The pharmacy interview process

You know that part in the last post where I said you'd have to wait a few more days for the next post? Well I was wrong. I guess once you start blogging you don't go jogging (sorry, best I could you on short notice). This next part goes out to all those who are applying for pharmacy in 2010: Nice try. When you googled for information you might have found this link promising. Let me tell you, it is not IF your intentions are to get example questions. You can find plenty of those elsewhere. You may however find this helpful if you are not aware of the atmosphere or experience.

Now back to the pharmacy interview experience. First of all, it was pointless and futile to be nervous. Nevertheless, the feeling of tension in the room was palpable. Everyone basically sat in a circle staring off into the distance. When two sets of eyes met, there was an awkward moment and then resumption of the staring into the distance. When ever one of the administrators made a joke to calm us down, everyone laughed but it was clear that most of them were forced (like the laugh you make in really stressful situations just to release the tension). An interesting part of the pre interview process was the fitting of white lab coats. I suppose it was most practical to do it there but it seemed to me like a taunt at those who didn't get in but were oh so close.

The second thing I noticed was what other people wore to the interview. The interview invitation was quite cryptic in appropriate clothing so most people overdressed including myself (in my opinion. There will be no "imo" on my blog.) After the experience I think a nice dress shirt, tie, dress pants and dress shoes would have been fine. After all, it's what the interviewers wore. I shall make no such recommendations for the ladies because I won't even feign knowledge of female formal dress.

Third, the actual inteview itself was a letdown. For starters, the room was very cramped and it felt like I was financing a mortgage rather than doing an interview. For taller individuals, you may find yourself quite claustrophopic. You may also find your feet (if you are rather long limbed) knocking into the feet of the interviewer. Let's not even discuss one's emotions when this happens. Also, the interviewers seemed to lack excitement during the questioning period. I suppose this is understandable considering I was interviewed on the last day (that means over 200 people were interviewed before me. I guess they were just tired.) The one thing I will mention about questions is that they are straight forward. Nothing totally out of the blue. Aside for the questions and answers, there wasn't much interaction between myself and the interviewers. Part of that probably falls on my social awkwardness, the other part on the rigidness of the questions. The last thing I will assure you is that the 30 min or so you are in there will not feel like 30 min unless it goes really bad (I hope it doesn't). It certainly did not for me.

Lastly, onto something of interest (finally, right?). The week of my interview many famous people died. Earlier in the week, Ed Mcmahon. On the morning of my interview, Farah Fawcett. And finally, after my interview, I found out that Michael Jackson had died. This was the biggest shock to me as the first two celebrities were either old or sick but MJ might very well have been sick and we just didn't know about it. Anyway, on the way back from the interview location this didn't seem like a very good omen. Well, so much for omens as I was just accepted into pharmacy school. So I guess the most important thing for you to realize is that in the end you should just try your best and forget about the other stuff. (For those of you who like me figured their best wasn't good enough, remember that grades and extracurriculars still count for a lot.)