Interview prompt: conflict resolution, challenges

[circulus vitios]

A common interview prompt is "give an example of a conflict and how you resolved it." I have had conflicts at work but they always ended in one of two ways: either I had the authority to have the job done my way, or I didn't have the authority and the job was done their way. There's nothing to really talk about. I've never had any personal conflicts because I'm easy-going and don't associate with people who cause conflicts, but even if I fabricate a story, what are they looking for?

Another common prompt is something about handling stressful situations or challenges. I've never had or needed a "support network." What am I supposed to talk about? YEAH X DIED AND I LIKE TALKED TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND THAT'S HOW I GOT THROUGH IT.

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[cookiemonsters]

I've learned recently that death of a family member is the most common response to the 'challenging situation' prompt. It gets an emotional reaction out of the reader, which makes it effective. I get what you're saying about not needing a support network... most people from low SES backgrounds don't have a support network, so they learn to adapt to stress through mental toughness. Unfortunately, adcoms are generally not people who can empathize with this point of view. My best advice is just make up some tearjerker story about a relative dying and how you coped by writing a diary entry or crying together with your cousin who doesn't exist. Exploiting dead people is a proven method for vaulting oneself into medical school. Include 1-2 sentences at the end about how it taught you something medicine and you will be #winning.

 

[Barcu]

Really, they want to see if you are a good leader and can mediate conflicts. As a physician, there will be conflicts with other workers, patients, etc. It's inevitable. I would choose one of the instances where you had the power. Of course, don't say that you just did it your way. Talk about how you came to the solution (your thought process) and how you incorporated the input of others in your solution.

 

[circulus vitios]

Really, they want to see if you are a good leader and can mediate conflicts. As a physician, there will be conflicts with other workers, patients, etc. It's inevitable. I would choose one of the instances where you had the power. Of course, don't say that you just did it your way. Talk about how you came to the solution (your thought process) and how you incorporated the input of others in your solution.

These are incredibly menial jobs, too. I would feel embarrassed talking about my time arguing with subordinates in a retail setting.

 

[Barcu]

These are incredibly menial jobs, too. I would feel embarrassed talking about my time arguing with subordinates in a retail setting.

This is one of the biggest problems that applicants fail to realize: you don't need grand examples or experiences to adequately answer interview questions or essays prompts. Look into basic strategies for conflict resolution, and I'm sure you can get creative and come up with an answer to the prompt, even with your menial job.

Related to this, I remember being at a school talking to an admissions rep. She said that her favorite applicant was able to talk about their experience working at McDonald's during their gap year, and how they were able to apply the lessons learned there to their future profession. You don't need dramatic life experiences or stellar job opportunities to write good essays or answer interview questions.

 

[KnuxNole]

This is one of the biggest problems that applicants fail to realize: you don't need grand examples or experiences to adequately answer interview questions or essays prompts. Look into basic strategies for conflict resolution, and I'm sure you can get creative and come up with an answer to the prompt, even with your menial job.

Related to this, I remember being at a school talking to an admissions rep. She said that her favorite applicant was able to talk about their experience working at McDonald's during their gap year, and how they were able to apply the lessons learned there to their future profession. You don't need dramatic life experiences or stellar job opportunities to write good essays or answer interview questions.

This. Simple, basic scenarios is all that is needed. Remember, the average person isn't gonna be living in a world of drama. Most people you've met have never been in screaming matches and fist fights, despite what reality TV might show. I don't have personal conflicts either. But other people do with each other with me as the middle man. Trying to resolve conflict within a group is a good thing to discuss as well.

There is nothing embarrassing about trying to explain resolving conflict in retail, especially since most 20-somethings have worked a "menial" job once in their life, so you have something that the interviewer understands and can relate to.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Handling stressful things doesn't necessarily imply looking for your "support network". They may also be looking for how you internally work through it, as well as examples of things you do to alleviate stress. A support network can be one part of this, but should not be an end-all, be-all.

Because let's face it - medical school is stressful. If you can't deal with stress without medical school in your life, how will you do if it is?

 

[Umyo]

I've learned recently that death of a family member is the most common response to the 'challenging situation' prompt. It gets an emotional reaction out of the reader, which makes it effective. I get what you're saying about not needing a support network... most people from low SES backgrounds don't have a support network, so they learn to adapt to stress through mental toughness. Unfortunately, adcoms are generally not people who can empathize with this point of view. My best advice is just make up some tearjerker story about a relative dying and how you coped by writing a diary entry or crying together with your cousin who doesn't exist. Exploiting dead people is a proven method for vaulting oneself into medical school. Include 1-2 sentences at the end about how it taught you something medicine and you will be #winning.

Well said, lol.

Things people do...

 

[circulus vitios]

Handling stressful things doesn't necessarily imply looking for your "support network". They may also be looking for how you internally work through it, as well as examples of things you do to alleviate stress. A support network can be one part of this, but should not be an end-all, be-all.

Because let's face it - medical school is stressful. If you can't deal with stress without medical school in your life, how will you do if it is?

I've had some extremely stressful experiences at work. I don't whine about it and ask others for help or support; I nut up and power through it. I don't think interviewers will see this as a good answer, so it's obvious I need to fabricate something...I just don't know how to.

 

[cookiemonsters]

I've had some extremely stressful experiences at work. I don't whine about it and ask others for help or support; I nut up and power through it. I don't think interviewers will see this as a good answer, so it's obvious I need to fabricate something...I just don't know how to.

Yeah def. don't say this in a secondary or in person for an interviewer... you will get a condescending lecture about how medicine is a collaborative profession and you need to work well with others blah blah blah.

 

[KnuxNole]

I've had some extremely stressful experiences at work. I don't whine about it and ask others for help or support; I nut up and power through it. I don't think interviewers will see this as a good answer, so it's obvious I need to fabricate something...I just don't know how to.

Expand on how you just power through it(of course don't bring up that you dont ask for help or support...that will raise eyebrows like no tomorrow). If you don't have much to say about the workplace, you can keep that response short + sweet. Explain another type of conflict or stressful situation , and things you do outside of work to alleviate any stressful feelings. You can talk about things in a hypothetical case at the very least: i.e. if you are getting stressed about schoolwork, talk about things you would do to try to relax or de-stress from the stressor.

 

[Gauss44]

A common interview prompt is "give an example of a conflict and how you resolved it." I have had conflicts at work but they always ended in one of two ways: either I had the authority to have the job done my way, or I didn't have the authority and the job was done their way. There's nothing to really talk about. I've never had any personal conflicts because I'm easy-going and don't associate with people who cause conflicts, but even if I fabricate a story, what are they looking for?

Another common prompt is something about handling stressful situations or challenges. I've never had or needed a "support network." What am I supposed to talk about? YEAH X DIED AND I LIKE TALKED TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND THAT'S HOW I GOT THROUGH IT.

Why don't you write about, I forget exactly how you said it, but something about the nearest airport being over an hour away and taking time off for interviews jeopardized your job, if I remember correctly? That's a conflict. You may have resolved it by picking a priority, medical school. The process leading up to your decision could show your maturity and other qualities adcoms like to see. Maybe you tried several creative and mature solutions out before you realized you just had to pick. That would then leave room for you to again say why you want to go to medical school or how long you've wanted, or why you would make a great doctor, etc. Good luck!

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I've had some extremely stressful experiences at work. I don't whine about it and ask others for help or support; I nut up and power through it. I don't think interviewers will see this as a good answer, so it's obvious I need to fabricate something...I just don't know how to.

Why are you focusing on work? Usually these questions allow you to bring up whatever experience you want. Unless the question is specifically asking for work experiences, feel free to use anything (other than academics). Try to think about what exactly you do to get through a stressful situation too. "Powering through it" probably still involves using a number of different strategies and coping mechanisms. You also say you don't have a support network, but you probably do. Whenever **** happens, is there anyone you talk to to blow off steam or get advice?

Also, I would recommend against fabricating stories.

 

[mehc012]

I've been thinking about this one too...my actual "biggest challenge" would be, imo, too personal/touchy-feely to bring up in a professional setting. However, I was thinking about a situation where I was traveling by myself (on a budget since I was paying my own way) in a foreign country (not European or predominantly English-speaking), my bank card shut off and I was stranded with actually less than $3 on my person...I couldn't stay in a hotel or hostel for that price, I couldn't buy a bus or train ticket, I had no phone, no idea where I was in the city, etc. Long story short, I wandered around until I saw a travel agency and decided that they would be able to a) speak English and b) know the best ways to get to the next country over, where my friend lived. We figured out a convoluted work-around involving a few different transit systems that got me in the right country, at least, and then I managed some strange negotiations in the taxi line, and I made it back!

Would that fit the bill, or does it not involve enough teamwork/dealing with people? I figured that it showed my ability to a) think on my feet b) pick the best resource/ask the person best suited for help c) communicate with strangers d) keep calm and figure out a solution under pressure. And it's a little unusual. Thoughts?

Sorry to hijack, but reading this thread made me think of that example, and I'd really like some feedback as I have been struggling with this question!

 

[mehc012]

Comcast is the devil...double post, sorry 😳

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I've been thinking about this one too...my actual "biggest challenge" would be, imo, too personal/touchy-feely to bring up in a professional setting. However, I was thinking about a situation where I was traveling by myself (on a budget since I was paying my own way) in a foreign country (not European or predominantly English-speaking), my bank card shut off and I was stranded with actually less than $3 on my person...I couldn't stay in a hotel or hostel for that price, I couldn't buy a bus or train ticket, I had no phone, no idea where I was in the city, etc. Long story short, I wandered around until I saw a travel agency and decided that they would be able to a) speak English and b) know the best ways to get to the next country over, where my friend lived. We figured out a convoluted work-around involving a few different transit systems that got me in the right country, at least, and then I managed some strange negotiations in the taxi line, and I made it back!

Would that fit the bill, or does it not involve enough teamwork/dealing with people? I figured that it showed my ability to a) think on my feet b) pick the best resource/ask the person best suited for help c) communicate with strangers d) keep calm and figure out a solution under pressure. And it's a little unusual. Thoughts?

Sorry to hijack, but reading this thread made me think of that example, and I'd really like some feedback as I have been struggling with this question!

Sounds good, but I would write about having to live with Comcast as your ISP instead. Much worse ordeal.

 

[mehc012]

Sounds good, but I would write about having to live with Comcast as your ISP instead. Much worse ordeal.

Sadly, I never resolved or overcame that one, so I'm afraid it shows no good qualities 🙁
I've been trying to get ONE thing fixed for 2yrs now, they never even sent a tech until a month ago, and they never followed up so it's still broke. Oh, and the phone tree won't answer calls from our zip code as of 7mo ago because of some 'partial outage' that they never fix (and which I've never experienced)...you have to lie to get the robot to let you talk to someone, and then the computer won't let them send a technician, even for a pre-existing problem. It really is the worst customer service ever designed. It's worse than NO customer service, because it's the same results, but it keeps your hope up and wastes your time 😡

It would be a great way to get my blood pressure up during the interview though...show them that I could pass a stress test!

 

[circulus vitios]

Why don't you write about, I forget exactly how you said it, but something about the nearest airport being over an hour away and taking time off for interviews jeopardized your job, if I remember correctly? That's a conflict. You may have resolved it by picking a priority, medical school. The process leading up to your decision could show your maturity and other qualities adcoms like to see. Maybe you tried several creative and mature solutions out before you realized you just had to pick. That would then leave room for you to again say why you want to go to medical school or how long you've wanted, or why you would make a great doctor, etc. Good luck!

I didn't think about that one. Good idea, I think I'll go with it.

And it's closer to 3.5 hours away. 🙁

 

[Narmerguy]

This is one of the biggest problems that applicants fail to realize: you don't need grand examples or experiences to adequately answer interview questions or essays prompts. Look into basic strategies for conflict resolution, and I'm sure you can get creative and come up with an answer to the prompt, even with your menial job.

Related to this, I remember being at a school talking to an admissions rep. She said that her favorite applicant was able to talk about their experience working at McDonald's during their gap year, and how they were able to apply the lessons learned there to their future profession. You don't need dramatic life experiences or stellar job opportunities to write good essays or answer interview questions.

Why are you focusing on work? Usually these questions allow you to bring up whatever experience you want. Unless the question is specifically asking for work experiences, feel free to use anything (other than academics). Try to think about what exactly you do to get through a stressful situation too. "Powering through it" probably still involves using a number of different strategies and coping mechanisms. You also say you don't have a support network, but you probably do. Whenever **** happens, is there anyone you talk to to blow off steam or get advice?

Also, I would recommend against fabricating stories.

👍

 

[1cor1311]

Great responses in this thread. Soaking it all in 🙂

 

[circulus vitios]

Another question: what are they looking for when they ask "tell me something about yourself not in your file/on your application?" Academics, hobbies, future medical goals, all of the above?

 

[milski]

Another question: what are they looking for when they ask "tell me something about yourself not in your file/on your application?" Academics, hobbies, future medical goals, all of the above?

I would put there things that I have done after submitting my primary but I think are worthy of mentioning. New research, new job/volunteering, anything like that. If there's nothing recent like this, I would write about something less important that did not make it to primary - an activity with short involvement, less important event that still motivates you, etc.

Another "trick" - see if there's something that other schools ask on secondaries that is not covered here. Future medical goals seems like a good example - if they did not ask explicitly, "tell us more" might be a good place to share your ambitions.

Just my thoughts - I've never applied before so I might not have the best suggestions.