All you need to know All I Can Tell You About Graduate School Interviews in 30 Minutes Chris LaGrow Assistant Director Career Development Office This presentation is available at

Professional Dress  Suits are preferred  Details (shined shoes, matching socks, etc)  Take out nose/lip/eyebrow rings (guys, leave earrings at home)

Before the Interview When they call to schedule, find out:  Directions, including parking  Who will interview you (with spelling)  How long  What to bring

Don’t bother going unless you… RESEARCH THE PROGRAM!!! RReview their website RRead any literature they send you TThink about WHY you want to be in THEIR program KKnow their mission/vision THIS IS A DEAL-BREAKER!!!

What To Bring (and What Not To Bring) Do bring  Requested paperwork  Extra copies of your resume and reference lists  A folder or portfolio  A working pen  Directions and itinerary  Yourself, 15 minutes early Don’t bring  Your cell phone  Your backpack full of schoolwork  Gum  Breakfast or lunch  Mom or dad

Preliminaries  Treat everyone as though they were involved in the process!  Body language and smiling  Who wants coffee?  Small talk

Behavioral Questions: Answer format  Situation: describe the overall situation and the problem/challenge you faced  Action: what did you do about it?  Result: how did things turn out? (keep it positive)  Lesson: what did you learn/what does this say about you?

Common Interview Questions Icebreakers/Personal  Tell me about yourself  Why are you interested in this program?  What made you enter the (medical, dental, pharmaceutical, etc.) field?  How many/what other programs have you applied to?  What will you do if you don’t get into school?

Behavioral Interview Questions  Describe a positive (or negative) experience you’ve had working as part of a team.  Tell me about a tough decision you had to make and how you made it.  Describe a situation in which you disagreed with a professor’s policies or decisions.  Tell me about your greatest accomplishment (or failure).  Tell me of an instance where you faced a real- life ethical dilemma.  Describe a situation in which you had to tell somebody something unpleasant.

“Ethical” Interview Questions  If you had the power, what changes would you make to our health-care system?  What is your opinion of HMOs and PPOs?  Do doctors make too much money?  What does the Hippocratic Oath mean to you?  Should fetal tissue be used to treat disease (i.e. Parkinson's)?  If you were a doctor and an under age girl asked you for the Pill (or an abortion) and she did not want to tell her parents, what would you do?  Should doctors be allowed to “pull the plug” on terminally ill patients?  If a patient is dying from a bleed, would you transfuse blood if you knew they would not approve (i.e. Jehovah Witness)?

Personality Questions  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?  How would your friends describe you?  What do you do with your spare time?  What is the most important event that has occurred to you in the last five years?  If you had three magical wishes, what would they be?  Who is your hero?  What are your best attributes (or faults)?  What’s the last book you read for pleasure?

Your Turn to Ask  And yes, you SHOULD ask!  Genuine questions only  READ THEIR WEBSITE AND LITERATURE! I read on your website that… can you tell me more about it? What qualities does the ideal candidate possess? What’s the next step in your selection process and when might I hear back from you regarding my status?

When You’re Done…  Get a business card, or at least the correct spelling, for each person who interviews you  Send thank you letters  And like any good health professional…  …have lots of patience.

Questions

Job Search Topics  Networking  The Internet  Privacy  Social Networking Sites

Why Use Quest?  Job Agent: get an when a job in your field is posted  Events listings: every event open to Fredonia students that we hear about gets listed  Career Search: find districts in any city in the country  Resume posting: districts can browse and download resumes