Taking notes while on an Interview

[630670]

Is it okay to take notes on the questions your interviewer is asking you? Further once you start asking questions and he starts answering them, is it okay to pull out a notepad (if its not already out) and start jotting down answers?

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[MEG@COOL]

Is it okay to take notes on the questions your interviewer is asking you? Further once you start asking questions and he starts answering them, is it okay to pull out a notepad (if its not already out) and start jotting down answers?

it will make you look like your nuts

 

[boulux]

it will make you look like your nuts

+1

 

[Rafa]

S/he might think you're doodling...or jotting down a shopping list. Neither would be much help to your application.

 

[christian15213]

Is it okay to take notes on the questions your interviewer is asking you? Further once you start asking questions and he starts answering them, is it okay to pull out a notepad (if its not already out) and start jotting down answers?

Don't do it... I suggest doing a mock interview so you can prepare properlly for it...

Taking notes is not something one should do... Think about it this way... What are you going to do with the "NOTES" once you leave... Nothing!!! and they know that... so why waiste their time acting like you're going to be publishing something once you leave their presence...

 

[notdeadyet]

Is it okay to take notes on the questions your interviewer is asking you?

No. There will be no test.

Further once you start asking questions and he starts answering them, is it okay to pull out a notepad (if its not already out) and start jotting down answers?

I see what you're getting at and it makes sense. On a professional job interview, it is totally acceptable to do this. But this is because the assumption is that you'll be talking to a lot of companies and asking information that isn't available a la MSAR. I wouldn't do it at a med school interview.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

it will make you look like your nuts

+1

+1

Notes are for the lecture/presentation, not the actual interview. Taking notes creates distance between you and the interviewer.

 

[foofish]

No. There will be no test.

Or rather, the interview IS the test, so you should be focusing on the interview and not on taking notes.

If you're concerned about remembering what they tell you in response to your own questions, write it down after you leave the interview.

 

[LizzyM]

it will make you look like your nuts

I hope that what you mean is , "it will make you look like you're nuts"

I wouldn't ordinarily correct another poster's grammar but this just killed me.

 

[Robizzle]

I hope that what you mean is , "it will make you look like you're nuts"

I wouldn't ordinarily correct another poster's grammar but this just killed me.

lol great catch

 

[MEG@COOL]

I hope that what you mean is , "it will make you look like you're nuts"

I wouldn't ordinarily correct another poster's grammar but this just killed me.

lol nice

 

[ClockworkDoc]

Don't do it

 

[Mozzo]

I'm just a lowly undergrad and don't know etiquette/protocol but I think it shows interest in a school when you actually jot down notes in relevant situations, even during the interview (especially when the interviewer gives you a detailed response to your question).

...then again, maybe I'm trying to justify my jotting down of notes at the interview I just had...

 

[christian15213]

I'm just a lowly undergrad and don't know etiquette/protocol but I think it shows interest in a school when you actually jot down notes in relevant situations, even during the interview (especially when the interviewer gives you a detailed response to your question).

...then again, maybe I'm trying to justify my jotting down of notes at the interview I just had...

It is fake... lol... please tell me what you did with the notes afterwards? And please tell me what the interviewers were doing while you were joting down little notes... Were their eyes peering out the sides of their heads looking at one another?

 

[Mozzo]

It is fake... lol... please tell me what you did with the notes afterwards? And please tell me what the interviewers were doing while you were joting down little notes... Were their eyes peering out the sides of their heads looking at one another?

Well, it was just one interviewer,,,and I wasn't telling her to stop talking while I write lengthy prose in my notepad,,,I just think it shows that you're listening to the interviewer, rather than blindly nodding your head at everything that comes out of her mouth and not really caring what she says.

 

[kypdurron5]

Is it okay to take notes on the questions your interviewer is asking you? Further once you start asking questions and he starts answering them, is it okay to pull out a notepad (if its not already out) and start jotting down answers?

One word....WHY?!

 

[etf]

alternatively, what do you guys think about busting out the notepad when the interviewer asks if you have any questions, and you have some written down? should they just be memorized?

 

[Law2Doc]

Is it okay to take notes on the questions your interviewer is asking you? Further once you start asking questions and he starts answering them, is it okay to pull out a notepad (if its not already out) and start jotting down answers?

Don't take notes other than in the fin aid presentation, at which time, it's fine to jot down pertinent things. Otherwise, hold the info in your head until after, and then jot it down in private. It otherwise seems like you are unable to hold much info in your head, and makes the interview less conversational (and conversational would be the definition of the optimal interview).

 

[Mozzo]

alternatively, what do you guys think about busting out the notepad when the interviewer asks if you have any questions, and you have some written down? should they just be memorized?

I'd say no problem, unless it's a really simple question to remember and it's clear that you just made up a couple questions because you knew you had to. If it's a serious question that you genuinely had and so you you wrote it down so that you wouldn't forget, then that's fine.

Also note, I am the only one so far on this thread that endorses notepad usage of any sort, so take my advice with a grain o' salt.

 

[Slackenerny]

I'm backing up Mozzo on this one. In all my interviews, from grad school to jobs to med school, I have made a list of questions that I did not want to forget to ask. No interviewer has ever minded that I have referred to such a list. My view is that if you want to take very brief notes (to write an important name, project, or new piece of fancy lab equipment not mentioned in the brochures) no one is going to care.

 

[Law2Doc]

No interviewer has ever minded that I have referred to such a list.

You cannot know this unless you got into every school and received every job you ever interviewed for, and even then would not be sure you didn't get there in spite of this rather than it being fine.

And BTW, there's a big difference between referring to a list and taking notes, although in my opinion both are considered by some as bad form.

 

[630670]

The reason I wanted to jot down notes, was so I could remember everything they asked and also remember my responses.

however, I just had my first interview and i did not take notes. It was pretty easy to recall all the questions they asked as well as the answers I gave after the interview. I think personally it just feels more comfortable to not take notes and I think the interview can actually become less formal and more conversational if you don't take notes.

Making eye contact is huge and I realized that if i'm constantly writing down notes I'm probably making less eye contact and I dont want the interviewer to feel uncomfortable or less important.

Lastly, standing out is probably a bad thing. I wouldn't really want the interviewers referring to me as the tool who took notes.