The Physiotherapy Admissions interview season comes at you fast and furious. Yes, Vin Diesel fast and furious. With slight variance each year, interviews are held only a few weeks after interview invites are sent out. This leaves minimal time to prepare and be ready for one of the biggest interviews in your life so far. With this in mind, it is important to have a plan as to how you’re going to prepare to ace your Kira Talent interview. This blog is intended to help you start that process by providing you with three tips on how to maximize your time leading up to the Kira Talent. Let’s get started.

First and foremost you will require a thorough understanding of what the Kira Talent interview is. In its simplest forms, the Kira Talent is an online interview platform utilized by McMaster University. Currently, they are the only University in Canada to use it for their Physiotherapy program admissions. The Kira Talent is a virtual interview consisting of both written and video recorded questions. Yes, you read that right. You will not be talking to an interviewer but rather recording yourself verbally answering questions.

Typically, there are between 6-8 questions on the Kira Talent interview. There should be a small amount of preparation time for verbal response questions. This typically ranges between 30-60 seconds but is unique to each organization that uses the Kira Talent and can change year to year. It should be noted that for written questions you will not receive any preparation time. Additionally, the time allotted to answer each question varies each year depending on the questions being asked. It is noted on the Kira Talent website that most questions take 3-5 minutes to complete. These are all small details that are important to remember when preparing for the Kira Talent.

Tip #1: Practice in Front of a Camera

As previously mentioned you will be recording yourself through the Kira Talent platform when responding to verbal questions. For the vast majority of us applying to Physiotherapy school we are not YouTubers. Therefore, this can be a very new and sometimes awkward situation.

Recording yourself while answering questions is a great way to become comfortable with the interview day environment. I remember practicing with friends and became confident in my ability to deliver an answer to them in a one on one setting. However, when it came time to recording myself while answering questions, my confidence went out the window. We all know that the more you expose yourself to a specific environment, the more comfortable you become within it. So don’t wait until the interview day to become comfortable with recording yourself answering questions. Start early and get the leg up on those who weren’t so wise during their preparation.

What we recommend at PhysioSchool.ca is that you do at least one practice test with the exact same demands as the real Kira Talent. You should use the same time for preparation, time for answering questions, mix of written and verbal questions, and recording yourself the entire time. If you are looking for practice tests as well as additional tips for presenting yourself and communicating answers in a virtual environment then check out our PT Interview Booster course. It has multiple practice tests and an entire module dedicated to how you can optimize your scores on interview day.

Tip #2: Create a List of Relevant Experiences to Leadership

This one should not come as a surprise. Chances are if you’ve been to any job interview they’ll ask you about your leadership qualities. Companies love to hire individuals who demonstrate these traits as they see them as a long term fit. Physiotherapy programs are not that different. Remember that you will not only be representing the University’s Physiotherapy program for the two years of study but for your entire career afterwards. With this in mind, you can understand why they are seeking the best candidates who will be long term fits for them.

McMaster University’s Physiotherapy program places a large emphasis on leadership qualities and leadership experiences when admitting students. Therefore, it will be in your best interest to reflect on how you are a leader, how you have demonstrated that you are a leader, and create a strong list of examples that you can draw from for your interview. The more prepared you are now, the easier the interview day will be for you.

Pro tip: think of ways that you can be a leader in the physiotherapy program if you are admitted. This forward thinking is appealing to admissions committees as you are demonstrating early initiative and passion for Physiotherapy.

Tip #3: Educate yourself about McMaster’s Physiotherapy Program

I remember preparing for each interview when I was applying to Physiotherapy school. At the time I was balancing the course work of my final semester of my undergraduate degree while also participating in extracurriculars which included a desperate last opportunity to win the innertube water polo intramural championships (we didn’t win). Although the intramurals did not take up much of my time, the interview preparation and course load did. I regret waiting too close to the date of the interviews to begin educating myself about the Universities I was applying to and their physiotherapy programs.

It is essential to have a strong understanding of the physiotherapy program you are interviewing for. The McMaster Physiotherapy program may be considered unique compared to other physiotherapy programs in Canada. Among many other factors, they utilize problem based learning and a SPIRAL curriculum that make them unique.

The stronger of an understanding that you have about the McMaster Physiotherapy program, the better you will be able to articulate why you are a good fit for them. After all, that’s what interviews are all about. If you need assistance with learning more about the McMaster Physiotherapy program then reach out to us! We did the hard work for you and have created program packets for each University Physiotherapy program in Canada – including McMaster.

Conclusion

Best of luck to all of you challenging the Kira Talent for the upcoming admissions cycle! I hope you found these tips helpful. If you are curious about the PT Interview Booster course offered by PhysioSchool.ca please reach out to us! This course was designed to help reduce the uncertainty of physiotherapy admissions interviews while helping you improve your interview skills. Thanks for reading!