A few years ago, I sat down and made an honest effort to count how many residency and fellowship interviews I had personally done (not including medical school applicants, faculty positions, panel interviews, or other settings). These interviews were all done one on one, in person or virtual (since 2020 obviously) and were as brief as 15 minutes and as long as 30. My best guess is about 1700 total, give or take.
I figure I don’t have too many more left in me before I give this activity up entirely. In that spirit, I’m going to highlight a few things I’ve learned and offer a few bits of advice for future interviewees. I’ll say in advance that it feels a little weird to be writing any this down: any advice I give just seems so intuitive to me- it’s not like I’m disclosing the secrets of the hive. And yet I am perennially surprised how interviewers/interviewees can still break the most basic rules of propriety. It goes without saying (so I'll say it anyway) that all of these tidbits apply to both interviewers and interviewees.
1. Three minutes- that is the amount of time we have to make a positive first impression on each other. My swing thoughts?: Smile. Engage. Make eye contact. Be earnest. Relax. Be normal. Avoid negativity and cynicism. At this point in my career, I feel like those three minutes are pretty critical for both of us. I don’t always get it right but I try.
2. Off topics: sex, politics, and religion. It always shocks me when someone violates this most basic of social covenants, especially during a 15 minute residency interview. When they do, it is an enormous, waving red flag.
3. Humor- I’m sure that conventional wisdom says don’t even think about trying to be funny in a residency interview (or talk about politics, sex, or religion). But I will tell you that candidates who have used tasteful, appropriate, and cleverly deployed humor make enormously positive impressions (on me, at least). It is a tricky gambit but it shows a candidate is relaxed and engaged. It goes a long way to establishing rapport. I’m not saying that this should be a primary tactic but if the right occasion presents itself…well, let me give you a personal example: Many years ago I went to UCSD for an IR fellowship interview along with one of my residency classmates who had gone to UCSD for medical school. When we arrived on the interview day in our suits, one of the UCSD attendings recognized him and gave him a big hug. When the attending had finished hugging, he turned and offered me a handshake. I deadpanned, “what, no hug?” He looked at me like I had taken a huge crap on his lunch tray. Complete crash and burn. Needless to say, I did not get a fellowship offer from UCSD. Oh, I forgot to mention that this particular deployment of humor was an absolute face plant. I still think it was funny though and I’d do it again.
4. Eye contact- First off, virtual interviews are an abomination and I can’t wait for the mandate that we go back to in person interviews. My point is, in the post COVID era I am shocked at how evasive and unengaged applicants can look on Zoom. There have been more than a few times these past few years when I suspect that an applicant is reading or referring to notes on his or her screen during our interview. How weird is that for me to suspect that someone can’t carry on a normal spontaneous conversation over 15 minutes? Seriously, wtf.
5. Rehearsal- on a few occasions, I have asked a candidate a weird question that seems completely random, irrelevant, or even stupid. Now why would a seasoned, grizzled vet like me waste our precious shared time doing that? Because I need to do a hard reboot. If I get the sense that a candidate is giving me a canned answer, especially when I ask a question that they are NOT answering with their canned, regurgitated spiel, I’ll try to break them out of their over-rehearsed rhythm. I am asking you to make a genuine effort to answer the question sincerely without the usual tropes and in return I promise not to ask you dumb, cliché questions.
6. Questions- there is a sacred moment during the interview process when I ask if you have any questions for me. This sacred moment is when I get to find out if you’re a thoughtful person or just another face in the virtual stack of applications. The sacred moment can be obscenely defiled if you ask me questions like, “how do you like Denver” (it’s great) or “what’s your favorite procedure” (TIPS) or “what are the neuroradiology readout sessions like” (I have no fucking clue) or “what are you looking for in a resident” (a unique sense of humor). Frankly, I’d rather just have you admit that you have no questions and we can both have four or five minutes back to take a piss or stretch our legs. Poorly considered questions betray the absence of thoughtfulness, curiosity, and creativity, which are three vital characteristics of the best IRs I’ve ever known.
The honest truth is that I am an easy, straightforward, and forgiving interviewer, although I have been known to physically torture unsuspecting candidates. To wit: when I was DR PD here at CU, there were times when I would, weather permitting, occasionally ask candidates if they would be willing to go on a “walking interview” with me. There was a candidate from upstate NY who I asked and she said yes. I asked her multiple times since I didn’t want her to feel coerced into walking outside if she didn’t want to. She was cheerfully insistent that she was game. Later, she trashed me on some online residency review database. Since she ended up shit talking me anyway, I wish I had forced her go on a “sprinting interview” instead.
What’s the best question you’ve ever asked, or been asked? What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked? My favorite question to ask candidates: what do I need to do to get us to work together optimally? And did you know that there was someone out there (in the state of TX) who made candidates find Waldo during the interview? I wonder if this exercise was effective in identifying superior radiologists. I have to say, I've never seen a Waldo-shaped IPMN on a CT scan, but then again I'm no diagnostic radiologist.