Displaying Confidence in Medical and Dental School Interviews

Congratulations!

To be invited to an interview is no small feat, and you should be very pleased with yourself for having got this far.

To succeed in interview, you need to show your interviewers that you are a confident person (no one wants a doctor who can’t make decisions!). The lines between confidence, over confidence and arrogance, however, are finely drawn, and you do not want to come over in interview as someone who does not stop and reflect (an arrogant doctor is just as bad as an indecisive doctor!).

Some take home points:

• Practise common interview questions in advance. Being prepared is paramount to boosting your confidence, and therefore to success in medical and dental school interviews. There are many sample questions to help with this.
• You really cannot practice enough. This is the general feedback that comes year after year from medical and dental school applicants.
• Although some people prefer to prepare alone, it is often a good idea to partner with a buddy. Use a friend, a close family member or a willing teacher.
• Some people find it helpful, when practising for interviews, to write answers, using them as flash cards.
• Practice your answers so that they sound natural. Avoid sounding loud, under-confident or over-confident. But you must also avoid sounding rehearsed, monotonous or ‘drone like’.
• Using a mirror or video feedback can be a good way to assess your body language.

Useful tips for the actual interviews:

• Dress professionally, but comfortably.
• Display positive body language.
• Smile! A friendly smile is essential when greeting new people, and most interviewers will respond very positively. Depending on your cultural background, there may be barriers to making this natural. Practice! Even small smiles, appropriately delivered, can add a human quality to the process and make you relatable.
• Maintain eye contact with your interviewers. Part of appearing confident is to maintain eye contact during conversation. Again, this may be more difficult depending on your cultural background, but it is important. It mustn’t appear awkward or forced, and it is something you can practice if you find it difficult. Make sure you make regular eye contact with all the panellists in order to make them all feel part of your interview. Regularly moving your gaze prevents you from staring.
• Listen! Listen carefully to the question being asked, so that the answer you give specifically addresses what is being asked. This may sounds obvious, but it is surprising how many people answer what they think they have been asked, rather than what they have actually been asked. Ensure you do not fall into this trap. Take your time and listen to the question, then ask yourself, ‘am I responding appropriately to the question being asked’?
• Not listening can also be a sign of nervousness or of a lack of comprehension – neither of these will be well received by your interviewers.
• Speak calmly and clearly. When answering questions, be careful to speak slowly. Many people speed up during the interview. Beware of this, as it can make you seem rehearsed and unnatural. If you speed up because of nervous, however, it can make you difficult to understand and you may omit to include important facts about yourself that might support your application. Slow down your delivery and do not ramble.
• Use interview questions as opportunities to demonstrate your personality.
• Have some questions to ask at the end of the interview. This is a sign of positivity, and shows that you have thought about what you are applying to do. It is a sign of confidence and can make the interviewers feel that they would want you.
• Enjoy the process! By the time you reach interview, you have already invested an enormous amount of time in preparing for this stage. And you would not be invited for interview if your interviewers did not think you stood a serious chance of being awarded a place. So, try and relax and enjoy the interview!