Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

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mega_ said:
Interviewer: What was your biggest f*ck up in a lab
Me: (After a bit of silence) Jeez, I am not sure which one to pick first, there were quite a few. *Proceed to tell all of them*
Interviewer: Alright LETS MOVE to another question
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That made me remember one of mine. The interviewer asked about my biggest mistake, and when I paused to think I must have looked like I was weighing some serious options. He was like "Now, let's not talk about any CRIMES or anything ILLEGAL" 😱 I must have looked like the crime-concealing type? 🤔
 
pewpew95 said:
How did you know 😱
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“Prescribing...a legend drug, including any controlled substance, inappropriately or in exces- sive or in inappropriate quantities is not in the best interest of the patient and is not in the course of the physi- cian’s professional practice, without regard to his or her intent.”

“From the legal standpoint, self- prescribing or prescribing to an individual outside of a valid physi- cian-patient relationship is against Florida law.”

That’s from http://professionals.ufhealth.org/files/2011/11/0706-drugs-therapy-bulletin.pdf
 
ekmf27050 said:
That made me remember one of mine. The interviewer asked about my biggest mistake, and when I paused to think I must have looked like I was weighing some serious options. He was like "Now, let's not talk about any CRIMES or anything ILLEGAL" 😱 I must have looked like the crime-concealing type? 🤔
Click to expand...

Maybe he liked you and was afraid you were about to say something that would get you rejected.
 
Not a question but still relevant I guess as it was very embarrassing:

My very first interview of the cycle, the interviewer and I are walking into the room and he steps on the back of my shoe. My heel proceeds to fall off and I fall to the floor...after that, the interview went fine.

I think he felt bad though, so they accepted me lol
 
givemecoffee said:
Not a question but still relevant I guess as it was very embarrassing:

My very first interview of the cycle, the interviewer and I are walking into the room and he steps on the back of my shoe. My heel proceeds to fall off and I fall to the floor...after that, the interview went fine.

I think he felt bad though, so they accepted me lol
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:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: I’m dead. That would happen to me. Congrats though!!
 
givemecoffee said:
Not a question but still relevant I guess as it was very embarrassing:

My very first interview of the cycle, the interviewer and I are walking into the room and he steps on the back of my shoe. My heel proceeds to fall off and I fall to the floor...after that, the interview went fine.

I think he felt bad though, so they accepted me lol
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:laugh::laugh: Your post actually made me laugh out loud. Glad it worked out for you!
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Incorrect, actually. In some states, such as Florida, the law is written in a way that makes it at the very least of questionable legality to self-prescribe.
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I must have missed that qualifier in the post to which I replied.

In general terms and in the vast majority of locations, it is not illegal, even if it’s frowned upon.
 
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pewpew95 said:
Interviewer: "Would you ever write a prescription for yourself or for a family member?"

Me: "Isn't that illegal?"

:smack:

Results: TBD
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Hmm... my dad does this all the time :thinking:... I’ll make sure not to bring that up in an interview haha
 
username456789 said:
I must have missed that qualifier in the post to which I replied.

In general terms and in the vast majority of locations, it is not illegal, even if it’s frowned upon.
Click to expand...

That's right. But there are states where it is illegal. That's all I was pointing out, since your post implied that it is not illegal, period.

Edit: also depends on if you're talking about CS or not, since prescribing yourself a z-pack is probably not illegal anywhere.
 
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Not a bad answer but a cringeworthy move.

At my top choice DO school one student on the panel said, "you're done" or something along those lines as I was walking to the door. Without thinking about it I let out a massive sigh of relief and let my posture sag. Not terrible but not professional.

Result: accepted
 
At an MMI last week, my first station.

Interviewer: Did you have time to read and understand the prompt?
Me: Yes! *Looks down.* Wait, no.
Interviewer: ...?
Me: *Trips over a bunch of words trying to say "This isn't the same prompt as the one I read"*

Not entirely my fault because there really was a mix-up but GEEZ. Couldn't be more awkward.
 
Lol ****. It wasn't really an answer to a question, but you guys know how apps have our picture on them? So I walk into the interview room and the first 5 seconds go like this:

Interviewer - "Ok. Good. Looks like I have the right interviewee." (after comparing me to my photo)

My narcissistic ass - "Yeah. Look good don't I?"

~Awkward silence for 2 seconds before interview continues~

Btw, happened at a pretty good med school. AND I still got in.

Edit: Just wanted to say that it slipped out and I literally had no intention of coming across like a douche.
 
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Interview started with the interviewer asking "so, what should I know about you?" Ok, great, I have an answer prepared for that! But then after I answered, the interviewer was like "okay, good. What else should I know?" This just repeated over and over for the duration of the interview. I'd tell him something about myself, and he'd say "ok, what else?"

I think I did pretty well for the first several iterations, but then eventually I just got to a point where I looked at him slack-jawed and was like "err...I dunno." After some silence, I think I stared telling him about my dog or something like that just to avoid complete dead air time.

The frustrating thing is that I started thinking of a million good answers the second I walked out of the interview. For some reason, being given such a broad prompt just made it hard to organize my thoughts on the spot.
 
DV-T said:
When spoiled Rose killed Jack by not sharing the door-raft...
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Ok. This might not be the right place for this, but I gotta rant.

Jack died because of Rose, but not because she wouldn't share the plank with him. I think it was made fairly clear that the plank of wood's buoyancy wouldn't support the weight of both Jack and Rose.
It's her fault because she jumped of the safety boat/dinghy back onto the sinking Titanic to make out with Jack or something dumb like that. This was after Jack and Billy Zane but their differences aside enough to make sure that she was safe. Had she stayed on that safety boat, I don't see for what reason the remaining events would not have been the same with Jack eventually ending up in the water. Difference is, this time, Jack didn't have to give up the plank of wood so that Rose could live.
 
khn130030 said:
Ok. This might not be the right place for this, but I gotta rant.

Jack died because of Rose, but not because she wouldn't share the plank with him. I think it was made fairly clear that the plank of wood's buoyancy wouldn't support the weight of both Jack and Rose.
It's her fault because she jumped of the safety boat/dinghy back onto the sinking Titanic to make out with Jack or something dumb like that. This was after Jack and Billy Zane but their differences aside enough to make sure that she was safe. Had she stayed on that safety boat, I don't see for what reason the remaining events would not have been the same with Jack eventually ending up in the water. Difference is, this time, Jack didn't have to give up the plank of wood so that Rose could live.
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This is an interesting point; thank you for the rant 🙂 I still think they could have swapped positions off & on or something. & it felt like she just let him go after saying "I'll never let go Jack". That whole scene felt foul.
 
I agree that Rose jumping out of the dinghy started everything in motion that eventually led to Jack needlessly dying. I hope you would agree that Rose was spoiled though.

khn130030 said:
I think it was made fairly clear that the plank of wood's buoyancy wouldn't support the weight of both Jack and Rose.
Click to expand...

Regarding the buoyancy issue:
 
jameslee14 said:
Both my George Washington interviews went very badly. They were my first medical school interviews, as well as the first time I've ever had an in-person interview. I went in with a bunch of pre-prepared answers, and was prepared to recite them. There were 2 interviews, one student and one faculty, both closed file.

Student Interviewer: So, tell me about yourself.
Me: Pre-prepared answer. 15 seconds in, she cuts me off.
Student Interviewer: So, if you like science so much, why not be a PhD?
Me: Caught off guard, and didn't know what to say. Uhhh....Says something about wanting to be in charge, and not being passionate about research enough to devote my life to it.
Student Interviewer: Didn't like the answer, and proceeds to ask me more questions about being a PhD for 15 minutes.

The interview was supposed to last 25 min, but 15 minutes in,

Student Interviewer: I think we're done here.
Escorts me back to the room where the other interviewees are waiting.

Me: Thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure to meet you. Reaches out to shake her hand.
Student Interviewer: Ignores my handshake, and calls for the next interviewee.

I loved the school, and the student interviewer was super nice. I'm disappointed that I made such a bad impression. I learned the hard way the pre-prepared answers are a horrible idea.

Now for the faculty interview...

The physician who was supposed to interview me became unavailable, so someone from the admissions office interviewed me. A secretary from the admissions office escorted me from the library to the Admissions office where I sat in the lobby for 25 min. The secretary then tells me to go to room ____. Enters room. It's completely dark. The lights are off, the blinds are drawn, and the only light comes from the computer screen/a very small desk lamp. My interviewer is staring at the computer as I walked in.

As soon as I walk in, before even having a chance to say hi or sit down.

Interviewer: Turns around in her chair, and says in a stern voice: We get a lot of applications, so why should we accept you?
Me: Did NOT prepare for this question/caught off guard/still standing awkwardly in the doorway. Thinking in my head "should I answer the question, or should I introduce myself first." Decides to introduce myself. Very enthusiastically. Hi ______!!!! My name is _____!!!! It's so nice to meet you!!!!! Pulls up a chair and sits down.
Interviewer: WE GET A LOT OF APPLICATIONS, SO WHY SHOULD WE ACCEPT YOU??
Me: Uh.....I think you uhhhh.....should uhhh.....accept me uhhhh......because I would make a good doctor because uhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........gives some very generic reasons.
Interviewer: So what are you doing now?
Me: I graduated in 2017, and am currently working for ______. Takes off suit jacket to reveal a shirt with the logo of the place I'm working, and proudly shows it off. Are you familiar with the organization? I assumed she would be since it's very prominent in DC.
Interviewer: No.....Put your jacket back on.
Me: Thinking: what did I just do??? I can't believe I thought that was a good idea?

The rest of the interview was a blur. She had trouble hearing me because I was sitting all the way across the room, and apparently mumbling. I said uhhhhh....a LOT. Cried on the metro ride back home.

Sends a Thank You letter explaining how nervous I was/apologizing for how badly I messed up.

Result: Alternate list. Which, honestly surprised me considering how bad the interview went.

It sucks that GW was the first interview I got since it was also my first choice. Really should have done more research about interviews/mock interviews. If it's not obvious, DON'T pre-prepare your answers.

A few months later, after some much better preparation, I interviewed at Drexel, and Dartmouth. Both of those interviews went MUCH better. Still waiting to hear back!
Click to expand...

So how did you prepare instead of using regurgitation of premade answers? I've kinda just been using bullet points of some topics I could discuss on frequent questions so far so I don't forget by the time interviews come around.
 
freedoctor17 said:
So how did you prepare instead of using regurgitation of premade answers? I've kinda just been using bullet points of some topics I could discuss on frequent questions so far so I don't forget by the time interviews come around.
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I did a lot of mock interviews with friends. That really helped since I had never interviewed before, I really needed to practice being in an interview setting. I also looked at the school's SDN profile page, which has dozens of questions other people have been asked at that school, and did bullet points. I made flash cards with random interview questions, and recorded myself answering them, so I could see if I was being awkward, or saying "Uhhh....." too much. I also researched medical ethics, which really helped during my Dartmouth interview since the guy just grilled me for 30 min on ethics scenarios.
 
lol this thread is awesome. Though not a story about a bad interview answer, I remember a funny story when I was working in finance... my friend and I were at the same firm, and we were tight with one of the investment partners who was interviewing someone from my school (the same school that my friend and I both attended). He asked us about him and my friend immediately said "no way, I know this guy, he's no good... really annoying, hangs out with really ****ty people, and is probably highly unreliable." So the partner said "hmm, ok". The next thing we hear is that during the interview, the partner (instead of asking normal interview questions), started asking difficult math questions like "OK, what's 856 divided by 13?" The kid apparently was confused and kept saying "uhhhhhhh I dunno". After a few of these questions, the partner got up and said, "Thank you, but I don't think you are the type of candidate we are looking to fill this position with."

Effed up? Yeah. But pretty funny.
 
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Not medicine, but the first job I applied for, they asked me to tell them something not on my resume, and I couldn't think of anything so I just said "I'm super good at Mario Kart." The guy looked at me confused, but ended up getting the offer, so yea it worked out
 
jameslee14 said:
Me: I graduated in 2017, and am currently working for ______. Takes off suit jacket to reveal a shirt with the logo of the place I'm working, and proudly shows it off. Are you familiar with the organization? I assumed she would be since it's very prominent in DC.
Interviewer: No.....Put your jacket back on.
Me: Thinking: what did I just do??? I can't believe I thought that was a good idea?
Click to expand...

Your post was amazing. This was my favorite part 🙂
 
Taylor Swift said:
the student interviewer was super nice.
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Taylor Swift said:
Student Interviewer: So, tell me about yourself.
Me: Pre-prepared answer. 15 seconds in, she cuts me off.
Student Interviewer: So, if you like science so much, why not be a PhD?
Me: Caught off guard, and didn't know what to say. Uhhh....Says something about wanting to be in charge, and not being passionate about research enough to devote my life to it.
Student Interviewer: Didn't like the answer, and proceeds to ask me more questions about being a PhD for 15 minutes.

The interview was supposed to last 25 min, but 15 minutes in,

Student Interviewer: I think we're done here.
Escorts me back to the room where the other interviewees are waiting.

Me: Thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure to meet you. Reaches out to shake her hand.
Student Interviewer: Ignores my handshake, and calls for the next interviewee.
Click to expand...

No, she wasn't.
 
Okay, so I go into an interview for my state school. There are supposed to be three interviewers, but there are only two with one of the interviewers who was working on charts on his tablet the entire time.

Interviewer: If you could change anything in the U.S. healthcare system, what would you change?
Me: I would work to have equitable access to healthcare in this country by having a single-payer system..." and launched into a 90 second dialogue on it.
Interviewer: Now pick something that in reality can be changed in the US healthcare system
Me: Startled-> launches into talking about shaping our healthcare system closer to the German healthcare system in order to decrease disparities

Interview was totally blown from that point forward. That interviewer didn't look up again throughout the entire time and just worked on signing charts. I was surprised they put me on the waitlist. I knew that we weren't supposed to talk about anything controversial/political, but as someone taking multiple public health classes, the data on how to change the US healthcare system to have better outcomes like other comparable countries is to increase access.
 
Interviewer: If we were to offer you an acceptance right now, would you accept it before looking at other offers?
Me: uhhhh about 60% of the time I would say yes! (cue blushing and profuse sweating)

It was not my choice school, but no one else had asked me that question, at least so bluntly. Really put me on the spot, and my answer hardly made sense. Was later waitlisted (which I think is fair if not a bit generous)
 
goatmed said:
Interviewer: If we were to offer you an acceptance right now, would you accept it before looking at other offers?
Me: uhhhh about 60% of the time I would say yes! (cue blushing and profuse sweating)

It was not my choice school, but no one else had asked me that question, at least so bluntly. Really put me on the spot, and my answer hardly made sense. Was later waitlisted (which I think is fair if not a bit generous)
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Ugh, that's a terrible question if you truly do have options.
 
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