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How to Improve Below Average Interview


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1st time applying, 1st time interviewing. Didn't read Doing Right or any other medical ethics/MMI books, went to a couple UBC sessions but I didnt' find it as useful as practicing one-on-one with close friends.

Felt very nervous before and during interview, didn't really feel like I made a connection with any of the interviewers, and just had a sinking feeling about the whole thing.

Got the rejection today and I'm sure it was because of the below average interview.

Any advice on how to improve? Any success stories?

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You learn lots from the interview process itself. Continue to do interview prep for next year using what you learned this time. You'll feel a lot less nervous next year knowing what you'll be facing behind the doors, and being able to connect with interviewers has a lot to do with who they are as well. So luck is always a factor. But it is definitely possible to improve your interview portion of the application! Many applicants have to try more than once before being successful; it's just how it goes so don't give up

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Hey! I didn't get a spot after my first round of applications too, so don't worry because you can only improve :) Also I had such an amazing year between my rejection and then acceptance; I travelled, met my partner, and worked abroad.  I would never have had these experiences otherwise so in hindsight I am incredibly thankful for not getting in the first time! 

I also flopped on my first interview, I think I was over confident because I had always interviewed well in the past for jobs, but the MMI was something totally different.  I made sure to hire an interview coach when prepping for my second interview, which was 100% worth the money.  I am located in Halifax, so I used Blue Dolphin, but he also does Skype sessions with people all over the world.    http://bluedolphintraining.com  There were a lot of things I was doing with my body language, etc that I was completely unaware of and my coach was able to point them out and provide some tips.  He had a variety of excellent practice questions and in the end I found it to be much more helpful than practicing with other students.  I also did some practice at home alone, recording myself with a web cam and watching it back. Kind of painful, but ultimately helpful! Haha

I also went out and purchased a brand new interview outfit the second time around, complete with blazer which I will probably never wear again. I think presentation and looking the part is really important, for you have such a short time to make an impression. Looking great always boosts my confidence, so I think dropping $150 on a new outfit was worth it. 

As for materials, I just used the MSC MMI book for practice questions. (https://www.amazon.ca/Multiple-Mini-Interview-Questions-Book/dp/0987827227) Mine came with a DVD of ppl interviewing which was not helpful, so don't bother with that, but the book of questions is good!  Also, you might as well read Doing Right for it is actually not a bad book, there were lots of case study/real life examples which I always find interesting.  

Best of luck for your next round of interviews!! With practice you will feel more confident and get those high scores. I know you can do it :)

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I’ll add to the above advice that, in addition to doing things to practice delivering answers and feeling comfortable on the day of, you could work on just generally being more well-rounded in your knowledge about the world and current events. 

Based on what worked for me in prepping for the mmi, I would recommend making it a habit to read the news regularly, not just about obvious health issues, but so you learn about what’s going on around the world. You could also seek out commentary on popular issues and major events from different perspectives and different news sources - I.e. don’t just read descriptions of events, but also look at what people are talking about in ‘opinion’ sections. Then talk to your friends about the issues you read about or that they find interesting (or even debate them over drinks, if you’re into that kind of thing). If you don’t have any background in ethics, it probably is worth doing some reading on that as well — not necessarily even medical ethics, but just an introductory applied ethics course book or similar.

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Hey, I think for you it will come down entirely to practice practice and practice.  Get your hand on a bunch of MMI questions (there's a lot available for free online, I never paid for any) and just keep going at it.  Each day spend just an hour or so and time yourself going through the questions.  Yes talking to your friends will provide you with important feedback, but even just sitting in front of a mirror or recording yourself will do you wonders.  That is mostly what I did along with meeting people from those MMI Practice facebook groups.  And I agree with everything that has been said above apart from the paid coaching advice, I don't know much about it to recommend it.

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