Microbiologist Mock Interview

Master 30 Microbiologist interview questions covering lab techniques, contamination control, and research methodology.

Question 29 of 30

Tell me about your microscopy experience.

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Clara is a career coaching expert and has supported individuals landing positions in education, non-profit, corporate, and beyond.

The interviewer will likely ask a variety of questions testing your knowledge and experience as well as how well you can explain scientific concepts to others. Your response to this question lets the interviewer get to know what types of assays you are familiar with and how well you can answer a question that is somewhat open ended.

Clara Canon

Clara is a career coaching expert and has supported individuals landing positions in education, non-profit, corporate, and beyond.

"I've used an inverted microscope on a daily basis for maintaining cell culture and subsequent protein expression assays, virus inoculation and detection, CCID50 and plaque assays. Some of the assays require counting (using the camera and retina display feature) as with the plaque assay for example."

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Jaymie

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In my practicum, I frequently used a microscope to examine and identify different microorganisms in samples. This involved preparing slides, adjusting microscope settings for optimal viewing, and documenting observations. I prepared microscope slides by fixing cells onto glass slides and then staining them using appropriate dyes such as Hematoxylin and eosin or crystal violet.

Marcie's Feedback

Nice! It sounds like you have good experience in this area, which the interviewer will appreciate. Consider ending your response by stating that you look forward to using this skill in this new role. Great job!

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30Microbiologist Interview Questions & Answers

1.What made you choose to become a Microbiologist?

2.What have you done to further your own professional development in the past 5 years.

3.Give me example of a large project or task you completed, the steps you took, and the overall outcome.

4.How do you feel about supervising others and their work?

5.Are you a detail-oriented person?

6.What drew you to our organization?

7.What is your greatest strength?

8.What is your greatest weakness? What are you doing to improve it?

9.What sort of working conditions do you thrive in?

10.How do you prioritize when you have multiple deadlines?

11.Do you have any questions for us?

12.Tell me about a challenging interaction with reporting results to physicians, family members, or researchers.

13.When making a 1L 1X PBS solution from the stock 10X concentration, how would you do it; which formula would you use?

14.What is the purpose of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and give an example of when you've ran one in the past?

15.How would you handle testing 100 samples?

16.What is the difference between accuracy and precision?

17.What is the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells? And, what is your experience with prokaryotic cells?

18.In the scenario where your quality control fails, what troubleshooting step would you take?

19.What is gram staining and why is it significant?

20.In the scenario where your laboratory finds contamination, what troubleshooting step would you take?

21.What is your experience with following procedure, preparing for, and involvement in a regulatory audit and/or inspections of any kind?

22. What steps do you take to limit contamination?

23.What is the difference between a quantitative assay and a qualitative assay?

24.How has NGS changed testing and what is your experience using the technique?

25.When your boss asks you to get 5 aliquots each of 5 different samples to delivery to another department, what is being asked and how would you perform the task?

26.A colleague asks you to ensure the glassware is sterilized for next week's experiments, what do you do?

27.Describe a time when you made a pipetting error and what you did to fix it?

28.When your boss asks you to design an assay to detect drug resistant bacteria, provide a list of 3 things you will do before testing and optimizing begin?