What is a bad interview?

[worknhard]

I've read a couple of posts from previous cycles where the authors had strong stats but lost the acceptance to a "bad interview". To anyone with such experience, why do you think you interviewed badly? How could you tell? What would you have done differently? What do you wish you had know?

Any suggestions would help us first timers....Thanks!

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[Yachi]

bump! excellent post.

 

[Changedude21]

Well, I am one of those with great stats but no acceptances last year (5 interviews). I just had my first interview this cycle at UNC and I feel great about how it went. Last year, I was very nervous at my first few interviews and just was not confident in my interviewing skills. I think I said "um" a lot and hesitated on some questions last year. I also stumbled/stuttered my sentences a bit last year when I couldn't figure out the correct words to say. Also, I was kinda stiff and didn't show my personality/smile as much as I should have. This year, at my interview, i was just relaxed and smiling and laughing during the interview. I answered the questions fluently (without hesitating or saying "um"). I just told the truth about myself in a very conversational manner. So my advice, Don't be nervous at all. Almost all interviewers are nice and aren't trying to mess you up on purpose. They want to see that you can be social and professional. Obviously, read the common interview questions and have an idea of what you will say to ANY type of question you may hear (especially if you don't know the answer to a question). Good luck!

 

[aznboi89x]

Well, I am one of those with great stats but no acceptances last year (5 interviews). I just had my first interview this cycle at UNC and I feel great about how it went. Last year, I was very nervous at my first few interviews and just was not confident in my interviewing skills. I think I said "um" a lot and hesitated on some questions last year. I also stumbled/stuttered my sentences a bit last year when I couldn't figure out the correct words to say. Also, I was kinda stiff and didn't show my personality/smile as much as I should have. This year, at my interview, i was just relaxed and smiling and laughing during the interview. I answered the questions fluently (without hesitating or saying "um"). I just told the truth about myself in a very conversational manner. So my advice, Don't be nervous at all. Almost all interviewers are nice and aren't trying to mess you up on purpose. They want to see that you can be social and professional. Obviously, read the common interview questions and have an idea of what you will say to ANY type of question you may hear (especially if you don't know the answer to a question). Good luck!

im scared now and getting more nervous. 5 interviews and no acceptances? I hope all 4 of mine will land me at least 1 acceptance!

 

[jeffity]

Bad interview: tan corduroy suit...swish, swish, swish...and a broken zipper.

I'm pretty lame. My interviews that weren't so hot had these problems:
- Being lame...as in being too nervous and awkward and trying too hard to prepare and be all robotic about it instead of being myself. Such trite advice, but it's #1.
- Adapting to people. An interviewer is just a person. And that person can be young or old, male or female, pleasant or wench-like, military or non-military, etc. If you're a people-person and can adapt and still be that charming self, great. Me...not so much.

Results: 4 accepts from 6 interviews I attended (those 2 really haunt me)

 

[Changedude21]

im scared now and getting more nervous. 5 interviews and no acceptances? I hope all 4 of mine will land me at least 1 acceptance!

Well I had 4 pre-december interviews. 1 acceptance (which was later rescinded for a disciplinary issue). 1 wait list (later rejected). and then I had 1 post-december interview (put on waitlist even after they knew of my issue, so without it, possible acceptance?). so I guess really, I had 5 interviews, 2 waitlists, 2 rejections, 1 acceptance. So not that bad. and I really was a HORRIBLE interviewer last year. I am pretty sure you will do fine.

 

[finchy86]

I've read a couple of posts from previous cycles where the authors had strong stats but lost the acceptance to a "bad interview". To anyone with such experience, why do you think you interviewed badly? How could you tell? What would you have done differently? What do you wish you had know?

Any suggestions would help us first timers....Thanks!

A bad interview is one you don't get an acceptance from. Two cycles ago I interviewed at a school and thought it went great...two weeks later wasn't accepted 😱. I feel much more prepared now, but I felt that the interview went well.

I'd rather come out of an interview feeling terrible and get accepted than come out of an interview feeling great and not get accepted. The only point I'm trying to make is that it is hard to be the judge on how your interview went (from my experience of one interview, two cycles ago .

 

[Sal427]

My professor just gave me some advice on interviews: try to read the interviewer to get a feel for their personality. If you can tell that they're very chatty, ask them about themselves as well! People love to talk about themselves and tell you their life story. If they're more reserved, you take the lead.

 

[colombianDDS]

Try to do some mock interviews. I bought this cheap little book called the dental interview or something along those lines and it gave some good tips. I believe I did very good at my first interview last month and I was very confident. I think the more mock interviews you do with friends (who are willing to be serious) or professionals, the more prepared you will be for the actual environment during your interview. Make sure you get asked the main questions: tell me about yourself, why dentistry/why not medicine, ethical situation, personal stuff etc