Uniform for the Interview, Your Thoughts?

[oakland_raiders]

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I am applying to pharmacy school and currently on active duty. I am curious what people's opinions are on wearing your uniform vs a suite to a school interview. I realize most people on this board are docs not pharm d's, but I think the interview process is similar enough to post here. I will be interviewing against 100-200 other people all dressed in suites and thought the uniform might help me make a good impression (on top of a good interview, of course) and I plan on going active duty as a pharm d after school. Any thoughts? Thanks for the help.

 

[GMO_52]

I am applying to pharmacy school and currently on active duty. I am curious what people's opinions are on wearing your uniform vs a suite to a school interview. I realize most people on this board are docs not pharm d's, but I think the interview process is similar enough to post here. I will be interviewing against 100-200 other people all dressed in suites and thought the uniform might help me make a good impression (on top of a good interview, of course) and I plan on going active duty as a pharm d after school. Any thoughts? Thanks for the help.

I'd recommend against wearing the uniform to the interview. You can talk about your military time and your intention to serve further, however, the uniform is a much stronger statement about how you see yourself. You might well run into people that feel negatively about the military in today's climate.

 

[JA_Perez]

I'd recommend against wearing the uniform to the interview. You can talk about your military time and your intention to serve further, however, the uniform is a much stronger statement about how you see yourself. You might well run into people that feel negatively about the military in today's climate.

I agree. You dont want to sit down in your nice uniform in front of a liberal physican during your interview. Good luck!

 

[turkish]

Hard to say. Are you going to be on military scholarship during school?

I definitely would not leave it at home because of what some civilian who's against the war might think about you, though.

 

[usnavdoc]

I wouldnt worry about the whole liberal thing either, BUT wearing the uniform does make a strong statement regarding your personality. You are already going to be talking about your experiences in the military. To wear the uniform is a big exclammation point. When you are interviewing for a position be it med school, pharm school, or a future job in a practice, the interviewers have already decided on paper to accept you. Now they are evaluating you as a person to work with and teach over the next several years. So you should not try and stand out from an appearance standpoint but rather from your interaction with the interviewer. Use your military experience to aid you but do not let it appear that this is all you are.

 

[kaikai128]

If you are active duty and that is part of who you are and what you plan to go into in the future, I don't see anything wrong with wearing the uniform. Yes, you may rub some people wrong...but would you really want to go to a school that isn't military friendly and would negatively judge you only because you are military?

...I would suspect no.

 

[mac61]

Not sure this is the right place, but I feel like it needs to be said....sorry if you're "that guy":

I know that USUHS is a pretty unique situation, and interviewing in the appropriate uniform is the right decision, hands down. However, interviewing in Army Dress Blues worn formally with a bow tie is probably a bad move. I'm not sure if the officer was accepted or not, but it definitely proved to be a source of entertainment for a lot of priors on campus at the time.

Bottom line: I don't think it really matters, as long as its appropriate.

 

[Dadoh]

I have sat in on many interviews for my school, and anything out of the ordinary dark suit usually doesn't go over well. One guy didn't wear a jacket and after he was dismissed, that is all that the board could talk about. "How could this guy show up without a jacket?" Same thing with a guy that didn't wear a tie and a girl who wore pink shoes. The thing is that when you sit through many interviews over several days you look for the things that make prospective students stand out. As a rule it is best to stand out in some other way than by your clothes. I think wearing a uniform is risky. Being that you have prior service should be enough to make you stand out a little. Talking about your experiences is good. If you do decide to be wear a uniform don't act "military" and be too formal. It can come off as arrogant and that is the last way that you want to appear in an interview.

 

[PharmD2MD]

I'd vote no on the uniform. It's not a military school like USUHS. The people interviewing you probably won't understand the uniform. I would wear a suit and definitely put your military accomplishments on the application. Talk up your leadership and whatever you did on active duty, just keep in the context of leadership, teamwork, etc. Civilians have a sort of distorted hollywood view of the military, so make sure you aren't portraying yourself as some sort of rambo or whatever.

I wore my uniform to an interview at my state med school simply because I had a military function immediately after the interview. I don't think it went over well. There are a lot of liberals in academia who may not appreciate your service.

I hope this helps- good luck.

 

[oakland_raiders]

Hey everyone-
Thanks for all the opinions. I am curently on active duty now, will be in a reserve status during school, and plan to return to active duty after pharmacy school probably in the Navy. I am not going on a military scholarship because I want a little bit more control over where they put me for the first assignment. More then likely I will go the suit route and talk up the miltary experience where appropriate. Definately don't want to come across as one of ''those Rambo types" (I was an Airborne Ranger a lifetime ago) 😉 . Again, thanks for the help.

 

[MedicalCorpse]

Hey everyone-
Thanks for all the opinions. I am curently on active duty now, will be in a reserve status during school, and plan to return to active duty after pharmacy school probably in the Navy. I am not going on a military scholarship because I want a little bit more control over where they put me for the first assignment. More then likely I will go the suit route and talk up the miltary experience where appropriate. Definately don't want to come across as one of ''those Rambo types" (I was an Airborne Ranger a lifetime ago) 😉 . Again, thanks for the help.

Hint: Might want to fire up the old spell-checker before sending in your résumé. Definately more then a suite idea for a miltary type such as yourself.

Just a thought from an orthographic peccadillophobe, if I may coin a neologism.

--R

 

[oakland_raiders]

Hint: Might want to fire up the old spell-checker before sending in your résumé. Definately more then a suite idea for a miltary type such as yourself.

Just a thought from an orthographic peccadillophobe, if I may coin a neologism.

--R

Yeah, roger...didn't realize the message board was part of the intervew process. 🙄

 

[former military]

Yeah, roger...didn't realize the message board was part of the intervew process. 🙄

The only time to wear a military uniform to a civilian medical interview is if you are going to be a fellow or deferred resident and the kick is that the military is going to be paying your fellow salary and save their department money. Otherwise it is a huge distractor unless you are in a serious military town like San Antonio or maybe San Diego. You might as well wear a big sign around your neck that says "Don't Hire Me".