"tough" interview questions

[kdburton]

When questions come up that could easily have a controversial answer (especially if you can't read the interviewer that well), what do you do? If I was asked to "Tell me about a time when you had to stand up for something you believe in" the easiest answer for me to come up with would be a political/social issue where most people either have a conservative or liberal stance on. Should I be preparing answers ahead of time that aren't about political or social issues? This seems a lot tougher to do since I'd rarely have to stand up for something I believe in unless it was controversial (thats kind of the nature of those topics)...

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[braluk]

I think if its something that comes to your mind first, you should go with your gut instinct because you will yield the best results that way (since you know the topic best, have feelings on it, and know the sides of the issues not because you "studied" it, but because you have opinions about it). Granted there are extremely controversial topics that interviewers may have opinions about. As long as you stick to your guns, provide a rationale argument, maintain your cool (the interviewer is normally there to push your buttons), and stay professional you should be ok. Remember, if someone starts an argument with you, do not fight fire with fire. Just be calm, and your interviewer should be calm as well.

 

[wambui]

I assume that some people I encouter in medical school will agree with my stances and some will disagree. So I don't think it's about reading the interviewer and trying to tailor your answers accordingly (or avoiding anything controversial). Rather, I think that if you can express yourself in a rational and open manner, a good interviewer should respect that. After all, I don't think anyone expects us to not have opinions on issues, but just to be willing to engage in conversation and be open to other perspectives.

 

[Law2Doc]

I think if its something that comes to your mind first, you should go with your gut instinct because you will yield the best results that way (since you know the topic best, have feelings on it, and know the sides of the issues not because you "studied" it, but because you have opinions about it). Granted there are extremely controversial topics that interviewers may have opinions about. As long as you stick to your guns, provide a rationale argument, maintain your cool (the interviewer is normally there to push your buttons), and stay professional you should be ok. Remember, if someone starts an argument with you, do not fight fire with fire. Just be calm, and your interviewer should be calm as well.

Agree with this. You are more likely going to flub an interview if you try too hard to be who you think the interviewer wants you to be rather than who you actually are. So long as you are enthusiastic and can demonstrate an ability to see multiple sides of an issue, you will be fine.

 

[kdburton]

Agree with this. You are more likely going to flub an interview if you try too hard to be who you think the interviewer wants you to be rather than who you actually are. So long as you are enthusiastic and can demonstrate an ability to see multiple sides of an issue, you will be fine.

So if the first thing that were to come to mind was abortion (which was the first thing that came to mind when someone posed this situation to me), you don't think that is too controversial?

I personally disagree with abortion and would never perform one, but as a doc I would respect my patients' decisions and feel obligated to refer them to someone who would be better suited to educate/talk to them about their decision. If the interviewer were a die hard pro-choicer I could see where they would disagree with my opinion, but do you think by "seeing the other side of the issue" as you have put it will make it an OK issue to bring up? In regards to my OP, I feel like in order to say something non-controversial I would have to talk about something that I don't really care/believe in and that would not be good for an interview situation.

 

[braluk]

If the interviewer were a die hard pro-choicer I could see where they would disagree with my opinion, but do you think by "seeing the other side of the issue" as you have put it will make it an OK issue to bring up?

Im not entirely sure what you're getting at here, whether its OK or not to bring up. But...
This question has been asked by many medical schools around the nation. If you are against it, say so. Seeing the other side of the issue doesn't mean that you concede your point. You can always see the other side of the issue and acknowledge it and understand why people may feel this way. However, reassure the interviewer, that you have personal feelings against it, and rather then turning down the patient, you will provide a continuum of care and refer them to another physician you know will perform the procedure. Just do not waver in your answers and flip flop, but at the same time acknowledge the other side of the debate while staying firm in your choices. This is a rational approach to "tough" interview questions. Usually when you are adamant about it and without getting into too specific of your points, the interview will just move on. If you start losing control of your rationality and launch a tirade against the pros of abortion and start letting your emotions take the best of you, thats when the interviewer will start pushing more buttons.

 

[kdburton]

Im not entirely sure what you're getting at here, whether its OK or not to bring up. But...
This question has been asked by many medical schools around the nation. If you are against it, say so. Seeing the other side of the issue doesn't mean that you concede your point. You can always see the other side of the issue and acknowledge it and understand why people may feel this way. However, reassure the interviewer, that you have personal feelings against it, and rather then turning down the patient, you will provide a continuum of care and refer them to another physician you know will perform the procedure. Just do not waver in your answers and flip flop, but at the same time acknowledge the other side of the debate while staying firm in your choices. This is a rational approach to "tough" interview questions. Usually when you are adamant about it and without getting into too specific of your points, the interview will just move on. If you start losing control of your rationality and launch a tirade against the pros of abortion and start letting your emotions take the best of you, thats when the interviewer will start pushing more buttons.

I understand what you're saying. I was just wondering if it would be a good/OK idea to bring up "abortion" as a topic in a question of "when have you stood up for something you believed in"... I would certainly not go off on a tirade agasint pro-choicers nor concede my argument. I would simply state that I am against it (giving reasons why if I were asked) and make sure that it is known that I understand the opposing viewpoint and would accomodate a patient by referring them to someone else if ever came up... So really my question was whether or not I should avoid these questions by coming up witn a less controversial answer (at the expense of possibly sounding like it is something that is not very important to me a) or to answer with a possibly controversial topic in a civil manner. Thanks for the responses so far. Anyone think it would be good to avoid any controversial topics altogether if possible?

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

I understand what you're saying. I was just wondering if it would be a good/OK idea to bring up "abortion" as a topic in a question of "when have you stood up for something you believed in"... I would certainly not go off on a tirade agasint pro-choicers nor concede my argument. I would simply state that I am against it (giving reasons why if I were asked) and make sure that it is known that I understand the opposing viewpoint and would accomodate a patient by referring them to someone else if ever came up... So really my question was whether or not I should avoid these questions by coming up witn a less controversial answer (at the expense of possibly sounding like it is something that is not very important to me a) or to answer with a possibly controversial topic in a civil manner. Thanks for the responses so far. Anyone think it would be good to avoid any controversial topics altogether if possible?

I don't see how what you propose to say is an instance when you stood up for something you believed in...To me, this question is really trying to get at how well you work with others and how you balance being assertive with being diplomatic. So, what's important is not the belief itself, but rather how you act/stand up for it. You're answer should reflect how you resolved a problem based on conflicting beliefs (the beliefs don't necessarily have to be on a moral issues like abortion per se...it could be something like disagreements on how to handle a certain situation)

 

[ArgaWarga]

Here's my $.02. I'm a very passionate person, and a lot of my passion is in politics. I'm a member of the College Dems and the Latino group on campus. Additionally, I put on my application that I was involved in a local social justice protest, which is easily the most asked about item on my application. It should be pretty obvious where I stand on the issues, so I'm not going to try and deny the way I feel about issues that are important to me. If someone asks me a question where they may have an opposite view from my own, I make sure to respect different opinions, but I own up to my own view on the subject. I try not to be dogmatic, but I'm very direct about my views. I've had interviews where I've hidden my opinions, and I've had interviews where I've expressed them, respectfully. If the med school wants a passionate student, it should be obvious that I am one. It's too easy to forget that you're interviewing the school as well, and at the end of the day I wouldn't want to go to a school that wanted the me that hid part of himself.