How to Answer: Tell me about a time you had to deal with significant changes in your workplace. How did you manage those changes?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Family Physician job interview.
1. Tell me about a time you had to deal with significant changes in your workplace. How did you manage those changes?
How to Answer
In any healthcare setting, change is inevitable. Technology, processes, leadership, laws, and organizations change on a regular basis, and with change at a high level comes changes in work processes. For this question, it is important to stress how you are open to change when it makes the end results better for the patient. Talk about a specific change you had to endure in the workplace and express how you embraced the change.
Written by Darby Faubion on August 31st, 2021
Entry Level
"During my years in college, I worked at a large grocery store as a cashier. After working there for one year, the company purchased a new touchscreen register system that replaced the old system I was familiar with. Knowing how much more efficiently and accurately I would be able to work when the changes came, I was happy when the announcement was made to our team of cashiers. Of course, others were not happy as they'd have to learn a new system. For me, knowing how much the new system would help our work process made it easy to embrace the change. Moving forward, I fully understand how the healthcare world needs to embrace change on a regular basis and you'll find that I'm a person that can help lead change management among my peers."
Written by Darby Faubion on August 31st, 2021
Answer Example
"In my previous employment roles, I have been a part of many changes that affected my day-to-day duties on the job. I have always embraced technological changes and work process advancements because, in the end, they make our jobs easier, safer, and better for individual patients. The biggest change that I had to endure was an organizational merger when a private hospital I was working for merged with a larger health system. During this merger, my day-to-day work was flipped upside down from new computer systems to work on, a new work location, a new leadership structure, and a change in pay and benefits. With a focus on the end in mind and how great it was going to be to work for a much larger and well-established employer, I was able to be a positive influence on my team for helping others embrace the change and see the light at the end of the tunnel while changes were happening."
Written by Darby Faubion on August 31st, 2021
Experienced
"While I was in medical school, I worked in a medical lab. The lab corporation purchased some new equipment that was expected to help cut our time for delivering results significantly. When my manager announced that the new purchase was made and the machine would be arriving in two weeks, I was shocked to see that many of the teammates reacted so negatively to that change. They were not happy that they would have to learn a new machine and were so narrow-minded in their perception of how the new technology would impact their routines. My manager appreciated the fact that I was the positive member of the team was able to calm my teammates down and help them see the good that would come once we all were trained on how to operate the new piece of equipment."
Written by Darby Faubion on August 31st, 2021
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