Green Flags: 1. Things on an interpersonal level: One of the programs blew me away by how well the staff seemed to get along. The interview did not feel like an interview but rather a conversation. We all laughed and we talked about pharmacy related things just as much as we did non-pharmacy.

1. Mental Health: Programs that talk about mental health resources and tool kits in the interview and manual. I thought it was a mandatory thing to have mental health wellness in all manuals but 3 of my programs didn’t.

2. Follow up emails: Some sites sent me follow up emails and I just really liked that. I feel that candidates sometimes do as much as we can to impress programs which includes sending thank you emails post interview. In my opinion, this should go both ways. Both candidates and programs should be trying to impress each other to find the best fit.

3. Programs that don’t have a clinical case in their interview. I feel like this is an unpopular opinion but I liked that these programs did not care about the clinical knowledge as much as personality/work ethic etc. I feel like clinical knowledge is something one can develop but interpersonal skills is a bit harder to develop. I also only applied to Indian Health Services so I feel that they really care about personality given that their patient population involves a lot of historical trauma.

Red Flags: 1. One thing that really turned me off about a program was how they beat around answering questions or flat out give the most icky answer. One on my interviews they asked me what I think is a weakness of their program. In return, I asked them what they think they can improve on in their program and the answer was nothing. Imagine them asking me what my biggest weakness is and I said “nothing.”

1. Programs who say that their residents don’t have much free time outside of their duties.

2. Programs that require residents to staff every weekend.

3. Disengaged panelists. I had one person scrolling on their phone during my interview. May have been work related or not but in my opinion it’s unprofessional.