Dental School Mock Interview
Prepare for your dental school admissions interview with 40 questions covering clinical judgment, ethics, and patient care scenarios.
Question 38 of 40
Talk about a time you had to work closely with someone who had a problematic personality.
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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.
During your time in dental school training, you will work closely with some faculty who can be difficult at times and potentially with fellow students with conflicting personalities. The interviewers want to know how well you work with others, despite having different personalities. Your ability to adapt to various people as a dental student, regardless of a positive personality match, shows that you are mature and professional even when the situation is not ideal.
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.
"During my undergraduate program, I worked on a four-person project during my junior year in an Applied Human Psychology course. One member of our team had a very dominant, type-A personality, and they were difficult to work with effectively at first because this is not my type of personality. To work effectively with them, I made sure that all communication was direct and to the point, with little small talk or extra fluff. I also changed my work style a bit to always ensure that I was proving my productivity on the task at hand with them. I learned a lot from this experience that I can bring to dental school to ensure my success in working closely with any personality."
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
As you answer, avoid extreme responses that include speaking negatively of others or naming people. Also, avoid telling the interviewer that you get along with everyone all the time. Most interviewers will interpret a cliche response like that as dodging the question. Focus on a time your work style was different from another person's, but perhaps you still had to complete a project together. Discuss, in a positive tone, how you made it work and how you will bring this same approach as a student in this program.
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Anonymous Answer
When I was on the student council at university, we were responsible for planning events to fundraise money throughout the school year. The president of the council was a fellow student who micromanaged and who got defensive when their ideas were rejected. I approached that person in private and reminded them that we were supposed to work as a team and that we all shared the same goal. I emphasized the importance of assigning clear tasks and deadlines and trusting that individuals would do their parts. Thru this experience, I learned that even though I won’t always get to work with people, maintaining a basic level of respect and clear communication is a must when working in group settings
Jaymie's Feedback
Excellent answer! You gave a specific example that highlighted the problem, took the initiative to work with that person directly to resolve the conflict, and you maintained a positive attitude and professionalism throughout the situation.
Anonymous Answer
During my time in my undergraduate school, I worked on a group project about planning a community service. At first, we found it difficult to come to an agreement about choosing a topic because one of our members seemed to be dominant and tried to ignore the ideas of other members. I had to be more patient in communicating with her so that we could come to the final plan. I learned patience and effective communication from this experience.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! Can you go into further detail about exactly how you communicated with her? Did you use a certain tone of voice? Did you ask to meet with her privately? Did you try to be empathetic? And what was the final result? Did the group come to a consensus and successfully complete the project?
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