Mayo Clinic Mock Interview
Master 30 Mayo Clinic interview questions covering patient-centered values, clinical excellence, and collaborative teamwork.
Question 27 of 30
What would you do if a coworker asked you to help steal?
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Krista Wenz has been on thousands of interview panels hiring EMS professionals and firefighters for public and private agencies.
The interviewer would like to know how you would react if put in an awkward or potentially harmful situation like being asked by a coworker to steal with them. Theft can occur in many ways in the workplace and is not necessarily reserved to blatantly taking an item. Ensure that you are aware of the different ways a coworker may try to pass stealing off as 'no big deal.' Some examples include:
- Timecard fabrication, also known as 'buddy punching,' where you punch in for a coworker who is not present
- 'Borrowing' money from petty cash
- Falsifying vendor or expense accounts
- Taking items from the lost and found
- Stealing data or documents containing trade secrets
- Taking expensive office supplies like ink or adding personal items to supply orders
- Billing patients for procedures that were not performed
Krista Wenz has been on thousands of interview panels hiring EMS professionals and firefighters for public and private agencies.
Of course, you already know how to answer this question! Express that you would never engage in this type of behavior and discuss how you would go about reporting this type of situation. If this has happened to you in the past, you can talk about the case without providing your coworker's name.
Focus on letting the interviewer know that you are an honest person with morals and ethics. Make sure they understand that you would never condone or participate in this type of behavior and would report it to your supervisor.
Krista Wenz has been on thousands of interview panels hiring EMS professionals and firefighters for public and private agencies.
"If a coworker asked me to help steal, I would be appalled. I do not condone theft of any kind, and I would let my coworker know that. I would report the incident to my immediate supervisor and document the encounter."
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