 What's up you guys? So I know that many of you have braved the COVID times with online interviews in this past cycle. And some of you are really, really anxious about what it's like to interview online for this upcoming cycle of the PA school application. And so have no fear, put your anxieties aside. I have a video for you. We're going to be talking about the benefits of interviewing online in this coming video. Before I start anything, I wanted to say sorry that I did not put a video out yesterday. It is only because I had some things come up unexpectedly that I had to handle. So that is why I wasn't able to get this video out yesterday. But I wanted to make sure that I did not deprive you of your two videos of another PA a week. So that is why I'm putting it out today. But if you haven't already done so, please go ahead and subscribe if you're new to my channel. If you are a subscriber, thank you for joining me again today. So I wanted to talk about the interview process and specifically the online interviewing for PA school that a lot of schools are kind of transitioning to especially because you know COVID and the pandemic hit. And so if you're concerned or worried about interviewing online, do not worry. Have no fear. I want to give you some tips in a sense or some some benefits I guess you could say of interviewing online. So the first benefit of interviewing online is the money, right? So you get to save so much money by not having to travel to the various different schools that you have been offered interviews for. I know that when I was interviewing for PA school, it was like a big thing, like a big to do because it was none of the schools that I interviewed at were in the state that I was actually you know living at the time. And so I had to travel. It was like me and my husband way to travel. We went, we stayed in a hotel and you know it was like this big to do. And for some of you, maybe you're interested in that, maybe you're happy about like traveling and getting to stay in a hotel. But instead of doing that for a PA school trip, what you can do is save that money and travel for your vacation and actually spend it on places that you want to go. But that is really a big, big component of not having to interview in person. When you're doing this online, it cuts down on all of your travel and all of those expenses that come with travel, which allows you to stay safe and allows your future cohort to stay safe and those that are interviewing with you to stay safe as well. So that is one of the benefits of interviewing online. The next benefit that I think is really important for interviewing online is the setting. So I know that there are so many of us that when we get into new settings, new places, we get really, really nervous. And you don't want to get extremely nervous when you're interviewing for PA school or any really application or anything, even if it's a job. You want to make sure that you're absolutely at your tip top best. And sometimes nerves gets the best of you and allows you to underperform. And therefore interviewing in an online space where you're able to facilitate just a one-on-one conversation. You're able to have that time with the interviewer and it's just you and them allows for a plethora of things to happen. You can build a rapport. You can get to understand their various different nuances. You know, I like to talk with my hands a lot. And so maybe your interviewer likes to do the same. Maybe they don't. Maybe they're stoic. Whatever the case, maybe you get to pick up on those little micro, you know, facial expressions and things a little bit more in the interview online form. Also, you get to choose the place of your interview. You know, if you want to come downstairs in your basement or you would like to be up in your room, you want to ensure that one, you have really good lighting and that your sound is on point because you want your interviewers to be able to see you. So on top of that, you can also choose, though, the setting in which you are interviewing. So it's something that you can make comfort for yourself. You know, if you want to be like, I don't necessarily want to say in your bed per se, but if you want to like sit on your bed and then you have the laptop somewhere and your background is like not busy and it's really, you know, just kind of soothing and calming, that's something that you can choose. You can choose the space that you're interviewing. But one of those tips that I want you to keep in mind is that you don't want anything to be distracting. So you don't want your background to be distracting. You don't want any background noise to be distracting. And you want to ensure that you have really, really good lighting. Okay. There's this thing that schools are also starting to do where it's kind of like an on-demand video response. Or I guess you can say they ask you for like a supplemental question that you pose to them and you give, send to them first before you actually have the interview. And I think that this is a great opportunity for you to allow your personality to shine. Now, obviously, like my husband's like this videographer and so he always wants to make things like boom, bam. Like, you know, he wants to make things like very bold and nice and like it's great and stuff. For me, I'm like pretty simple, right? And so for some of us that may not be like video savvy like aunt is, you know, you want to ensure that your personality is what's shining through to kind of set yourself apart from some of those that may have a little bit more, you know, kind of video oomph. You can also, what you can do is go on Fiverr and have somebody like edit your video for you if you'd like. And that's like an expense that you might want to come out of pocket for. Since you're saving money by not traveling, you might want to put it into your video editing. But that is an opportunity for you to really again showcase your, how you answer questions and you really take the time, you guys, to like think about these questions and answer them really accurately and to the best of your knowledge so that, you know, you have the opportunity to really shine for these interviewers. But that is another benefit of the online interviewing forum. I think the last thing that I would say is a true benefit of interviewing online is the pressure, right? So I think that the, for me, the pressure is a lot less in the online setting. You know, it's a little more lax. You're at home or you're like in an office space, wherever you choose to be, you get to choose your setting. You get to choose how you're dressing from top up. You get to choose, you know, what the lighting looks like. You get to choose the interactions that you have with this person and it's not like you don't have, there's no awkward stuff. You know, you're not seeing like your competition walking in, making things even more, you know, nerve wracking or you're not hearing all of these other people's stories on like what they did for their healthcare experience and you're sitting up here thinking, oh man, like I only was a CNA or whatever the case may be. There is a whole lot less pressure because there are all of these other intangibles that come in the actual in-person forum of an interview that you do not get when you're interviewing online. It's you and the interviewer. Now be mindful that there are some interviews where it's like a bazillion gazillion people online with you. I think that most schools are kind of moving away from that because they understand that not everybody gets the opportunity to speak or shine like they would like. I had somebody that I was doing a personal consultation session with a little while ago that said that she interviewed and there was like maybe like 50 other people on with her, you know, like it was like a total of 50 interviewers and I was like that's wild because how can you actually, you know, respond to the questions? How can you shine when there are other people vying for the spotlight? And you know in the Zoom forum, it's like, you know, every time somebody talks or there's a little bit of noise in their background, their camera comes on them. And so I think that a lot of schools have understand like or have come to the understanding that that is not necessarily the best type of interview. And so they're doing all of these more small one on one interviews. And so therefore the pressure is significantly decreased, which is pretty dope because that allows you to take the opportunity and then a time to really shine and showcase who you are personally as a person apart from the stats on the paper that they're seeing in front of them. So hopefully this puts you guys at ease. Please leave some comments in the comment session below for me on video ideas that you may have or questions that you may want answered. If you haven't already done so, follow me on Instagram at it on the PA and on Instagram. I get that so you new University subscribe to my channel and thank you guys so much for watching. I will talk to you guys next time.