Professional school interviews

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.

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.

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?

1. Take a deep breath

2. Read or listen to the question carefully

3. Identify the type of question so you have a better idea of what to expect next

4. Organize your answer, using a model where applicable

5. 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: