Most new grads underestimate how important interview skills can be. A common mistake is for a new grad (or soon-to-be-grad) to assume an interview is just like any other normal, professional conversation.
Parents and mentors usually know better, but it’s not always easy to steer attention toward this topic (with all the other turbulence affecting a new grad’s life).
The fastest way to turn a residency interview into a match.
Our approach helps young adults put a high value on interviewing well, and helps frame these skills as an important life skill that will yield positive results for years to come.
While our focus is on helping you improve your interview skills, we can also guide you in optimizing your job search and developing a long-term career plan.
If you’re still exploring your career options, we can guide you through a structured process to identify the best path for you and then work with you to make your dream career a reality.
If your direction is clear, we can focus on fine-tuning your job search and job interview skills to help you stand out from the competition and get hired.
We have helped recent college graduates launch exciting careers in finance (including positions at the top investment banks), technology, marketing, fashion, publishing, management consulting, pharmaceuticals, and other industries.
We have worked with students at schools across the country — including Ivy League universities (including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Cornell) and other prestigious institutions.
We also work with college students seeking spots in the most prominent and competitive graduate and internship programs.
Pamela Skillings is considered the top interview coach in the country and has helped hundreds of people land their dream jobs.
Her proven approach is based on her unique combination of experience as a hiring manager, a human resources executive, and a professional coach.
In addition to her work with individual job seekers, top companies hire Pamela to consult on their hiring processes and she often conducts and sits in on real job interviews.
She knows what companies are looking for and how they evaluate candidates — and she shares that knowledge with her coaching clients.
She is a Certified Professional Career Coach and a member of the Association of Career Professionals, the National Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches, and the International Coach Federation.
Pamela earned both her bachelor’s degree and her professional certifications in career planning and development from New York University, where she is currently an adjunct professor.
Pamela also frequently writes and speaks about career topics. Her book, Escape from Corporate America (Random House 2008), earned rave reviews and her writing has also been featured by About.com, The New York Times, and many other publications.
“Just wanted to let you know that I matched to one of my top choices. Thank you so much for your help with everything this year. It really helped my application and made the interview process a lot easier and less stressful to go through!”
“I have great news, I MATCHED!. I am so happy. Just wanted to share the good news with you and also thank you for all the help.”
“I wanted to tell you that I matched. Thank you for preparing me for the interview. I think that this was the thing that did it for me. Stay blessed and take care.”
Work one-on-one with one of the best coaches in the business. Call Now 888.880.3322!
Our most popular residency interview coaching package includes two 90-minute sessions (in person at our NYC office or via video conference from wherever you are based).
You will complete a questionnaire before the first session so that Pamela can prepare a customized plan based on your application and program(s) of choice. This pre-work also allows us to hit the ground running and use all of our session time productively.
One of our first agenda items is a practice interview customized based on your application and selected residency programs.
We will cover all of the commonly-asked questions, including:
And many others…
Pamela will provide an assessment of your interviewing approach and presentation (including the answers themselves as well as body language, eye contact, vocal quality, and general physical presence) and identify areas to work on.
Note: At the end of the session, you will be provided with a digital video recording of the practice interview.
The rest of the session will be ted to strengthening your answers and presentation style. Pamela will work with you to create compelling stories to address behavioral questions (Tell me about a time…).
She will also challenge you to draw out the best possible answers to critical questions and sell yourself effectively.
Pamela will then assign homework — asking you to continue building on the work done in the session so that you’ll be ready to deliver your new and improved answers.
In the second session, you will discuss the homework assignments and work with Pamela on any remaining issues.
The majority of the session will be spent on practice interviewing. You will have the opportunity to practice your new answers and get objective feedback on how they’re working for you.
Pamela will also help you identify additional questions and/or topics to think about — then walk you through preparing and practicing answers.
Once again, you will get a digital video of your mock interview so you can review your best answers and see the progress that you’ve made.
The Effective Interviewing Coaching Package consists of four sessions (two 90-minute in-person sessions, and two 60-minute phone sessions.) The two in-person sessions may also be conducted via video conferencing if more convenient.
You and Pamela will meet in-person (or via video conference) for 90 minutes. Pamela will get to know you and work with you to establish goals & strategies for your time together.
You will also participate in a practice interview customized for your job target(s) and Pamela will provide an assessment of your current interviewing style and identify areas to work on.
The rest of the session will be spent on additional practice questions and coaching based on your responses.
Pamela will provide homework assignments to work on between sessions and you will be provided with a digital video recording of your mock interview.
Includes a complimentary membership to Big Interview Medical, our online interview training platform that includes lessons on effective interviewing, a comprehensive interview question database, and a tool that allows you to conduct video practice interviews and submit them to your coach for review.
You and Pamela will meet in-person (or via video conference) for 90 minutes. Pamela will get to know you and work with you to establish goals & strategies for your time together.
You will also participate in a practice interview customized for your target residency program(s). Pamela will provide an assessment of your current interviewing style and identify areas to work on.
The rest of the session will be tied to additional practice questions and coaching based on your responses.
Pamela will provide homework assignments to work on between sessions, and you will be provided with a digital video recording of your mock interview.
The second session is 60 minutes and conducted via telephone. The phone format allows you to focus on the content of your responses and also helps to prepare you for phone interviews, which may be a part of your residency interview process.
You will answer practice questions, work with Pam on interview stories to demonstrate your strengths, and brainstorm with Pam about how to approach difficult questions and tricky topics.
In this 60-minute phone session, Pamela will continue to work with you on your interview speaking points, role play with increasingly tougher interview questions, and practice your skills.
Your final session is another 90-minute session in-person (or via video conference). You will role-play a formal mock interview and Pamela will evaluate both your responses and your physical presence.
You will then work with Pam to address any remaining gaps in your interview technique and finalize your plan to move forward.
You will be provided with a digital video recording of your mock interview so you can track progress (you’ll be amazed at the difference in your presentation and confidence between Session 1 and Session 4), and review your best answers, and playback Pamela’s advice and feedback.
Sessions can be conducted in our office in Manhattan or via video-conference from your home or office in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, or anywhere else (we’ll work with your schedule and your time zone).
When you’re preparing for that important interview, there is no substitute for role playing and expert feedback.
Competition for jobs is at an all-time high, so being the best-prepared, battle-tested, interview-ready candidate can mean the difference between getting the job or not.
This is the single most effective way to make a great impression at your interview and maximize your chance of a job offer.
You get what you pay for. You will practice and train with an experienced coach who has made hiring decisions for Fortune 500 companies and helped hundreds of clients land new jobs and achieve career breakthroughs.
You will come away with confidence, and a competitive advantage over other candidates interviewing for the job you want.
Yes, Pamela has extensive experience helping undergraduate and MBA students land prestigious internships.
Generally, your first session will be scheduled within 1-2 weeks. However, if you have an important interview scheduled, Pamela will make every effort to fit you in before your meeting.
Pamela Skillings spent 12 years working in executive level jobs in marketing and human resources for Fortune 500 companies (including Morgan Stanley, MasterCard International, and Citigroup) before launching her coaching and consulting practice in 2005.
She has worked with hundreds of coaching clients. Interview coaching is one of her specialties, though she also provides other types of career and business coaching.
Pamela’s company also works with corporate and government clients to develop training, retention, communications, and recruiting programs. Clients include Citigroup, American Express, Ernst & Young, the American Management Association, and the City of New York.
Pamela’s work with corporations keeps her up to date on hiring trends and the employer perspective, which helps inform her coaching work with job seekers.
In addition, Pamela serves as an adjunct professor at New York University, teaching courses in their graduate and continuing education programs for HR executives and career coaches.
Her formal training in career counseling and coaching is through New York University and the Professional Association for Resume Writers and Career Coaches.
Pamela’s first book, a career change and entrepreneurship guide, was published by Random House in 2008 and featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, and other publications. She is currently working on her second book.
Pamela spent more than 12 years working for financial services firms and has an in-depth understanding of the industry. In her five years as a career and interview coach, she has also worked with dozens of clients interviewing for investment banking, hedge fund, and other finance jobs.