Appropriate supplemental answer

[Meurks]

Hopefully there isn't a better thread for posting this.
But here, goes. I recently had an experience where I worked with a veterinarian for almost one year. She was not a cat lover, and was very unkind to the resident cats in the clinic. Although she was not the owner of the clinic, she was the full time veterinarian there, and while I was away on vacation for four days she euthanized our two healthy, happy, friendly adult clinic cats. (Who lived in the clinic for almost 5 years prior to her taking a job there) Upon returning from my trip she had the receptionist tell me that the cats 'ran away'.. (of course she told me the truth...) After which I quit my job there and was very quickly hired in a few days by another veterinarian.

My question is, would this be an appropriate thing to write about in any kind of question/ answer situation or even mention on an interview when asked about a difficulty in the workplace? Has anyone else been in any situations like this? Thanks!

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[that redhead]

I personally would shy away from discussing the situation. While it sounds like reprehensible behavior, you may not be privvy to the whole story especially since you were away at the time. Best to stick with direct interactions if you did need to discuss difficulty with a coworker or boss.

 

[Meurks]

Best to stick with direct interactions if you did need to discuss difficulty with a coworker or boss.

Thanks for the prompt reply! I definitely wasn't sure about writing or mentioning it but another technician said I should. I think I'll steer clear of the topic and just use it for my own personal growth.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

What TRH said...you weren't there and only know what 'happened' via word of mouth. I'm not sure that you'll be asked about difficult workplace situations as much as you will be asked about ethical situations. For example, I've read that "What would you do if you suddenly realized you euthanized the wrong patient?" pops up in some interviews. I could totally see "If a pet owner brought you his/her perfectly healthy _____ and asked you to euthanize it, would you?" popping up as well. Not exactly the same situation as yours, but you see where I'm going. Take this situation as a learning experience and formulate a good answer to a question like that.

I'd shy away from bad-talking ANY previous employers/mentors/etc., no matter what. Whether or not they did something bad, YOU throwing shade makes YOU look unprofessional.

 

[LetItSnow]

I'm with the others - I'd shy away from using that as an answer. No matter how you answer it, there's a really high risk it's going to come off as you sounding smugly superior and judgmental about the veterinarian's actions ... for which you weren't even present. That will set off red flags. If you get that sort of question on a supplemental or an interview, it's better to stick with a direct, face-to-face interaction where you can talk about what created the conflict, how you managed it, and, ideally, a successful resolution.

@pinkpuppy9 , you may be asked in a behavioral interview to talk about a time you experienced conflict with a coworker, or some other type of workplace-conflict question. Not an unusual type of question at all. I was asked at least three questions that generally fit along those lines in my interview.

I agree that if you're asked a 'conflict' question, you want to avoid casting blame. The key things to focus on with that type of question are how you recognized the conflict, how you took responsibility for resolving it, what you did, and how that resulted in a successful outcome.

 

[Meurks]

Thank you all!

 

[that redhead]

@pinkpuppy9 , you may be asked in a behavioral interview to talk about a time you experienced conflict with a coworker, or some other type of workplace-conflict question. Not an unusual type of question at all. I was asked at least three questions that generally fit along those lines in my interview.

I agree that if you're asked a 'conflict' question, you want to avoid casting blame. The key things to focus on with that type of question are how you recognized the conflict, how you took responsibility for resolving it, what you did, and how that resulted in a successful outcome.

My school does behavioral interviews (as does Minnesota?), so I was asked to talk about a time I had a conflict with a superior and how I dealt with it, too. LIS' advice for this situation is perfect. I would add that any description of the event should be concise - the point isn't to focus on the actual scenario but how you handled it and learned from it.

 

[KCgophervet]

My school does behavioral interviews (as does Minnesota?), so I was asked to talk about a time I had a conflict with a superior and how I dealt with it, too. LIS' advice for this situation is perfect. I would add that any description of the event should be concise - the point isn't to focus on the actual scenario but how you handled it and learned from it.

I would also just want to add/emphasize that it will not do you any favors to make it obvious how poor your relationship was with your boss/supervisor/etc. They might have totally deserved your disdain and be the worst boss ever (pretty sure one of mine was in that category) but it really only makes you look bad to let that show in your interview. Better to state the conflict succinctly and hopefully a resolution that was a good compromise/situation for all parties vs. a "he was wrong, I was right" thing... Not sure if I'm making my point entirely clear but I think you get the general idea.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Just to give an example...my interview for my current internship did in fact ask "Have you ever experienced a workplace conflict? How did you handle it?" Long story short, I basically said I approached the other party and asked them to explain their view of the situation in order for me to better understand their opinions/actions in order to reach common ground.

TRH and LIS, thanks for the input! Did your schools say that they did behavioral interviews (on the admissions website), or did that just end up being the format?

 

[LetItSnow]

Just to give an example...my interview for my current internship did in fact ask "Have you ever experienced a workplace conflict? How did you handle it?" Long story short, I basically said I approached the other party and asked them to explain their view of the situation in order for me to better understand their opinions/actions in order to reach common ground.

TRH and LIS, thanks for the input! Did your schools say that they did behavioral interviews (on the admissions website), or did that just end up being the format?

Mine stated it multiple times/places.

But, even if the school doesn't say they specifically do a behavioral interview, I'd be mentally prepared to get similar questions - many of them are just basic interview type of questions.

 

[DVMDream]

Mine stated it multiple times/places.

But, even if the school doesn't say they specifically do a behavioral interview, I'd be mentally prepared to get similar questions - many of them are just basic interview type of questions.

 

[Meurks]

Definitely great to know what kind of answers to steer clear of, especially since I've never been part of any type of admissions interview before. Thank you for the tips. Guess I should start thinking of strong interview answers, haha.