WHEN DO INTERVIEWS START?
With a few possible exceptions, interview invites begin in early to mid October. The Otolaryngology Program Directors’ Organization implemented a standardized 3 week “interview offer window” a few years ago. While it varies slightly, year to year, interview offers will generally concentrate in the months of October and November. As previously mentioned, you will maximize your number of interview offers by submitting your application as soon as possible. Try not to get too caught up in how many interviews your friend has already received, as this will only make you extremely anxious. Just be patient, and the interviews will come.
If you are very interested in a particular program and you have not heard from them by mid-season, it is probably okay to send a polite email or phone call to check on the status of your application and to express interest. Obviously use common sense and limit this to 1-2 times, so as not to be annoying. Always be friendly to whomever is on the other end. They often have more say than you might think.
Even for the best applicants, many rejections will come your way throughout the season. Do not take this personally. Given the large number of spots for relatively few positions, candidate selection can be more random than what you might think.
WHEN DOES THE INTERVIEW SEASON TYPICALLY RUN?
The start of the interview season is similar to other NRMP participants. Generally, there have been interview dates as soon as late October; however the majority of program dates are in December and January. The Otolaryngology Program Directors’ Organization maintains an Interview Calendar on their website. OtoMatch also offers a spreadsheet interview date tracker which updates via crowd-sourced information from other medical students, meaning it comes secondhand, but can also provide useful information.
INTERVIEW COSTS & FUNDING
The total costs associated with interview season can vary significantly depending on how frugal you are, the geographic locations you are targeting and obviously the number of interviews you will be attending. Most applicants will spend at least $2500 and over 25% will spend at least $5000. Although it is often difficult to line up interviews in the same area within the same week, this can substantially reduce your total end cost. Unlike other less competitive specialties, otolaryngology programs rarely incur any of the travel or hotel costs, so sharing hotel rooms with other applicants may offer another way to save money. If you are close enough, driving to a number of interviews can also save you money (airfare and car rentals) and a lot of headache. Finally, try to keep track of your receipts while on the trail as some of the expenses may be tax deductible.
SHOULD I TAKE TIME OFF TO INTERVIEW?
The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, including how many interviews you are planning on attending and how much time your school permits off to attend interviews. Most people do not take off an extended period of time to accommodate interviews, but many find it helpful to schedule “easier” and more “laid-back” rotations during interview season to keep the stress low.
HOW MANY INTERVIEWS SHOULD YOU ACCEPT?
Initially, every one of them! Ideally, you should aim for at least 12 to 14 interviews. As you start to receive more interviews nearing these numbers, you can get more selective. Attending more than 16 interviews is likely a waste of time and money. Finally, remember to be courteous to other applicants and programs; as soon as you know that you are not going to attend the interview, cancel it! Hoarding interviews will not help you and will benefit your potential future colleagues. Canceling interviews you do not plan to attend grants programs ample time to schedule other interviewees and allows applicants time to plan additional interviews.
INTERVIEW PREPARATION
This is obviously a huge topic and cannot be simply answered in 1 or 2 paragraphs. There are numerous books on this topic that go into very extensive detail. While most of the information is hopefully common sense, we have included a couple helpful suggestions regarding this topic:
You should appear knowledgeable about the program during your interview. Read up on the program’s website, ask residents and staff about the program, and (cautiously) peruse online forums. In your interview, do not ask questions about the program that are already answered on the website.
Regarding dress, conservative is generally better. While you are interviewing, there will be some daring souls with hot pink shirts, but try to be memorable for good reasons, not bad ones. Use common sense in your wardrobe selection.
Be prepared to have answers to the standard questions. About 80% of interview questions will be asked repeatedly throughout the interview season, so have solid non-cliché, well polished answers for these gimme points. After the 4th or 5th interview, most of these answers will come as second nature, but to prepare for your first couple interviews, many applicants find it helpful to have a mock or rehearsal interview just before the season starts. You may notice that after a question has been asked a thousand times it becomes very hard to give an answer with any sort of enthusiasm. Try your best to sound fresh and sincere with all of your answers.
Have a list of intelligent questions prepared beforehand. You will be asked “So… do you have any other questions” at least once with each interviewer! Always say “yes” and follow-up with at least one question to ask.
Finally, do not slack! With the exception of a couple natural geniuses, most applicants have gotten this far as a direct result of years of hard work and late nights. You will be surprised at some of your interviews when you see some applicants who act like they have something better to do. This is basically it! The last step in a long journey to securing the career you will be doing for the rest of your life – finish strong!
INTERVIEW DAY - WHAT TO EXPECT?
Interview day generally begins with some sort of welcome and overview presentation given by the chairperson of the department and/or the residency program director. This presentation often reviews the faculty members, ongoing research in the department, facilities, humanitarian opportunities, and what features make their residency program unique or special.
After this presentation, applicants are usually divided into two groups, with one group interviewing in the morning and the other group touring the hospital facilities and/or city with the residents. This is a good time to ask the residents questions about the call schedule and their quality of life. However, use discretion when asking these types of questions—you never know how much input each individual resident has on your overall ranking with a program. The two applicant groups often reconvene for lunch with faculty members and residents and then the two applicant groups switch for the afternoon. Interviews are set up differently at every program, but generally there are 8-12 interviews that last anywhere from 15-30 minutes each. Some interviews are one-on-one, but often there are multiple attendings and/or residents (2-4) interviewing an applicant at the same time. Some programs will assign a certain theme (e.g., research, academics, leadership, service,) or question (e.g., “tell me about a time you dealt with conflict,” “tell me about a time you failed,” “give me an example of a time when you were creative”) to each room, whereas other programs will have simple random conversations.
Additionally, some programs incorporate a “technical skills task” into the interview day—suturing under a microscope, carving the ossicles out of soap, threading three needles while telling a joke, etc. While finesse is definitely being evaluated during these tasks, most programs are, more importantly, wanting to see your reaction to an unfamiliar and, sometimes, stressful situation. After both groups have completed their interviews and tour, some places will have a brief wrap-up talk thanking you for taking the time and effort to interview at their program. Otherwise, the interview day concludes at the end of your scheduled afternoon interviews or tour.
DO I NEED TO ATTEND THE INTERVIEW SOCIAL GATHERING?
There is always a debate among applicants as to whether missing a social gathering can hurt you. The abbreviated answer to this question is probably not. Most programs endorse the dinner as an informal time for applicants to get a better feel for the program with no connection to applicant ranking. On the flip-side, there are many programs that ask the residents how they feel about particular candidates and your absence may be mentioned. Bottom-line: If you can attend the dinner, do it. It is a great free dinner, you can get to know many of the other applicants who you will be bumping into for the next 5 years or more, and it provides a chance for you to further evaluate the program in one of the most important areas – how does everyone get along? Having said all this, use common sense and do not drink too much (if you do drink) or say something inappropriate, as this will inevitably come back to bite you. If you have a scheduling conflict, then missing the dinner is probably not the end of the world. There are many applicants who have matched at great programs despite missing the evening dinner.
KEEPING PROGRAM IMPRESSIONS FRESH?
In order to construct your rank list, it will be important to have some sort of system to keep all of the programs you have interviewed at separate. The interview season is spread over 3 to 4 months and after a couple of interviews, many places tend to blend together. There are various ranking systems that people use, some more elaborate than others. Common categories that applicants use to score the various programs are: Overall gut-feeling; how the residents and staff appear to get along; degree of subspecialty staff coverage; where (and if) residents have matched into fellowships; quality of training (case-log comparison, early autonomy); city livability (including real-estate costs); number of residents who are married or have children; research opportunities; or job opportunities for a signficant other. You will be living in this place for the next 5 years of your life, so all these details matter. Whatever you can think of that would be important to you and help you get through this important and challenging part of your life, add it to the list!
SHOULD I SEND A THANK YOU LETTER?
If you are sending a thank you letter to increase your odds of matching, it probably does not help. Many programs will rank applicants the same day as the interview. If you are sending a letter because you really liked a particular person or you just like to write letters, then go ahead. If you decide to write letters, make them appear original. It is best to include something that you talked about during your interview so that the interviewer can remember you. It is fine to type them, or if you have exceptional handwriting, write them by hand.
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