When Your Interview Veers Off Topic...

[MedPR]

Saw this in the USA Today I was reading before my interview yesterday. Only 150 people (job seekers) were polled, and I'm pretty sure SDN would handle it differently than those 150.

Results of that poll were as follows:
53%: Politely redirect the conversation
37% Let the interviewer talk (this is what I have done when my interviewers start talking about random stuff)
10%: Interject and take control

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[sinombre]

Veering off topic can be a good thing as well... I tend to try and use it to my advantage.

 

[toxicwombat]

Why on earth would you redirect? I just let them talk. Talking about a random subject you both enjoy is much more enjoyable than the typical "interrogation" style.

 

[Narmerguy]

"Hahaha yeah that's interesting. Now back to my shadowing experience..."

 

[Tots]

For medical school interviews definitely let them talk. Not even a question.

 

[487806]

Veering off topic can be a good thing as well... I tend to try and use it to my advantage.

👍

Let the interviewers talk. It's a good thing, and shows you're interested. Redirecting makes you appear rather impatient.

 

[circulus vitios]

Let the interviewer talk. A happy interviewer will be more likely to stick up for you when accept/reject decisions need to be made.

 

[MedPR]

Veering off topic can be a good thing as well... I tend to try and use it to my advantage.

Why on earth would you redirect? I just let them talk. Talking about a random subject you both enjoy is much more enjoyable than the typical "interrogation" style.

👍

Let the interviewers talk. It's a good thing, and shows you're interested. Redirecting makes you appear rather impatient.

Let the interviewer talk. A happy interviewer will be more likely to stick up for you when accept/reject decisions need to be made.

I agree. And as I suspected, SDN opinion is much different than those in the USA Today poll 🙂

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[Barcu]

Veering off topic can be a good thing as well... I tend to try and use it to my advantage.

👍 This

Going off topic is fine, but I would try and find a way to contribute. Don't redirect the conversation back to the interview questions but try and play off what the interviewer is talking about if you can. Sometimes this isn't possible, but it will help the interviewer remember you more if you are actually having a conversation as opposed to just listening.

 

[iave9963]

Veering off topic can be a good thing as well... I tend to try and use it to my advantage.

👍

 

[487806]

I agree. And as I suspected, SDN opinion is much different than those in the USA Today poll 🙂

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What did the usa today poll indicate? This sounds odd...

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

10%: Interject and take control

lol those people will be looking for jobs for quite a while

 

[MedPR]

What did the usa today poll indicate? This sounds odd...

The results are in the OP 😉

 

[sliceofbread136]

Don Draper would interject and take control, and their isn't a job on the planet he wouldn't get.

 

[Fivo]

Don Draper would interject and take control, and their isn't a job on the planet he wouldn't get.

I don't think he'd fare too well against Harvey Specter brah 😎

 

[BABSstudent]

I let them go down whatever path they want and I tag along. If they start talking about zip lining (which did happen in one of mine), I happily talk about one time I went zip lining in Ecuador. I get to bring up facts like they call zip lining "canopy" in Ecuador.

Of course we still talk about my application, but I feel like I stand out a little more in the interviewer's memory.

 

[KnuxNole]

I guess this can explain the unemployment rate.

 

[ShenanigansMD]

"Now that Petraeus guy, funny story..."

 

[487806]

The results are in the OP 😉

Oh... I just got exposed and must go self- mode now.

 

[ValentineLissar]

The best interviews are those where the interviewers talk about topics that nothing to do with the reason why you're here. 😀

 

[MedPR]

Mayo interview #2- interviewer talked for 25 minutes and only asked me one question. Got in.


(who am i kidding...just answering so I can mention i got in mayo today...jk...but no, really) 😉

I got into mayo on 10/14 without applying ED.

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[Cinclus]

My best interviews were those that got derailed from the usual format. Those were the ones where I felt like the interviewer really got to know me. Letting the interviewer talk and asking them some things about them also seemed like it worked well.

 

[TheShaker]

Do you guys think it's because that at some point the interviewer has decided that they have enough to get you in (or reject you) and just wants to goof off for the rest of the time?

 

[theWhat]

I'd immediately interject and remind them this a medical school interview not Sunday brunch. If that doesn't show them that I am there for business I'd stand up, start walking towards the door and tell them to call me when they're ready for a real interview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siRWRFWLtCs&sns=em

 

[Narmerguy]

Do you guys think it's because that at some point the interviewer has decided that they have enough to get you in (or reject you) and just wants to goof off for the rest of the time?

I think the idea is that you want the interviewer to have a positive memory of your interview (and thus you) after it's over. This is much more likely to happen if the interviewer gets to talk about the things she/he finds genuinely interesting/exciting. Whether or not you two cover the stuff she/he originally planned can hardly be held against you either way. I think most people would agree that the best conversations are those where you don't have to think about what you're supposed to be saying/doing but you just breeze through it, losing track of time.

 

[Swartzlehman]

X

 

[Praefectus]

One interviewer started discussing football with me for 5-10 minutes. He told me at the end of the interview that he felt good about me and I was accepted. I'd give your interviewer a little artistic license.

 

[theWhat]

It seems to me also that it's a good way to gauge how you might interact with patients. Are you too cold and impersonal with no flexibility? Or perhaps you get a little TOO sidetracked. Either extreme would be concerning to the interviewer I'd think.

 

[eefen]

I think the idea is that you want the interviewer to have a positive memory of your interview (and thus you) after it's over.

This. Very much this. By the time you get to the interview, you have already been determined to be academically qualified for that school. Your activity descriptions are already in your AMCAS, and your motivation for becoming a doctor is already in your personal statement.

At this point, then, the whole point is not to see if you are "good enough," but if you're just likeable enough. IMO, getting sidetracked onto a random topic that the both of you enjoy is a much better way to demonstrate this than by answering a series of ethical questions.

At my top choice interview, my first interviewer and I ended up talking about completely random issues in healthcare that were tangentially related to some of my previous experiences, and happened to be right up my alley. We had a blast, I was accepted...it was good all around.

 

[MedPR]

This. Very much this. By the time you get to the interview, you have already been determined to be academically qualified for that school. Your activity descriptions are already in your AMCAS, and your motivation for becoming a doctor is already in your personal statement.

At this point, then, the whole point is not to see if you are "good enough," but if you're just likeable enough. IMO, getting sidetracked onto a random topic that the both of you enjoy is a much better way to demonstrate this than by answering a series of ethical questions.

At my top choice interview, my first interviewer and I ended up talking about completely random issues in healthcare that were tangentially related to some of my previous experiences, and happened to be right up my alley. We had a blast, I was accepted...it was good all around.

I hope your experience proves true for me. I recently interviewed at my state school and both of my interviews there were mainly spent chatting about random stuff.

 

[eefen]

I hope your experience proves true for me. I recently interviewed at my state school and both of my interviews there were mainly spent chatting about random stuff.

I hope so too! Best of luck to you.

 

[MedPR]

I hope so too! Best of luck to you.

Ty 🙂

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