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Discussion

Most Difficult Decision

So, I saw this and was chuckling at how people reacted to a relatively harmless, though suspicious, question.

Anyway, it got me curious. If you were asked this question in a job interview, would you give something work-related or would giving a somewhat personal answer be acceptable as well?

If I were asked this question, I'd say that the most difficult decision that I had to make was packing up my life from the country I grew in and moving to where I am living now (I apologize for the vagueness). It was hard leaving my family and it was equally hard starting over in this country.

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    Unless specifically asked to name a personal experience, which has never happened to me in a job interview, I always come up with something work oriented. Yours is a great example of your strength for sure but I would wonder if they might be concerned that you are going to work a while and then want to go back home.

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    If someone asked me that question in an interview, I would be totally stumped. I have no idea what I'd say for a work-related decision. I did move across the country for my first job, but I didn't consider it a difficult decision because it got me into the specialty I wanted right out of school, which might not have happened otherwise. The decision itself was a no-brainer. Living with how the decision affected my personal life was infinitely more difficult.

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    I've been asked this question in 3 different interviews. I had two totally different answers depending on whether the question was in relation to my personal or professional life.

    So I bit the bullet and asked if they were speaking of personal or professional. One said personal, one said professional and the third said either one.

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    If someone asked me that question in an interview, I would be totally stumped. I have no idea what I'd say for a work-related decision. I did move across the country for my first job, but I didn't consider it a difficult decision because it got me into the specialty I wanted right out of school, which might not have happened otherwise. The decision itself was a no-brainer. Living with how the decision affected my personal life was infinitely more difficult.

    Thats when you improvise and reframe in a way that makes you look minimally amazing. :) With most all interview questions I usually try to come up with a scenario where I advocated for a patient.

    Something like going through the proper chain of command to verify a medication dose that was out of the expected range when the physician wasn't receptive to offering an explanation so although you really value the physician:nurse relationship you discretely phoned the pharmacy who verified your concerns, then spoke with the shift supervisor blah blah and ended up either saving your patient's life or if you want a humble twist it was discussed and decided risk vs benefit was satisfied and this was one of the instances where an off label indication was appropriate etc. so you were an advocate and also learned something in the process.

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    Unless specifically asked to name a personal experience, which has never happened to me in a job interview, I always come up with something work oriented. Yours is a great example of your strength for sure but I would wonder if they might be concerned that you are going to work a while and then want to go back home.

    thanks, that's a very good point. I'd probably end by saying that although it has been difficult re-establishing my life, especially my career, it has been nothing but advantageous to me (and my family)...

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    I had the question in an interview and gave a work related answer. I've moved across the country, uprooting myself from everything I've known, and I also made the decision to keep trying for a child after 4 miscarriages, but I didn't feel those were appropriate examples in the context of a job interview.

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