What do you do before an interview to reduce anxiety?

[kiwi]

...........

[Kirsteen]

Hey there,

 

Two things that might help are: 1) preparation; 2) practice. Knowing your application very well (including all your anecdotes, reasons for applying to meds, etc.) can help to reduce anxiety. So too, can the knowledge that you've practiced some of your responses out loud to the point where you're satisfied with your approach.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Jochi1543]

I think changing your attitude is the most important thing. First off, this sounds cheesy, but be yourself (easier said than done, I know). The reason behind this is that maintaining a highly artificial facade is very stressful and only makes the experience worse. Moreover, if this organization doesn't want YOU the way you are, do you really want to be with THEM? Maybe they are not for you anyway. For example, I had an awful study abroad experience, and you know what, I'm not gonna sit there and sugarcoat it if they ask. I hated it and I won't pretend that it was the best experience I've ever had. And if they can't deal with it, then we are not a very good match as is anyway.

 

Secondly, remember that if they invited you over, they are already highly interested. Don't forget how few people even end up getting an interview, medical school or not. They are most likely only inviting 1 out of every 4-5 sudents for the interview. And in the workplace, the #s may be even more in your favor. I know that 13 people applied for my job, but only 2 (including me) were interviewed, so I must've really stood out from the other applicants. So the odds really aren't that high against you. So instead of thinking of them as your enemy who's only goal is to take you down, think of them as your supporters. A lot of times you don't need to sway them from a negative opinion towards the positive; sometimes it's just a matter of going with the flow and letting them maintain the positive opinion they had formed of you from reading your CV/file/whatever. Change your attitude towards this - view it not as an interrogation, but as a friendly chat with someone who is interested in you.

 

Don't forget, your body language, voice, and other non-verbal behaviour play as much of a role in forming the overall impression as what you actually say. So yes, it IS important to make sure you don't rush, speak in a falcetto because you are nervous, fidget constantly, etc. I know it's hard to relax, but the change in attitude will help you. Also, some tricks will assist you as well. For example, don't rush into answering a question - give a 2-5 second pause before you begin your reply. During this pause, reiterate the question to yourself. If it's a multi-part question (e.g. "what do you consider to be the most valuable experience of your life and why?"), mentally break it into the component parts and keep the rest of the question in mind while answering the first part. This will help your answer be coherent, and will keep you from straying too far while answering the first part so that the second part doesn't look out of sync. If you fidget, develop some hand gestures to keep your hands busy. Make sure the gestures emphasize what you say, but be mindful of them in other ways as well. For example, don't constantly slice the air with your hand - only do it when you make a point, conclusion, or a generalization you will use to base your answer on. And don't use the kinds of gestures that serve to close the communication channel between you (e.g. pushing the air away from you with your hand when you're talking about a point of view that disagrees with your own).

 

Also, review your CV yourself and imagine a person asking you about every activity: 1) Why did you start it 2) What did you like and dislike about it 3) What did you learn from it 4) Why did you abandon the activity (if applicable). Most of the questions you may be asked will be closely tied to those basics.

 

The key is really to be knowledgeable about yourself. Also, be confident in your answers and don't flip-flop. Sometimes they use intimidation tactics....imagine a situation where you rant on and on about how much you hate research and then the interviewer says "By the way, I'm a researcher." Don't freak, turn red, take back everything you said, and apologize profusely. Just admit that it's not for you, explain why, and admit that other people might enjoy it, and point out some positives, then finish off with saying why these positives do not outweigh the negatives for you. That way you're still respectful, but confident and secure in your answers, with solid reasoning behind them.

[Jochi1543]

Oh yeah, and also be mindful of specific expressions/manners of speaking that have been scientifically proven to diminish your attractiveness to the interviewer or to cause him to doubt the legitimacy of what you are saying. For example, it's been proven by linguists that using sarcasm tends to irritate people. It may work great between you and your friends, but avoid this with a stranger. Or, I've read before that people are less likely to believe you if you start your line with "To be honest..." (funny, I know).

 

I've read some books on criminal interview and interrogation and everyday language skills, and these things really help you a lot. The criminal interrogation literature is particularly comprehensive, and reading about the tactics used by detectives to emotionally disarm the suspect can be very beneficial. If you can control your interviewer's moods and attitudes with your body language, voice, and sentence structures, you are the one in charge of the situation.

[Jochi1543]

Oh yeah, and by the way - my signature is not about MY interview.

[JOTCH]

I didn't read preview replies so I dunno if this' been said already, but I've found it very useful to take a few deep breaths just before interviews. I also think that stress might be due to the fact that you're influenced by the people (or person) in front of you; so what I do is, I tell myself "This is just an interview; I'll do my best. Besides, I've got lots of accomplishments, and the interviewer is just ....." well, you get the point!!! CONFIDENCE

[wanttobedoc]

like the other posters above said, practice, practice, practice....

I even found that public speaking clubs like Toastmasters where you have to "think and speak" on your feet have done wonders for me. As well like Jochi said, it is a mind set. If you think you suck and focus on that, then you will suck. Really work on reframing your thoughts so that you can visualize yourself doing well. Think about the main points you want to get across to the interviewers, don't memorize your answers just know general "headers" to certain key interview questions. That is what I did and I've vastly improved.

[doctorbetty]

Hi there,

 

I am planning to apply for med school in a couple years, and the part of the application that scares me most is the interview. I just had an interview for an exec position of a student group and it was horrendous. My weakness at interviews worries me very much because I am often successful in actually getting calls for interviews (so I guess I look decent on paper), but time and time again it is the interview that causes me to lose out on these great opportunities.

 

I am taking steps to improve my interviewing skills (signed up for practice interviews at the career centre), but was wondering if you guys have some tips for reducing pre-interview anxiety. I am usually very calm right before an interview, but once I step into the room and sit down, I get extremely nervous, start speaking at super speed, and forget all about my accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, etc.

 

What do you guys think about/tell yourselves before interviews so you don't get as nervous?

 

- Practice (like others have already said), but avoid practicing right before the interview. I find that practicing right before can make you more nervous.

 

- Remember that this is your chance to show the admissions committee why you should be a doctor. Remember that this is your chance. Embrace it and visualize your success whenever possible. Positive thinking through visualization can really motivate you to do well during the interview. If you like music, choose a song to visualize the (future) interview to..... let the tunes give you the strength

[The Law]

Hmm, also I think you should try to tap into the emotion driving this whole dream of yours. Try to convey your true emotions, let them see who you truly are and how friggin cool you are.

[blinknoodle]

Do you find yourself nervous in other kinds of speaking engagements?

 

If you also have troubles in front of a large group, you can also work at building confidence public speaking. One of my friends had this volunteer gig where she'd give presentations to community members about heart health and found it really worthwhile and really improved her skills.

[Rock*]

you know what really helped me? picking up girls.

 

I know how most of you are either smiling or shaking your heads, but I'm serious. I was awful and totally shy when it came to talking to attractive women but I just kept pushing myself to walk up to complete strangers at bars and figuring something witty out to talk about. After a couple of months of this, I lost most of my fears of rejection and became super relaxed when meeting anyone, not to mention my confidence shot through the roof (and there were some other good side benefits ).

 

Interviews are much like going out with someone you've just met so when I became comfortable dating random strangers I met only a week ago, I felt no stress at all during my interviews.

 

Have fun preparing for your interviews

[The Soccer Guy]

Before an interview, I turn my iPod as loud as I can ... it helps me relax and forget about everything that I am worried about But off course, you need to be prepared (meaning; you practiced your responses and you know what you are going to say when the question pops out).

 

But I don't know if it works for everyone.

[JOTCH]

you know what really helped me? picking up girls.

 

 

Now that's a hell of a good way to practice

[Jochi1543]

you know what really helped me? picking up girls.

Helps you get used to rejection, too. Ever got one of those "rejection numbers"?

[Smurfette]

you know what really helped me? picking up girls.

 

So if we're female, should we just practice chatting up guys at the bar?

 

P.S. What if you're not single? Do you think that your girlfriend/boyfriend will buy the argument that you're "just practicing for med interviews"?

[The Law]

Now that's a hell of a good way to practice

 

Agreeed

[Rock*]

So if we're female, should we just practice chatting up guys at the bar?

 

P.S. What if you're not single? Do you think that your girlfriend/boyfriend will buy the argument that you're "just practicing for med interviews"?

 

Heheh. I was just speaking from my experience as a guy. Girls chatting up guys is far different than vice versa. Women, as you probably already know, especially attractive ones, are approached all the time by guys and if they show any initiative when approaching guys, they can get swarmed, leading to some annoying situations. I was talking about my experience as a guy and as pretty much all the guys here can relate, being able to approach attractive women who they may otherwise be intimidated by is a much more stressful event than many interviews. Getting that down would then help tremendously in the interviews. At least for me, in all of the mock interviews I've done, the evaluators were very impressed at how comfortable and witty I was in tackling the answers directed at me.

 

As for the bf/gf thing, maybe I shouldn't have used the word "pick up" because starting up a playful banter/flirting isn't cheating in the least, especially if you don't intend to push it any farther. Starting up random conversations for fun with attractive people is just hilarious. You'd never believe the stories I've gotten out of some people . If a bf/gf finds that threatening, then they may have some issues with insecurity.

[Rock*]

Helps you get used to rejection, too. Ever got one of those "rejection numbers"?

haha. luckily not. If I did, I'd be sure to make a hilarious scene like imitating a breakdown and begging the girl to call me back, except I'll leave another rejection number as my number.

[Jochi1543]

haha. luckily not. If I did, I'd be sure to make a hilarious scene like imitating a breakdown and begging the girl to call me back, except I'll leave another rejection number as my number.

Do they have those rejection #s in Canada? I know in the US every major city has one. I've given out the Minneapolis and New Orleans ones a few times in the past...

[Julie]

If your school offers them, I would also advise doing as many mock interviews as you can. I had the chance to do 2 of them, and I think they really helped me feel relaxed during the real thing. When I went in, I felt as though I had already done the exact same thing twice. The questions didn't suprise me and I felt confident answering them. What's more, I actually found the mock interviews to be as stressful as the real thing, because they were conducted by actual med students and I didn't want to say something too stupid in front of them. If you can't do mock interviews (or even if you can), you may also try convincing a friend (preferably someone who intimidates you a slight bit ) or even a few friends (depending on where you apply, there may be more than one person interviewing you at once) to do a practice interview with you. They may not be able to give you as much priceless feedback, but it could help with the anxiety Toastmasters is a good idea too, as someone already suggested.

 

Best of luck!

[drcave]

Thanks a lot Rock:mad: I followed you interview preparation advice and now my wife is super pissed :eek:

[Jochi1543]

Thanks a lot Rock:mad: I followed you interview preparation advice and now my wife is super pissed

Just be glad he's not giving you advice on how to prepare for the ob-gyn rotation.

[drcave]

It would probably be the exact same advice. I shudder to think what his advice would be for preparing for a proctology or urology elective: "Just go to the local gay bay and...."

[wanttobedoc]

dr.cave, do you even have a local gay bar in P Hardy?...that thought in itself gives me more laughs....

[drcave]

No, Port Hardy (pop 3800)is a redneck haven (I am not a redneck, I just live here!). Gayness is an urban thing. I bet if Stats Can did a survey on the geographic distribution of openly gay men they would find that towns of 5000 or less have gay populations 2 orders of magnitude less than what would be expected based on the national average. When the Island Copper mine was open and there were 10000 people in Hardy there were 3 strip joints in town (before my time). Basically all the gays move to larger centres where there are gay communities, bars, etc.