INTERVIEW SERIES: 10 COMMON MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

We all know interviewing can be super stressful but there are some pitfalls that are more common than you would think that I would like to help y'all avoid with your interviews.

I've been an interviewer both back when I was in undergraduate admissions {which I still do as an alumni interviewer for Yale} and now as a resident, so these tips come from observation from those interviews as well as when I was an interviewee back in the day. Let's jump right into this one!

1. Selling yourself short. This one is first because it's really important to me because so many applicants don't tell you some of the best experiences or traits about them! Or when you ask them for a strength they hem and haw. I'm not sure if that's due to not wanting to come off brag but remember: you are quite literally trying to sell yourself to a program so show them what you've got! Yes, we read the applications but sometimes we miss things. And of course, there are certain things that are harder to show through the application so bring those things to our attention! I recommend making sure you have 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses ready to go because that question is very common on the interview trail.

2. Fudging/exaggerating things on your application. On the other hand, don't overdo #1! Many times, I'll ask applicants about some volunteer or research experience that they listed on their application... only to find out that actually, that 2 years of volunteer experience was really only on a quarterly basis or their role in the listed research project was minimal at best. Just don't do that. It looks bad if you get caught and more than likely, you will get caught. List experiences that were meaningful to you and that you can talk about honestly when asked.

3. Being too casual. We all know interviews are super stressful but by and large, if you've been invited to interview, the program believes you can handle the work. The role of the interview is to get to know more about your personality, what motivates and if you'd be a good fit. Or at least, get an idea for it in less than 24 hours lol. Generally speaking, this means relax a little and be yourself so we can get to know you better. However, you don't want to take this too far and get too comfortable. Swearing, inappropriate jokes or just acting like you DGAF will not get you a match anywhere. Be yourself for sure... but you know, on your best behavior :) And make sure you're nice to everyone. Anyone you're rude or disrespectful to WILL remember and they may bring it up to the committee {hopefully, you're already nice to everyone in general life anyways}.

4. Being too rehearsed. I know, I know, but I just said don't be too casual! Well, there's a fine balance and unfortunately both ends of the spectrum definitely get noticed by your interviewers. I always made sure I had thought about my answers to common questions but I never memorized a script or anything.

5. Not having questions. I cannot stress this one enough! As an interviewee, I always came prepared with at least 3-5 questions that I rotated between with interviewers {yes, you end up asking the same question to multiple interviewers but it's actually nice to get different peoples' perspectives with certain questions}. And yes, I remember several interviews where we got to the end and I didn't actually need to ask any of my set questions because I had my answers {especially towards the end of the interview trail} but I still asked those questions to pass the time. Trust me, the awkward silence sucks regardless of which side of the desk you're sitting on.

In addition, you don't want to come off to your interviewer as uninterested in the program. You may just want to end up at ANY program but we want to know that you want to be at OUR program. Obviously, we know your are applying to multiple and expect applicants to be interviewing at different places, but asking a good question like " what is one thing you would change about your program" or "what are the wellness activities that your residents participate in", you show that you are interested in learning more about the program. Hopefully, the answers actually help you in getting a good feel for the program. Asking something specific to the program is of course always a plus - that can be hard to do on the spot, but if you researched the program like you're supposed to, you should have plenty of things to ask.

6. Not making eye contact. This is something that we all notice even in a non-interview setting. I don't mean stare down your interviewer until they blink and look away worried that you're a serial killer lol. Just make sure you are periodically looking straight at them. If it's more comfortable to you, it's also acceptable to employ the Dwight Schrute technique of staring at someone's forehead right between their eyes {not joking lol}.

7. Not taking resident interviewers seriously. Many residencies {and medical schools} have interviews with faculty as well as a current resident. Now most of the time, the resident interviews are a little more comfortable, but that is NOT an excuse to fall into the earlier mistake of being too casual. Treat this interview like a faculty interview and stay professional! Again, don't go the opposite direction and be too rehearsed.! Resident interviews are a great opportunity to ask what current students like the most or the least about the program or why they ended up choosing that program. 

8. Using a strength as a weakness. A very common interview question is "what is your greatest weakness {and strength}". There are many iterations of this question {what do you need to work on, what is something you struggle with, etc} but however it's asked you should have an answer ready. And we know everyone has weaknesses so do not throw back a BS answer like "I work too hard" or "I care too much. We will roll our eyes internally at you so hard, they'll feel the disdain in the next room. What your answer needs to be is something genuine that you actually struggle with, and {even more important} what you are doing to fix it. Real ones I've heard before include being too arrogant to ask for help when it was needed, balancing family and school commitments in med school or transitioning to the med school workload from college. The point of this question is to know that applicants can recognize their shortcomings and do something about them so if you're not doing anything about said weakness, pleeease keep that to yourself lol.

9. Being negative. Keep other people, schools, programs, specialties, etc out yo mouth! You never know where your interviewers may be from, what might offend them, etc. and being negative always brings into question your attitude. If you get asked something that almost sounds like the interviewer wants to hear something negative ("what did you not like about program X"...), don't fall into that trap. You don't want be evasive though so instead, spin your answer into a positive - either an improvement was made, a lesson was learned, or you became aware of something that you hope to change in the future.

10. Not knowing you application inside and out. This is pretty self-explanatory. Know what you put in the application because chances are, you'll get found out if you don't and that never looks good.

And one last random tip, use the ERAS application to your advantage! I always read the portion that allows applicants to write anything they want that isn't elsewhere in the application. I personally appreciate when applicants put in something interesting like "ask me about X" {i've seen X be favorite pair of socks, a specific trip, an unusual hobby, etc}. I love that method of directing the interview a little and giving me something fun to ask about.

Keep working hard, friends! And feel free to ask me any questions!