GME Community Findings on Virtual Interview Best Practices
Based on Virtual Forum, Hosted by Thalamus on 9/9/2021
U of MN Event Circle
The Event Circle is a group of event professionals at the University of Minnesota campuses to connect, share, network, and collaborate. This includes event and meeting planners, venue coordinators, services and catering, and administrative and support roles, community outreach staff, and more.
Save time and be more effective as a letter writer while also combating stereotypes and biases which can disadvantage applicant selection.
Research shows that descriptions of nominees and applicants in recommendation letters are impacted by the subject’s gender and factors such as whether or not a person belongs to a group underrepresented in science or medicine (see references in the toolkit). This toolkit was developed by the U o f MN Strategic Communications and Collaborations Action Group.
Nominations and Letters of Support Toolkit (includes letter templates for residency applicants)
5 Virtual Recruiting Event Ideas to Attract and Engage Candidates
I especially like the ‘Ask Me Anything’ video. It’s super fun.
The ‘Fireside Chat’ could be good, but the example they provided is a bit stiff. I’d recommend having about eight people join, put a video of a fire in the middle of the Zoom call and have them ask each other professional and light personal questions. This could be Live or recorded or both.
Showcase a part of the learning experience to interest applicants or to demonstrate to interviewing applicants. I think many already do this (e.g. Conferences, Grand Rounds) but maybe a shorter and focused session would be good, too.
Create Pop-Up Videos about your program with photos and/or video and trivia.
Participate in social media during conferences and learning events. Drive people to website and online content to learn about your program. Below are some resources for developing a social media plan and presence;
U Relations Social Media Policies:
Font & Graphics Resources:
University Social Media Graphics (if you don’t have access to Photoshop, email brand@umn.edu and they will create the icon for you).
Photo and Video Libraries (must use VPN if accessing off-site)
Canva (non-UMN app; free version works for creating graphics)
Other Tips:
Use z.umn.edu to shorten links.
Add account to your email signature.
Create Google Alerts and PubMed alerts to be notified of news/publications about your residents/faculty.
Follow other relevant accounts / Cross-promote
Last year on social media, applicants indicated they really enjoy receiving mail during their recruitment process. It’s tangible, thoughtful, and something they can keep to remember an interaction.
Below are some examples of program recruitment sites. Would you be willing to share your program's recruitment site to this list? If so, please email the link to cawg@umn.edu:
Spark Hire Virtual Interviewing Tool: The platform allows you to request one-way video interviews from candidates. The full hiring team can review the completed video interviews at their convenience, making it easy to schedule interviews. You can also share the interviews with other interested parties to get them involved earlier in the hiring process.
This Interview Score Sheet allows interviewers to score applicants, and updates to a Rank Meeting presentation in real-time! Note: all interviewers must have access to Google Drive on interview day to use these resources.
Content created by: Sacha Brueggemann (brueg015@umn.edu) and Christana Reding (creding@umn.edu)
Urology Residents & Faculty created a "welcome" video for their newly matched residents!
Content created by: Liz Mayock (eamayock@umn.edu)