"Tell me about yourself" interview question

[JCLewis90]

Is this a common question at dental school interviews? Anyone had success with answering it if so?

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[paymaant]

It's usually the first thing they ask you...

 

[CleverThought]

Yep, usually pretty common. My game plan has been to approach the question based on if the interview is closed or open file.

Basically, be honest about who you are. Obviously, you get the interview because they know you have the basic smarts - prove to them you aren't some science robot.

 

[JCLewis90]

What kinds of things should you focus on in answering this?

 

[sjv]

Is this a common question at dental school interviews? Anyone had success with answering it if so?

Have you read the interview survey? Click questions and corresponding "See All" buttons at the bottom if you haven't done so already.

http://studentdoctor.net/schools/school/mcgsd/survey/26

 

[HandsOnPractice]

I was asked this at an interview recently and I talked about college, when I graduated and what degree, what I have been doing since college (I work in an Infectious Disease Research Lab-they were quite interested in this), my hobbies, you know basic things like that. This should be the easiest question they ask you.

 

[Illfavor]

I was asked this at an interview recently and I talked about college, when I graduated and what degree, what I have been doing since college (I work in an Infectious Disease Research Lab-they were quite interested in this), my hobbies, you know basic things like that. This should be the easiest question they ask you.

They want recent history, not your life story.

 

[jeffity]

Yep, usually pretty common. My game plan has been to approach the question based on if the interview is closed or open file.

Basically, be honest about who you are. Obviously, you get the interview because they know you have the basic smarts - prove to them you aren't some science robot.

That's not a bad approach.

After finally getting to sit on the other side of the interview table and talking with classmates who are doing the same, a couple of observations I've made:

Ignoring me. For reals, though. If there is more than one interviewer in the room...or a student or an observer, don't just talk to one person. Eye contact with everyone in the room whether they asked the question or not. Admittedly, this particular interviewer is REALLY big on this. I did everything short of stand up and wave my hands around to get one guy to look at me and not just the interviewer. I assume it's just nerves and not poor form.

Nerves. I know you can't do much about it. But if it's distracting (voice fluttering like you're about to cry, nervous tics, etc)...well, I don't know what you need to do to try and overcome it.

Know when to stop talking. Maybe I have ADD or something, but I got bored a few times with long answers. I just sort of stopped listening. I guess it depends on how interesting you are, but maybe look for body language or something so you know when to wrap it up. In particular, the 'tell me about yourself/why you' question. Depending on your approach, those questions overlap. I don't suggest answering it like it's the only question you get and you need to lay everything out on the table. It was closed file, but don't cover your whole application in one question. One guy pretty much went down the list....leadership, volunteering, general academic performance, work experience. That's a little much and went on too long.

Along those same lines, answer the question and don't wander. It kind of goes with the above. Don't go way out of your way to try to bring up something in your application you just want to throw out there. Tying questions back to you and how awesome you are is nice and all, but make sure you actually answer the question asked before venturing there.

 

[bobDAbuilder]

"tell my about yourself"

an advice i received from a fellow interview is that just be yourself.

it is NOT a trick question.

you can talk about whatever you want: family, trees, books, sports, a dead squirrel you saw yesterday while rollerblading down the park while taking a bite out of a hamburger. you name it.