5 behavioral interview questions and answers for medical resident

Here are five behavioral interview questions and answers for a medical resident position. If you're reading this, you know that these positions are oh so competitive these days. Recently I had the chance to coach a client who wanted one of these positions more than life itself, practically, so here some questions that she asked me to help her with.

Ethics scenario: What would you do if a patient just stabbed your best friend, and you were treating the patient.  One possible answer could be that if possible, you might delegate the task to someone else who was available; otherwise, treat the patient professionally and provide the necessary treatment. Try to be professional as much as possible (it may not be easy in this case).  If you have examples to give from your past experience, then please give them! The devil is in the details, and there's nothing interviewers love more than hearing about examples and anecdotes that demonstrate that you can walk your talk.

What would you do if you knew one of your more senior residents was doing something wrong? (i.e., filling out History & Physicals without doing the evaluations…..and other ethical questions.) My client suggested she would report this person. Such behavior she says would compromise the patient care and she would speak to another staff member.

What was your worst clinical experience?  First, don't pretend you have never  had any bad experiences. Everyone in every profession has had experiences from hell, that for a split second might have called into question whether or not they should be doing this line of work. So what do you say? Matter of factly, narrate an incident (keep it simple, use the STAR method). Tell way it was initially not a great experience, but then say how you turned it around, or how you might have turned it around, and most importantly what you learned from it, and what you might have done differently.  Tell me about an encounter with a patient that taught you something.  Every encounter teaches you, but some might have made a crucial difference with how you approach care, or perhaps spurred you on to catalyze changes where you work. Use the STAR method here. One of my clients told me of treating alcoholic patients when she lived in Russia. She saw that not enough attention was paid to alcoholism and addictions in family medicine, and helped initiate programs that would better address this need. This stemmed from her encounter with a patient.  So these are five behavioral interview questions and answers that are typical for a medical resident. The best way to prepare is to anticipate the questions you will be asked and prepare answers and examples. Mine your experience and extract the anecdotes and learning experiences. Many aspiring medical residents have told me that the difference between getting hired and not, sometimes, is just preparation!

Annoying interview questions and how to answer them

 Some behavioral interviews questions  are geared to drawing out strengths. Some behavioral interview questions,  on the other hand, are geared to drawing out weaknesses. As I always say, they are designed to make you squirm, especially if you haven't been working the past year. The employer is looking for a way to exclude you. Here are a couple I found Here are some possible answers to annoying behavioral interview questions

. What have you been doing for the last year? Naturally the unemployed lie around all day doing nothing. If you have been volunteering, play that up. If you have been taking a course,  play that up. Of course, looking for a job is a full time job..It is good to mention that you have not been idle. Try starting a business, freelancing, taking a course, expand your horizons. Communicate how all that might be of value to the employer.

What things would cause you to be late for work? Ouch! I hate this interview question.  This one assumes that you'll be late. I would talk  about  things in your control and things that are not in your control. I would definitely mention traffic. Where I live traffic is THE issue. Mind you I live next door to a subway stop, so I very rarely come late, and I give myself enough time to take into account traffic problems. I might ask if punctuality is a crucial part of performing the job. When I was teaching it was important to arrive on time for the class. That wasn't negotiable. I didn't have to be at my desk at 9 a.m. sharp though as part of the office culture.

 Everyone takes time away from work, what are some reasons that you would miss work? What is this best answer to this interview question?  Again, they are assuming you take time off for anything other than illness. I would say again, there are things in your control and things not, that you do the best to manage your life around your work hours, and that the only reason you have missed work is for illness or funerals. In my last job I had flexible working conditions, so I didn't have to worry about dental appointments and unforeseen problems. What was important to my last employer was that I arrived on time to teach the class.

What could you have done better in your last job? Again, it presumes that you did a bad job. Answering this behavioral interview quesiton, I would say, that I strive to do my best. There are always things that could be improved. For me, may it was a lesson plan that could have been better designed/sequenced/executed. Perhaps striving to put more of my recent graduate training into the lessons (there wasn't always time). Don't forget to use the STAR technique

. Do you enjoy just doing your job or being cross-trained? I would say that you like to learn new things, and also to be as useful to the employer as possible. Give an example. At the previous job I had, I voluntarily took on new roles including helping with the budget and assessment.


Yes behavioral interview questions can be annoying. Try not to be reactive in your answers, but to turn it into an opporutnity to say "the better to meet your requirements, dear employer".

Behavioral Interviews- Outside the box interviews

Situational and Behavioral Questions
By Ken Sundheim


You want to play in the big leagues and interview with the best companies? Nobody is going to ask you about your past internships. It doesn't mean much to them. These companies need to know how you think. They need to know your thought process and how you would handle certain situations.

Thus, they give situational and behavioral questions. Below, you will find some questions to these tough and sometimes shocking interviewing tactics. Remember, there is no correct or wrong answer to these questions and you will not know how the interview went until they tell you after wards. Be prepared to use your head and think before you answer.

It is very imperative that you keep upbeat and remain excited about the position.

Situational Interview Questions:
Situational interview questions aim to see your thought process when it comes to solving problems that will occur in everyday or work situations. The jobs that pay a lot want a lot of talent in return. Again, there are no correct or wrong answers regarding these questions. They are not your typical "Yes" or "No" questions.

Below, you will find some sample questions and sample answers. During an interview, always be prepared for these types of inquiries.

Q: Let's say that a professor didn't like you and was going to fail you. You had one week to straighten things out. Since you could not convince the professor and you knew he had a strong case to fail you, how would you go about passing this class?

Q: Let's say that somebody took everything you had and left you on the street with $3,000. You could not go to family or friends; you could only use the money as a resource. What would you do?

Q: You win the lottery, what would you do next?

Q: You get a call from a client who yells at you and will not listen to your responses. Your boss threatens to fire you if you can't keep them on by the end of Monday. It is Friday, what do you do?

Q: You walk into an interview and the interviewer shakes your hand and says, "You have 1 week to convince me that you are right for the job. You cannot call me or email me." What do you do?

Behavioral Interview Questions:

Q: Give an example of a time when you had to persuade others? What did you do?

Q: How would you go about working if you were required to conform to a policy with which you did not agree?

Q: When it comes to dealing with conflict how do you handle it? Give me an example.

Q: Let's say your boss had to quit and his or her work that they left was crucial to the organization. You would not equipped to do all of the work yourself, nor are you qualified. What would you do?

Q: What do you consider to be a cut-throat environment? How would you act to keep your job in this type of situation?

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Sundheim

Sample Behavioral interview questions from monster

I found these behavioral questions on Monster.com today. How would you answer these interview questions? Be authentic of course, and use the STAR Method, (Situation, Task, Action, Result).


• Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
• What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?
• What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?
• Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
• What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?
• If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?
• What is your greatest achievement outside of work?
• If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?
• What's the most difficult decision you've made in the last two years?
• Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn't want me to know.
• If you found out your company was doing something against the law, like fraud, what would you do?
• Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.
• What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?

More Behavioral Interview questions

Behavioral Interviewing Questions

By: Charles Bentson King

Behavioral interviewing is the most effective way to hire a qualified employee. It takes gut feelings, stereotypes and biases out of the process and allows you to look at candidates in more scientific terms. The process is called behavioral because it uses behaviors presented in the past to predict future behaviors. The process sounds easy but it takes practice and persistence. You need to know the exact behaviors that are critical for the job you are interviewing for and then you need to prepare questions that will illicit the responses you need to analyze the candidates behaviors. When you ask behavioral interviewing questions it is imperative that you probe and allow the candidate time and silence to answer the questions.

1. Give me an example of a time you where you had a particularly difficult customer and how you handled the situation.

2. Describe for me a situation where you didn't agree with a company policy and learned to work within the confines of that policy.

3. Give me an example of a time when you were given instructions by your manager that you didn't agree with and how you handled the situation.

4. Tell me about a time when you had conflict with a co-worker and how you were able to resolve that conflict.

5. Give me an example of a time when you provided extraordinary service and please be specific with the steps you took to achieve this result.

6. Describe for me a time when you didn't understand how to complete a task and what you did to finish the work.

7. Tell me about a time that you had to use creativity to solve a problem at work.

8. Tell me about a time when you were not feeling well or in a bad mood and had to motivate yourself at work.

9. Describe for me a time that you had a co-worker with a bad attitude and how you handled that situation.

10. Give me an example of a time you made a mistake when working with a customer and how you handled the situation.

Remember to research the behaviors needed for the position you are interviewing for and prepare your questions carefully. Also, use silence and probe further so you can get the information needed to make an informed hiring decision. Behavioral interviewing will take the gut feelings, stereotypes and biases that we all have out of the equation and you will make better hiring decisions.

About the Author

Charlie Bentson King is a writer and producer of training videos for TrainingABC. TrainingABC is a distributor of behavioral interviewing video programs such as More Than a Gut Feeling.

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Answering Behavioral interview questions-video

This video on behavioral interview questions gives a good capsule summary of what behavioral interviewing is all about, and examples of nasty and uncomfortable questions