First Interview/ Critical Thinking

GoldenRoya · Aug 31, 2015

Prioritization questions happen a lot, whether it be "your patient has this happening, what do you do first?" questions, or "you have these patients and these situations arise, who do you see to first?" Brush up on your critical-thinking-in-critical-and-noncritical-situations for those.

Interpersonal questions also happen a lot. "You have a problem with a coworker, how do you handle it?" (Hint: You want to address it with the person first, and only after they've blown you off do you go up the chain. And you don't talk about them behind their back.)

Google "behavioral interview questions" to give you a general idea of the type and scope of such questions. There's a LOT of potential ground that they could cover, but if you keep your head and stay calm, you should do fine. Excessive hesitancy or asking, 'um, is that right?' tend to be black marks. I think (or maybe this is just my manager talking!) that saying, 'At this point in my career, I'm not sure; I look forward to gaining experience so I know for certain how to respond' looks okay if you honestly don't know how to answer: it shows that you know your limitations and are open to learning, and aren't going to do something half-cocked because you don't want to look stupid. Use that response sparingly, though; like I said, it could be just the one manager who looks on that type of response with approval.

Good luck with your interview!

medicalmeg · Aug 31, 2015

Thank you for the advice and good luck wishes. I agree that confidence is important as well as a willingness to learn.