no idea where to go with it, just stop. Finish the response as best you can and move on. Don't waste more time trying to fix a poor response unless you are sure you can do so without rambling again.

4. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[Goro]

Practice makes perfect!

Does your school have a career counselling center? If so, I'll bet they can help.

I'll give you credit for being cognicent of your difficulties; in fair warning, I can't stand babbling idiots and reject them out of hand.

So I have interviews coming up and I'm kind of a nervous person. It's hard for me to be concise and be articulate about my main point. I've been trying to tame and control that but I found that doing it make me sound more put together but I also end up sounding boring and unenthusiastic and kind of choppy.....

I'm not sure about how to tackle this for interviews? Should I try to be myself but I know I might end up sounding like an idiot or like I don't know what I want to say. Or should I try to control it?

Do you guys have any suggestions? Anyone have the same issues?

 

[ellesh]

Right there with you! I think what helped me the most is to lay out possible questions on one side of a paper/Excel spreadsheet and jot down the main points I would talk about on the other side. I recorded myself answering some questions as well, realized how much I rambled, and re-recorded new ones. I also recently did a mock interview with my pre-health advisor, which I felt helped a lot.

During the interview, maybe pause and think about why your interviewer is asking the question. In a way, what "umbrella" does this question fall under? Is the main point of the question to get at the heart of your interest in medicine? Is it to see how you handle challenges? Once you get the main area of inquiry, it may be easier to focus your answer accordingly.

Best of luck! It's admirable that you've thought ahead about this and know your potential weaknesses.

 

[snowys435]

thanks everyone! extremely helpful. I am just worried because my first interview is in 3 weeks and I just started preparing. I'm worried that this isn't enough time to practice answers to questions.

 

[darkjedi]

While you shouldn't be rambling incoherently, you SHOULD be talking about yourself, in hopefully a passionate an enthusiastic manner. Crafting a story and narrative can actually go a long way in helping the interviewer know you better. If you answer everything in a curt and sterile manner, you will just come off as boring and disinterested. If you are an energetic person, who exudes passion in the stuff you are talking about, that energy can sometimes be infectious. The interviewees I enjoy the most are those types of people. My worst interviews are the ones where it can almost feel like I'm pulling teeth in trying to tease out someone's personality. They not only come across as boring, but also as listless and almost uninterested in the interview. Not great.

So feel free to 'talk' and be expressive, the key of course is to be coherent AND articulate. If your answers start the deviate to the point where you weren't even sure what question you were answering, thats obviously not great. Be aware of how your interviewer is responding to you speak.

 

[Lucky Louie]

I think rambling happens because you haven't established the "main aspects of your story". By talking a lot, you may figure, you covered everything. A better approach is to create an outline of what you want to say. You don't need to elaborate on everything. More importantly, you may be rambling because you add all sorts of unimportant details and tangents. Practice using a filter and know you have very little time. This interview may be important to you, but it's one of many for the interviewer.

Remember, if you're a doctor and you have to see 4-6 patients in an hour, you won't have the luxury to ramble. It's important you learn this skill now.

 

[pyrrion89]

While you shouldn't be rambling incoherently, you SHOULD be talking about yourself, in hopefully a passionate an enthusiastic manner. Crafting a story and narrative can actually go a long way in helping the interviewer know you better. If you answer everything in a curt and sterile manner, you will just come off as boring and disinterested. If you are an energetic person, who exudes passion in the stuff you are talking about, that energy can sometimes be infectious. The interviewees I enjoy the most are those types of people. My worst interviews are the ones where it can almost feel like I'm pulling teeth in trying to tease out someone's personality. They not only come across as boring, but also as listless and almost uninterested in the interview. Not great.

So feel free to 'talk' and be expressive, the key of course is to be coherent AND articulate. If your answers start the deviate to the point where you weren't even sure what question you were answering, thats obviously not great. Be aware of how your interviewer is responding to you speak.

+1. You need to be expressive and descriptive, and that means crafting a narrative that situated your experiences, motivation, and skills into a coherent and compelling story and argument. To do this, your response duration may be large. Rambling kills this, but don't equate length with rambling necessarily. And make sure to not sound rehearsed!