"What is your least favorite aspect of volunteering?" how would you answer this interview questions?

[mrh125]

With these negative questions, it's pretty easy to fall into the trap of being too negative and berating something which can come across as a character flaw. How would you answer this? I'm thinking of saying that my least favorite aspect about volunteering is that often times I wasn't able to take as much of an active role as I wanted to in the process of medicine. I wanted to do more than just assist the doctor, scribe, and at times I felt like deadweight because there wasn't anything I could do. Instead of just getting frustrated and sitting idle I found other ways to involve myself in the process of medicine and learning about it. When I couldn't help the doctor due to confidentiality matters that needed to be respected, I learned about and researched conditions mentioned by the doctor and developed an understanding of them. I also requested to help the nurse and I learned how to take people's blood pressure, developed an understanding of the role of nurses, learned how to request records for medical centers, and helped with calling express prescriptions (I was the guy who had to have the patience and worked with being transferred between five different automated operators before reaching a live person who the nurse and doctor could talk to).

What is the general algorithm to answering negative questions? If you answer them the wrong way serious character flaws can be observed and I've been using the STAR method that I've read about here.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Avocado8]

You kind of answered your own question... but I don't think there is a general algorithm to that kind of question. My answer would depend entirely on the type of volunteering, the organization's efficiency and structure, and how much I was contributing (or felt that I was contributing). Honesty is still key, regardless.

 

[itsthat1guy]

My answer would have to be not getting paid

 

[mrh125]

You kind of answered your own question... but I don't think there is a general algorithm to that kind of question. My answer would depend entirely on the type of volunteering, the organization's efficiency and structure, and how much I was contributing (or felt that I was contributing). Honesty is still key, regardless.

thanks for the feedback 🙂. I just worry about being too negative or bringing up something that's a glaring flaw and will make them think "you didnt enjoy x, well how are you going to make it through medical school when X is a part of what you do?"

My answer would have to be not getting paid

true that though I wouldn't say that in an interview :X.

 

[Hobakie]

For me it would be that im not able to help everyone with my volunteering and although any type of service is good its never enough. Regardless of how often I volunteer at shelters someone will still be homeless or regardless of the number of cans of food I pack somewhere someone is still starving. It never feels like I have done enough especially since my life and style of living has always been abundant.

 

[familyaerospace]

For me it is partially because depending on what position it is I usually have to spend half my volunteer time waiting around on other people and waiting for things to do.

I get really bored really easily or get through things too fast.

 

[CharmanderMD]

Your answer sounds great. I'd have a tough time answering this given my general hatred of hospital volunteering; I'd have to choke down a knee jerk reaction.

 

[mrh125]

For me it is partially because depending on what position it is I usually have to spend half my volunteer time waiting around on other people and waiting for things to do.

I get really bored really easily or get through things too fast.

agreed so much. it gets so tedious, even though I'm getting hours I would rather be doing something than sitting in a room off to the side and doing nada. That's what pushed me to find other ways to engage myself. I'd personally rather have 3 hours where i'm doing something nonstop and constantly engaged than 20 hrs of mostly just sitting around and doing nothing.

 

[Xenoblade]

Being altruistic.

I mean, what do they expect from me? to actually help people? pff.

I'm going into medicine because of the riches and b*ches.

Say I exactly like that^

 

[Gauss44]

When the air conditioner breaks. That's what I dislike most. What can I say, I truly love volunteering. Sorry everyone!

 

[jm192]

The general algorithm is basically what you've already alluded to. Whatever you say, don't let them find a major character flaw in the answer. There are rarely if ever positive points out of a question like this. But, you can definitely hang yourself with it.

Your answer sounds fine.

You could give something generic: It depends on the volunteering activity. For example, I walked dogs at the humane society. The bigger dogs would tackle you, but they needed to pee and poop just as badly as the little dogs.

I used to volunteer at the free clinic, and we couldn't always provide patients with all of the medicines that they needed. While I was glad to be able to help them as much as we were, it was frustrating to not be able to do more.

It's not dodging the question. But it's changing it to be less...insightful if you will. What do you like least about the act of volunteering in general is a tough question to take head on and on the fly.

 

[GoPelicans]

Most of my volunteering required me to get on the bus or train for an hour, that was kind of annoying.

 

[NickNaylor]

Depending upon the context, one issue that I come imagine that might be worth discussing is the difficulty in providing long-term, genuinely beneficial services. I can imagine this would be especially true in work involving social services or humanitarian issues.

 

[Psai]

"The fact that people like you expect students like me to do it as a surrogate marker for altruism when I'd rather be out drinking"

Real reason is that because of all the restrictions and the legal liability, volunteers can barely do anything. I've heard of volunteers from the past who were able to do way more than just shadowing but nowadays even trying to shadow is difficult to do. You don't understand what's going on and want to help but don't know anything that is useful for anyone so you're just kinda sitting there restocking carts and cleaning beds if even that.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

The whole "actually having to do it" part was my least favorite.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I'm thinking of saying that my least favorite aspect about volunteering is that often times I wasn't able to take as much of an active role as I wanted to in the process of medicine. I wanted to do more than just assist the doctor, scribe, and at times I felt like deadweight because there wasn't anything I could do.

It's all about turning a negative into a positive. You did just that. If I were asked this question, I would have answered it the same exact way. I would then say how despite your minimal role, you were able to help patients in other ways that doctors couldn't. Sometimes a patient really appreciates someone other than a doctor or nurse walking in. You're someone who isn't going to hurt them with any medical tests. You're there to make them more comfortable in simple ways like bringing them water, or a blanket, or some other nice way.

 

[Planes2Doc]

The whole "actually having to do it" part was my least favorite.

LOL I'm thinking the same thing! But this is one interview question where ADCOMs don't want to hear the truth.

 

[Planes2Doc]

My answer would have to be not getting paid

I just posted this a little whole ago in the hour exaggeration thread, but it's a perfect response to what you wrote, so I'll post it here: For those who do end up volunteering around 1000+ hours by the time they apply; unless you truly believe in the cause, it must be a bad feeling looking back at those hours. I volunteered between 300-400 hours at the hospital ED when I finally quit due to my acceptance. I was treated like a slave and did scut work that the techs loaded on me. Techs in my area made $15/hr. If you were forced to do free labor as a volunteer and volunteered over 1000 hours, do you realize that you left more than $10,000 on the table? 🙁 Until I realized that I was paying for the convenience, I was upset about the hours I was putting me in. Once I reached around 100 hours, my parents were urging me to quit because they were absolutely disgusted at what was going on.

 

[goft20]

Honestly?

Wasting my ******* time when I could have been gaming. 😛


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zzxxzz]

Not a general answer, but I had a short-lived volunteer experience at the local Ronald McDonald House. I was told I'd be generally helping out, cooking and talking with family members, and occasionally entertaining some of the healthier kids.

In reality, I spent 4 hours a week cleaning putrid dumpsters and fridges filled with black mold, taking bags full of bloody bandages, dirty diapers, and uncapped sharps to the trash, emptying ashtrays, and carrying heavy objects for other overly-cheerful volunteers. Those were my only tasks most weeks. Other than entering and leaving, I sometimes didn't see another human.

I didn't mind cleaning rooms for family members and working hard to ensure the House was safe for immunosuppressed kids. I did mind being an unpaid janitor for the other volunteers. Other volunteers simply left the "dirty" tasks undone, which I thought was awful, so I did them all, and ended up having a crappy (literally) experience while other volunteers had coffee and chatted.

Don't be afraid to quit an experience. After leaving the House, I found an amazing experience working with kids that I loved so much I doubled my commitment after submitting my primary.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Not a general answer, but I had a short-lived volunteer experience at the local Ronald McDonald House. I was told I'd be generally helping out, cooking and talking with family members, and occasionally entertaining some of the healthier kids.

In reality, I spent 4 hours a week cleaning putrid dumpsters and fridges filled with black mold, taking bags full of bloody bandages, dirty diapers, and uncapped sharps to the trash, emptying ashtrays, and carrying heavy objects for other overly-cheerful volunteers. Those were my only tasks most weeks. Other than entering and leaving, I sometimes didn't see another human.

I didn't mind cleaning rooms for family members and working hard to ensure the House was safe for immunosuppressed kids. I did mind being an unpaid janitor for the other volunteers. Other volunteers simply left the "dirty" tasks undone, which I thought was awful, so I did them all, and ended up having a crappy (literally) experience while other volunteers had coffee and chatted.

Don't be afraid to quit an experience. After leaving the House, I found an amazing experience working with kids that I loved so much I doubled my commitment after submitting my primary.

Ouch. What a crappy experience... No pun intended. 🙁

 

[zzxxzz]

Ouch. What a crappy experience... No pun intended. 🙁

Guess my point was, ideally, you should have to think long and hard to come up with an answer to "least favorite part of volunteering." At the House, I could list 5-6 things off the top of my head. At my current position, I'd probably answer "having to wait in line at the cafeteria to get a free soda after my shift." Seriously, that's it.

If things you hate about your position immediate come to mind, you should try a different volunteer position.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Guess my point was, ideally, you should have to think long and hard to come up with an answer to "least favorite part of volunteering." At the House, I could list 5-6 things off the top of my head. At my current position, I'd probably answer "having to wait in line at the cafeteria to get a free soda after my shift." Seriously, that's it.

If things you hate about your position immediate come to mind, you should try a different volunteer position.

It's great that you found something better for yourself. 🙂

I want to elaborate on the point I bolded though. What determines whether volunteering is "good" or "bad" is dependent on what the person is trying to get out of it. If someone is trying to help the most people possible, then of course they should find something meaningful which makes them feel good inside. I have yet to meet a single person on SDN that says their primary goal is to help the most people possible. If someone is trying to help their medical school application, then a volunteer position with minimal oversight so that they can spend most of their time studying or doing whatever they want might be better. If let's say your Ronald McDonald House was a four hour shift, and you had to spend one hour doing this ridiculous demeaning work, but were able to spend the other three studying for your classes, then that would be a "good" volunteering position if you're primarily working to pad your medical school application. To each their own.