3 “personality flaws” doctors show in job interviews are actually communication errors

You have the medical knowledge, you have the clinical experience. You’ve prepared your answers and practiced. But your interviews don’t go well.

You’re not sure why.

You know it’s not grades, test scores, or lack of enough clinical experience.

You think, “Maybe it’s my personality.”

Is the problem your personality or your communication?

The terms “personality” and “soft skills” are often used interchangeably, but they’re actually not the same thing.

• Personality:

  traits, behaviors, and characteristics, such as extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness

  Personality can change, but is very hard to change.

• Soft skills:

  interpersonal, communication, and social behaviors, such as teamwork, adaptability, problem solving, and leadership

  Soft skills can be developed over time with training and practice.

Communication is a soft skill.

Your personality problem is probably a communication problem

It’s common for people to think their personality is the cause of their problems.

But in interviews, often the issue isn’t personality, it’s soft skills, or lack thereof. In particular communication.

For instance, if you’re shy, you may think your personality limits your chance to connect with the interviewer.

Yes, your personality is a factor. It’s probably harder for you than for an outgoing person. But, while you can’t change being shy, because that’s your personality, you can work on your ability to communicate.

If you improve your communication, you can build better rapport with the interviewer.

Avoid these 3 job interview mistakes doctors make by improving your communication skills

Doctors make a few common errors in their interviews that don’t make a good impression on the interviewer. I’m going to list them and explain how to improve by improving specific aspects of your communication.

Interview mistake 1: Showing zero personality

Do you sound unenthusiastic, boring, or robotic in interviews?

You may have a reserved personality, and I’m not going to try to tell you how to change that. (You probably can’t - I’m reserved and I can’t really magically change myself.)

But if you’re reserved, or you get nervous and shut down in stressful situations, you can improve the effect this has on others - keep them from thinking you’re boring or hostile - by fine tuning your communication skills.

Communication errors that make you seem robotic

• Preparing so much you sound rehearsed. Doctors are usually academic overachievers used to preparing well for everything.

• Memorizing and reciting your answers line-by-line

• Reading your answers word-for-word from notes; don’t look at notes more than one or twice per answer - they can see your eyes moving (if remote interview)

• Reading your resume aloud or sounding as if you are

• Using an answer that doesn’t quite fit the exact question because it’s the answer you practiced

• Not showing any energy or enthusiasm in your voice

• Not responding to their efforts at small talk or responding with one-word answers

• Not smiling and making other facial expressions - is your face frozen?

What to do instead

• Prepare outlines for answers but use bullet points only, not full sentences (so you can’t read them)

• Don’t rehearse so much you memorize each word

• Prepare enough - outlines - that you have another document besides your resume to refer to

• Answer the exact question they asked, not the one you prepared for; learn and practice how to tailor your answer to fit the question

• Vary your tone as you speak

• Respond to small talk

• Smile

Interview mistake 2: Showing personality in the wrong places

I know you want to be memorable - you don’t want to seem like all the other candidates. And you know that most of your answers are going to be about medical knowledge / medical experience, which might sound the same as other people’s answers.

But trying to add personality usually backfires.

Communication errors that make you seem frivolous

• Stuffing personality “nuggets” into your answers.

  Examples:

  “They call me Dr. Energizer Bunny.” Funny nicknames aren’t okay (pediatricians excepted).

  “I spend my spare time hiking.” Hobbies aren’t relevant unless they ask you about your hobbies.

• Telling stories about your personal life, not your professional experience.

What do do instead

• Tell excellent stories about your relevant experience.

  Example:

  a story about being in charge of the hospital’s Covid taskforce

  a story about a difficult conversation with the family of a patient who was about to be intubated

Interview mistake 3: Showing an arrogant personality

Sometimes people try so hard to sell themselves that they seem arrogant (and sometimes they are arrogant and don’t bother to cover it up).

Communication errors that make you seem unpleasant

• Giving statements without backing them up

  Example:

  “I’m great at establishing rapport with patients”

• Getting so nervous you sound defensive or try too hard to sell yourself

What do do instead

• Share feedback - “I received excellent feedback from my supervisor about my ability to communicate” - instead of just saying “I’m an excellent communicator.”

• Give the results of your actions, instead of just your actions. Results will “show” your skills, which will back up your claims.

• Work on your nervousness. Practice interviewing with other people beforehand and do whatever else you do to deal with anxiety.

Improve your communication skills before your interview

Interviewers want to hire someone who can do the job and who’s likable.

If you have the skills and know you’re a good person to work with, but you can’t seem to show that in an interview, it may be that you need to upgrade your communication savvy.

I’ve given you some ideas; let me know if you’d like one-on-one coaching.