Health Professions Advising’s 2 nd Annual Pre-Med Bootcamp Thursday, July 21 st Interview Styles Joanne Snapp

Common Interview Types One-on-one (Traditional) Situational Judgement Test Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) Group/Panel

One-on-One Interviews Traditional (Tell me about yourself) Open or Closed Interviews MD, PhD, Admissions Officer, Student minutes long Two or Three

Behavioral Interviews A person's past performance is the best predictor of future performance. BI questions ask for "real life" examples of how applicants behaved in situations relating to the questions. The interviewer wants to know how you handled a situation.

Always ask yourself… Why are they asking this question?

What are they after? Interpersonal Skills Decision Making Initiative/Leadership Integrity/Honesty Flexibility/Adaptability

Brainstorm Think of examples from your life that could show some of these attributes.

Integrity/Honesty Tell me about a specific time when you had to handle a tough problem which challenged your sense of fairness or ethics. Describe a time when you chose to be honest, even though being quiet or agreeable may have been easier. In the real but imperfect world, doing the right thing can sometimes result in our looking bad. When were you in this situation?

Interpersonal Skills Give an example of a time you had to work with someone that was difficult to get along with. How/why was this person difficult? How did you handle it? How did the relationship progress? Tell me about a time when you gave someone bad news. What did you do well and what would you do different? Describe a challenging time when others relied on you to interpret information for them. It can sometimes be challenging to provide courtesy to someone, especially in a difficult or tense situation. Describe a time you were faced with this challenge. Tell me about a time when you thought you knew how to handle a situation, yet you chose to solicit opinions from other team members.

Initiative/Leadership What is the best idea you have ever come up with and how did you apply it? Tell me about a time when the demands on you changed quickly, possibly before you had a chance to finish what you had originally been doing? Describe something you have done that shows you can respond to situations as they arise. Describe an effort you undertook to pro-actively identify your own weaknesses and areas of opportunity.

Decision Making Describe a situation in which you have had to overcome a problem or obstacle in order to move forward. What did you do? Good problem solving often includes a careful review of the facts and weighing of options before making a decision. Give me an example of how you use facts and weighing of options to guide your decisions. In many problem situations, it is often tempting to jump to a conclusion to build a solution quickly. Tell me about a time when you resisted this temptation and thoroughly obtained all facts associated with the problem before coming to a decision. Tell me about a situation when you provided full support for a team even though you didn’t agree with it.

HOW TO PREPARE Identify a lot of stories/situations from life. Name the attributes that you can show from that story Practice telling the story Don’t OVER prepare!

Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) 6-10 timed stations. Applicant is presented with a question, scenario or task. Applicant is given 2 min. to read the instructions prior to entering. Typically, 6-8 min. are given to complete the station before moving to the next one.

Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) Types of stations may include: Ethical dilemmas or questions about policy or social issues Interactions with an actor Standard interview questions Teamwork tasks Essay writing Rest station

The SJT is a standardized test that presents a series of hypothetical scenarios and asks participants how they would respond or behave in a particular situation. The scenarios are presented in various formats, including text, animation or live-action video and based on one more behavioral competencies. The SJT is a tool to assess the “soft-skills” of a candidate for medical school admission. Situational Judgement Test

Group/Panel Interviews Remember what they are evaluating Use others’ strengths to build upon Stay focused on your own journey.

Practice