Biological Scientist Mock Interview
Practice 25 Biological Scientist interview questions covering research methodology, experimental design, and data analysis.
Question 3 of 25
Describe a difficult project and how you overcame it?
Entry Level
Experienced
How to Answer
Community Answers
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I recently had a challenging school project with a tight deadline. It was on a topic that I was not overly knowledgeable in. I decided to hire a tutor to help me through the outline creation and final edits. I will go the extra mile whenever necessary."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I have had many challenging projects in my eight years as a biological scientist. When I am faced with a task more challenging than usual, I will create a step by step plan and follow it to a tee. I call in reinforcements when needed and also have an industry mentor who I call upon from time to time."
Heather Douglass has over 20 years of experience as a Career Coach, Recruiter, and HR Specialist. Much of her experience is as a Technical Recruiter in the healthcare industry.
The interviewer wants to know how you approach, evaluate and resolve a work problem or complicated project. Telling the interviewer how you overcame the problematic project will show your problem-solving skill as well as prove that you are one that can take on responsibility.
Interview Coach
Jaymie
A real coach, not AI. I read every answer myself and write back with personalized feedback.
Typically responds within 24 hours.
0 - Character Count
Anonymous Answer
The difficult project was working with isolating tubules from kidneys of SS rats on different days of salt. The difficulty arises while isolating the tubules as we go for a higher number of salt intake, the kidney becomes fibrous and so the tubules are a little difficult to isolate and thereby I had to optimize the collagen concentration which I used to digest the other kidney cells. I found the same thing with mitochondria isolation too.
Stephanie's Feedback
This sounds like a complex project, which you handled with ease! My only suggestion for strengthening this response is to add a closing sentence about what you learned or how you have used what you gained from this project as you moved forward.
Unlock All 25 Biological Scientist Questions
Unlock expert responses to research-focused questions that lab directors and principal investigators ask.
Get StartedJump to Question