The Interview Before the Interview

Some interviews begin long before the first formal question is asked. During my time as a consultant neurosurgeon in Aberdeen, I had the privilege of serving on the University of Aberdeen's medical school admissions panel. It was a responsibility I genuinely enjoyed. Selecting future medical students was never simply about academic results. It was also about recognising qualities that cannot always be measured on paper: empathy, humility, honesty and the ability to connect naturally with others. One afternoon, I arrived early for an interview session. The morning interviews had not yet finished, so I sat outside the venue and waited. A young applicant arrived shortly afterwards and took the empty chair beside me. He had no idea who I was. Rather flatteringly, he assumed that I was another medical school candidate, despite the fact that I was already in my mid-forties. I decided to accept that as a compliment. He began speaking to me in a warm and friendly manner. He asked whether I was nervous about the interview and admitted that he himself was feeling anxious. Our conversation continued naturally. He was polite, open and completely unguarded. Because he believed I was simply another applicant, there was no performance. No carefully rehearsed answer. No attempt to impress an interviewer. He was simply being himself. I offered him one piece of advice: "Do not try to pretend to be someone else. Just be yourself. Interviewers can usually recognise when someone is exaggerating or trying too hard to create the right impression." He listened carefully and thanked me. A few moments later, the door opened. The organiser called out: "Mr Al-Haddad, would you please come in? The panel is ready." I stood up and entered the room—not as another candidate, but as a member of the admissions panel. The young man's expression changed instantly. He was completely stunned. The stranger he had been chatting to so casually outside was about to become one of his interviewers. When his turn came, he entered the room and sat before the panel. Understandably, he looked slightly embarrassed. But he had no reason to be. In truth, his interview had already begun long before he entered the room. During those few unscripted minutes outside, I had already seen something important in him. He had treated a complete stranger with warmth, courtesy and respect, without knowing that the person might later influence his future. His formal interview went well. But what impressed me most was not any polished answer he gave inside the room. It was the character he had shown outside it. He had demonstrated the natural ability to engage with another person. He had shown openness, compassion and humility—qualities that are essential in anyone hoping to become a good doctor. I gave him a high mark. Not because he had performed well for the panel, but because I had been fortunate enough to meet the real person before the interview began. That afternoon left me with a lesson I have never forgotten. We should never reserve our kindness, respect or good manners only for people we consider important. We never truly know who is sitting beside us, what role they may play in our lives, or what silent impression we may be creating. Life is full of interviews we do not realise we are attending. Character is not something we should switch on when we know we are being observed. It is revealed most clearly in the moments when we believe no one important is watching. So wherever you are, and whoever you meet, be kind, be respectful and be yourself. The real interview may have already begun.