Today we’re going to talk about how to answer the interview question:
”Tell me about yourself?”
This is the most commonly asked question during dental school interviews but it’s also the question that students most commonly struggle with. Today we’re going to go over how to answer it properly, as well as give you an example and talk through some mistakes that students commonly make.
First of all, when you are thinking about this answer, what you do not want to be doing is just talking through your Personal Statement.
That’s not only really robotic but you’re just giving the interviewers information that they already have in front of them on a piece of paper. Instead, your answer should give you an opportunity to further enhance your Personal Statement and highlight additional skills that you had no room to fit into your Personal Statement.
As you are already aware, there are many websites that aim to help students through the dentistry interview process but each will have its own methods. This particular technique has worked very well with our successful students.
So Here It Is:
First, choose the 3 most important qualities about yourself that are relevant to dentistry and link these to activities that you already do.
The panel is looking to see if your characteristics match what they’re looking for in an ideal dentist.
We will now show you an example. We’re going to go through the exercise we normally do with students based on an example we did with a student recently.
Before any preparation whatsoever, we asked, “Tell us about yourself?”
The mistake this student made was the common mistake most students make. He gave us an answer that was straight off his Personal Statement so it was very dry, did not say a lot about his attributes or self-reflection/insight into his own character. From this we asked him to list, just off the top of his head, his top 3 favourite things to do.
Instantly he said, “I play the drums, play cricket and go on video games.”
Then we asked him what do you enjoy about playing the drums. He said that he has been playing since a young age reaching Grade 8 and likes to be innovative. Sometimes he would construct new tracks and sometimes he would try to improve on existing ones.
Next with cricket, he enjoys the team spirit, the fitness aspect and close matches. It is a challenge when he is bowling and faced with the good batter who wants to hit him for a boundary every single time, so he has to find ways to get him to make a mistake and get out.
Playing video games with other people is a good way to connect with his friends and it is a really important way to relax/switch off after studying all day.
The identifying essential ingredients are being able to switch off at the end of the day, problem-solving and learning new things which are all essential skills for being a dentist.
He would also say that he has an inquiring mind and that is how he became interested in dentistry (a reference to his personal statement).
If you like us to help with your interview, click here to learn more about the interview preparation programs we can offer.