Kira Talent is an online remote interview platform that some schools are using as part
of their admissions process. At BeMo we've just put together an ultimate guide to Kira Talent a
completely free resource for students to look through and get some foundational knowledge of
what to expect if they have to go through a Kira Talent interview. So today I'm just going to give
you some highlights from that document I'll make sure that it is linked in the description
associated with this video. First hi my name is Dr. Sarah Kleeb and I'm an admissions expert at BeMo.
So Kira Talent is a a platform that utilizes both text and video based questions and responses so it
can you can be presented with text based questions for which you give text based answers and you
can be given video based questions for which you give video based answers. At no point in the Kira
Talent interview are you actually interacting with a live person it's completely automated and
everything has been set up ahead of time by the school that's requesting you utilize this platform.
So this is something that some schools are using as sort of a precursor to an in-person or a Skype
interview. Some places are using it just to sort of vet do an initial vetting of their applicants
and at least one school has stated that they're doing away with the MMI and using Kira Talent
instead. So I don't think that that's going to be a major trend I could be completely wrong on that
of course but it's just interesting and I think important to know that this is sort of a blip on
the horizon. So because Kira Talent is completely online and remote it can be done anywhere at home
on your own time you do need to make sure that you have a desktop or laptop you can't do it on
a mobile device even tablets. And you need to I really want to emphasize that you need to try
to get a wired internet connection Wi-Fi is really unstable even if you have good Wi-Fi it's unstable
and sometimes the connection can just sort of blip on and off a little bit and if you're just
scrolling through social media or something you wouldn't even notice it but it can cause real
problems in an online interview. So if it's at all possible to get a wired connection please
do this. Just some very general parameters most of the interviews through Kira Talent take between
30 and 60 minutes but the length the number of questions the number of video versus text
questions and answers the preparation and response time for each question varies from institution to
institution this is not standardized at all so you need to look at the specific instructions
for your institution if you receive the invite to do a Kira Talent interview. So you will receive
that invite from your school and it'll have all the instructions for you and tell you how to sign
in to this platform and complete your interview. One thing that is really important to bear in
mind with a remote video interview like this is your surroundings. How you present yourself and
how you present the sort of world around you. When you go to a standard in-person interview you don't
have any control over the environment right you're entering a really likely foreign place someplace
you've never been before and you don't have any real control over your surroundings. The exact
opposite is the case when you're doing something like this at home. So you want to maximize that
potential. If possible standing in front of a blank wall is always a good option you want to make sure
that you are the center and the focus of this interview. A nice tidy professional background
is fine as well but just make sure that it's not too busy, it's not chaotic, it's not
distracting and make sure you there's no unmade beds in the background or trash cans or anything
like that just be aware of what's going on behind you because that can be distracting to the viewer.
And in terms of your own self presentation you should dress as if you're going to an
in-person interview as well so that means sort of business casual attire, doing your you know
your hair and makeup if that's something that you are interested in doing but just making sure that
you're presenting your best most professional self. This does bring me to one little humorous
item which is you know there's sort of this ongoing joke the people who work remotely
don't wear proper pants while they're working they were pajama pants or something like that
and that's not necessarily too far from the truth but you need to make sure when you're doing one
of these interviews that you wear proper pants or skirt or whatever, just match your top two your
bottoms. You never know what can happen and the worst thing often happens at the worst possible
time you could move your hand in a little gesture and not even thinking about it knock your drink or
your coffee over spill in your lap you jump up without even thinking and now you're in a very
awkward situation and you can't go back and erase it or change it or edit it once it is recorded
that answer is done. So please please please please wear pants or a skirt or something proper. So just
a little note on the kinds of questions that seem to populate Kira Talent interviews and the guide
has a lot of these questions that have been used in Kira Talent interviews as well as some expert
analysis and answers for some of these questions. But the questions themselves tend to be of the
sort of personal type so things like tell us about yourself, why our school or why our program, tell
us about a time that you overcame a difficult challenge, or what's your greatest limitation,
describe one of your favorite hobbies and why it's important to you, and regardless of what program
you're going into these personal questions all have the same basic purpose which is to ascertain
your personal traits and experiences, your accomplishments, your failures, your collaboration
with others, your ability to compromise, your conflict resolution, and things like that. So
make sure that you're demonstrating those key qualities as you're answering your questions. As
you're putting together your initial application you should be thinking about these kinds of things
anyway since if you're doing say an AMCAS application you have to put together a personal
statement essay of some kind. So you need to be thinking about your life experiences and how they
demonstrate certain qualities for the admissions committee and so you can sort of build on that as
you think towards how you might answer questions like this. Now you don't want to memorize stories
and things like that that will end up coming off as very inauthentic and sort of wooden. So you know
have some plot points in mind, have some stories that you can associate with certain personal
traits or qualities that you want to highlight and and be able to speak about these in just sort of
a natural conversational sort of way. So I won't go on forever about this, again I'll put the link in the
description for you so you can access the full guide at your leisure. So I hope that this video
was helpful and that you enjoyed it in terms of giving you at least a broad overview of this new
free resource. If you did find this useful please do go ahead and like it, share it with a friend who
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If you'd like us to help you with your interview prep click the link that should appear either
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We'll set you up with one of our admissions experts to answer any questions you might have
and get you started on your preparations. We have programs to suit any of your needs and
we are always happy to work with you to find a plan that will support you and your goals most
effectively. As ever, thank you so much for your time, take good care, and I'll see you next time!