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Anyone interested in practicing interview questions via Zoom?


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Hey good afternoon everyone, hope each of you are safe and healthy.

I wanted to see if any applicants are interested in going over practice interview questions via Zoom? I have done the mock PA school interview with the PA life which was rewarding, but expensive. If anyone would like to Zoom and take turns asking one another interview questions, I would love the practice. At the moment I'm practicing reciting and recording my answers on a webcam, while flipping through random questions on index cards. The questions I'm utilizing are from Savannah Perry's PA School interview guide. However, the monotony of doing it solo and lack of feedback can only get one so far. If anyone is interested in practicing please comment or message, we can try to set something up in the future!

Best of luck to everyone, it's unfortunate that we must have the strangest application cycle ever with COVID-19. My heart also goes out to the didactic students who aren't able to be in-person for their lectures. Hope everyone and their families are doing well!

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On 7/14/2020 at 5:11 PM, sc215266 said:

Hey good afternoon everyone, hope each of you are safe and healthy.

I wanted to see if any applicants are interested in going over practice interview questions via Zoom? I have done the mock PA school interview with the PA life which was rewarding, but expensive. If anyone would like to Zoom and take turns asking one another interview questions, I would love the practice. At the moment I'm practicing reciting and recording my answers on a webcam, while flipping through random questions on index cards. The questions I'm utilizing are from Savannah Perry's PA School interview guide. However, the monotony of doing it solo and lack of feedback can only get one so far. If anyone is interested in practicing please comment or message, we can try to set something up in the future!

Best of luck to everyone, it's unfortunate that we must have the strangest application cycle ever with COVID-19. My heart also goes out to the didactic students who aren't able to be in-person for their lectures. Hope everyone and their families are doing well!

This is a great idea!! I have a Zoom interview with AT Still in a month and I was wanting to get some practice in.

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On 7/14/2020 at 6:11 PM, sc215266 said:

Hey good afternoon everyone, hope each of you are safe and healthy.

I wanted to see if any applicants are interested in going over practice interview questions via Zoom? I have done the mock PA school interview with the PA life which was rewarding, but expensive. If anyone would like to Zoom and take turns asking one another interview questions, I would love the practice. At the moment I'm practicing reciting and recording my answers on a webcam, while flipping through random questions on index cards. The questions I'm utilizing are from Savannah Perry's PA School interview guide. However, the monotony of doing it solo and lack of feedback can only get one so far. If anyone is interested in practicing please comment or message, we can try to set something up in the future!

Best of luck to everyone, it's unfortunate that we must have the strangest application cycle ever with COVID-19. My heart also goes out to the didactic students who aren't able to be in-person for their lectures. Hope everyone and their families are doing well!

Your use of the words "practicing reciting" is scary to me as a PA program interviewer. This often (can't say I caught them all!) can come across as amazingly rehearsed (which it clearly was). If we get too much of that, we can always ask something like, "if you were to be an organ, which one would you choose and why?" Anything to see how you react to stimuli! We've read your application: now we want to see how you are as a person. The answer is sometimes less important than your ability to handle something new thrown at you from deep left field.

If I had any advice, it would be this:

- be able to build rapport with a stranger, which is the coin of the realm in PA practice

- know the general gist of your thoughts about a question but not the details of your planned response

-know how to listen to a question, think about it for a few seconds, and come up with a cogent answer you can get across in 15 seconds or so.

Good luck and don't over-rehearse!

Edited by UGoLong
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I would also be interested in practicing! My interview is on Sept 18th and then another one is TBD.

I agree with what was earlier said about basically memorizing your answers - don’t do that! I think what we all need to do is just practice thinking quickly and trying not to go absolutely blank when asked a question we have no idea how to answer. This is my biggest issue, personally. 

I think you may also want to write a list down of everything you want to mention to the interview and try to think of ways to incorporate them. For example, if you were involved in a research project you are very proud of and want to talk about, maybe it could go along with “tell me about a time you struggled and how did you overcome it?” Maybe you could mention it here. Research is tough, how’d you get through it?

Things to make sure to mention: 
- Volunteering

- Research (Especially clinical)

- Patient Care experience (most rewarding experiences if you have a ton)

- and maybe you could practice a little on what to say when you introduce yourself - combine a bit of everything above 

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On 8/9/2020 at 11:52 AM, UGoLong said:

Your use of the words "practicing reciting" is scary to me as a PA program interviewer. This often (can't say I caught them all!) can come across as amazingly rehearsed (which it clearly was). If we get too much of that, we can always ask something like, "if you were to be an organ, which one would you choose and why?" Anything to see how you react to stimuli! We've read your application: now we want to see how you are as a person. The answer is sometimes less important than your ability to handle something new thrown at you from deep left field.

If I had any advice, it would be this:

- be able to build rapport with a stranger, which is the coin of the realm in PA practice

- know the general gist of your thoughts about a question but not the details of your planned response

-know how to listen to a question, think about it for a few seconds, and come up with a cogent answer you can get across in 15 seconds or so.

Good luck and don't over-rehearse!

Pre-PA here who just had their first interview but I always asked in information session what is the biggest mistake people make in their interviews and they always say that people are fake, over-rehearsed and basically not themselves. 

While preparing for my interview I was nervous because I am a total planner so my fear was if I was rehearsed too much I would sound fake, If I rehearsed too little I be unprepared. Honestly, after finishing my first interview I would definitely follow UGoLong's advice not only is it highly recommended by most schools but it definitely works.  

 

Edited by Christine616
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