Professional school interviews

Will my interview be in person or online? When will it happen?

The logistics of your interview are program-dependent. For example, professional school interviews can be:

in-person or asynchronous/synchronous online with recorded/live responses
held on one day or multiple days (weekdays/weekends)
held between mid-January to early May
30 to 120 minutes in length

Some programs publish interview information on the program website, while other programs only share this information with candidates they invite for an interview.

You might be able to choose your preferred format, day, and time or this may be automatically selected for you. If you identify a scheduling conflict, reach out to program directly to learn more about what options you have.

How do I prepare for a professional school interview?

There’s no right way for everyone to prepare. You need to do what is right for you.

Consider:

Reflecting on questions you’re confident answering and which ones you feel less confident responding to – focus your energy on questions you are less confident responding to.
Research the school(s) you are interviewing with to understand the number of stations, time between each station, time in each station, past station types and other interview conventions.
Learn about your prospective field including scope of practice, key priorities, and issues through podcasts, documentaries, articles and books.
Prepare stories, reflections and anecdotes related to the program competencies.
Familiarize yourself with question types and possible answer structures.
Practice according to known interview logistics. Consider practicing on your own, with a friend, family member, co-worker or a member of the Centre for Career Development team until you feel comfortable and confident.
Start your own practice group or join one organized through a club.
Attend the Professional School Interview preparation workshops and MMI simulations through Centre for Career Development.

Tips for interviews

Interview accommodations
STAR
PESTLE
SPIKES

What is the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI)?

Multiple Mini Interview or MMI, is used to support admissions to programs and is often used by those in health programs (e.g., Medicine, Pharmacy etc.). MMI consists of a series of structured interview stations, with each station featuring:

a set time to reflect on a prompt and prepare your response
a set time to respond to the prompt one or more individuals rating your response

MMIs are designed to allow you to show your characteristics and demonstrate your competencies to the interviewers.

What do I do during the reflection and preparation time?

Take a deep breath
Read or listen to the question carefully
Identify the type of question so you have a better idea of what to expect next
Organize your answer, using a model where applicable
Take notes if your school allows this

What kinds of questions will I be asked?

In MMIs, you can anticipate reflecting on and responding to different types of questions:

General questions

General interview questions ask about your goals, characteristics, fit with the program, past experiences and coping skills.

Examples:

How have you tested your motivation to work in this profession?
Tell me about yourself.
What’s a contribution to the community you’re proud of?
What do you do for fun?

How do I prepare for a general interview question?

Reflect on your experiences, growth, and motivation for the profession Review possible questions online and practice responding according to your interview’s known conventions

Click here to expand...

What is a behaviour-based question? It is an interview question that prompts you for a specific time when you used a skill or dealt with a situation in the past. It combines a prompt for one specific example (e.g. “tell me about a time when”) with a skill you need or situation you will face in your program or profession (e.g. “you had to communicate complex information”). [call out box] Examples: Tell me about a time when you had to communicate complex information. How did you do it? Describe a situation when you took on too much and couldn’t accomplish everything. How do I prepare for a behaviour-based question? To help prepare for behaviour-based questions: Review relevant frameworks, skills and competencies essential to your prospective profession. Identify related personal experiences to start building your library of experiences you want to pull from in your responses. Consider reflecting on: What you did Why you did what you did What options you considered What you learned from the experience How you would handle things differently in hindsight