interview questions Flashcards
How well do you work under pressure/describe a time you failed and how you dealt with it
I work well under pressure. for example in student clinics every so often complications arise even when you’re carrying out the procedure correctly, in these situations I often find the best course of action to be to stop, take a deep breathe and evaluate what has changed and how to best to move forward. Being self-aware of your limitations and asking for assistance when needed and making sure to stay professional, and regulate your emotions and calmly communicate any pertinent information to the patient. Most importantly I find that these high pressure clinical situations, although stressful at that moment, are often actually great learning experiences. So I take the time write down a detailed account of what transpired and reflect on what I learned for when a similar situation occurs in the future.
How would you define burnout? (follow question on how you would avoid it or deal with it)/how do you deal with stress?
Burnout is a combination of 1)emotional exhaustion 2)depersonalization and 3)reduced sense accomplishment caused by chronic stress, and its important because its leads to decreased professionalism. It can avoided by 1)being interested in what you are doing and continuing education 2) having a healthy work-life balance and supportive relationships 3) being self-reflective and having realistic expectations and celebrating successes.
Describe a time you overcame adversity/tell me about a time you overcame an obstacle
When I finished my vocational training as a bookkeeper I was immediately hired by Paradigm engineering. My first day on the job I found that there were was a 3 month backlog in the bookkeeping. I was responsible for getting caught up in a short period of time, and I quickly realized that using the manual methods I learned in my bookkeeping course I couldn’t meet the deadlines that were set for me. To overcome this, I decide to partially automate the process by creating an organizational system and several excel program and this allowed me process high volumes of information in much less time. This allowed me to finish my work well before the deadline and many of the systems and programs I created are still being used by the company today.
What would you say your biggest weakness/what would you change about yourself if you can/what is something a past employer has said you can work on?
Trouble saying no is definitely my weakness. I’ve always thought the more I can fit in every day, the more I can learn and the faster I can improve, the more value I can provide. But over time this lead to me feeling stressed and burned out. So I’ve learned to be realistic about my expectations and self-aware of my limitations. I’ve also found it extremely helpful to keep an up-to-date schedule of my to-dos, allowing me to track my realtime workload and accurately gauge if i’m capable of taking on more work.
What are your strengths
I am detail-oriented, organized and persistent. Attentional to detail is very important whether you’re working with a high frequency of numbers as a bookkeeper or striving for the best clinical results for my patient as a student dentist. Strong organizational skills through use of programs has helped me increase efficiency and manage a higher workload, but also allows for increased accountability and accuracy when tracking progress. Being persistent was absolutely necessary when I first started clinics or working for paradigm and has allowed me to gradually improve and continuously learn.
Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
I would say that I’m detail oriented and always strive to continuously improve and deliver the best results for my patients, but I’m also realistic about my limitations. I also believe that focusing on the minute, can sometime detract from seeing the big picture, and this is problematic when our goal is to treat the whole patient.
Do you prefer working independently or on a team?
I feel very confident working independently, but two heads are always better than one. At paradigm whether I was working with the engineering or accounting teams, it was always useful to have someone to get feedback from or share ideas and strategize with. Not mention that a cooperative, well lead team is always capable of delivering a better end-product in a more time efficient manner, which clients and patients always appreciate.
How do you work in a team?/How well do you work in a team?
When working as part of the engineering team as a data analyst at paradigm engineering, I was often tasked with the duty of collecting on-site measurement data and with other analysts. We would provide simultaneous on-site consulting to foremen and construction workers, so a clear system of communication and division of duties was essential to manage this multitasking and minimize errors. And with our systematic approach we always managed to complete data acquisition in a timely manner and successfully answer all questions the client had.
Do you have any regrets?
I do wish I had started my career in dentistry earlier, it would have allowed me more years to grow and advance and become better at my job. However, im grateful for the gap years between my undergrad and graduate degree as it allowed me to work full time and develop skills, that I wouldn’t have otherwise had, that will help me in my future job as a dentist.
Why private over public
Well when looking for a job firstly I had to chose between public versus private, and after some deliberation I chose private, mainly because I have an interest in and want to cultivate my skills in cosmetic dentistry, and due to cost being a prohibitive factor, these options are not available to patients in public system.
The next question was whether I should apply for a corporate position or individually owned. And two factors played a role in my decision to go corporate, the first being that as a new grad I aware that a good mentor is an invaluable resource for a successful start to my career, and corporate dental offices have much more resources to pour into mentoring and new grad programs. The second being that, should I ever want a change scenery I could always relocate to another office in the same corporation and the office layout and offerings would be near identical, so there’s minimal adjustment when moving locations.
Lastly I chose PSG amongst other new grad programs because PSG was the only program to be very clear about the abundant resources they offer, and after visiting Charlestown location, I just knew I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.
What type of work environment do you prefer?/Why PSG?/Why do you want to work here?
I enjoy a patient/customer centered, fast-paced work environment where I get to collaborate with others as part of a team, but I also appreciate a fair degree of autonomy as a member of the team. This was the kind of workplace environment I experienced when working at paradigm engineering consulting firm so I know I’m well suited for it. After doing some research it became very apparent that what I am suited for perfectly aligns with PSG’s workplace ethos. For example, I love the fact that I get practice dentistry as a part of the PSG Office team, with mentoring and professional development hours available through the new grad program, but what I love most is the fact that PSG takes all the stress away by remove the element of practice management from the equation, allowing me to act autonomously and focus on providing the best patient-centered care possible.
How did you hear about this position
One day I was having lunch with my two classmates Travis and Natalia and they both told me how they met the regional recruiter for NSW Ms. Kim Dunda at ADX, and how they were going to move to practice at your new Byron office at start of next year. So it got me very excited, and I decided to take a further look.
+ what type of work environment do you prefer answer
Why should we hire you
What type of work environment response + strengths response
Tell me about yourself
a. Grew up in Vancouver, Canada, studied physiology at simon fraser university, currently studying dentistry at university of Sydney and have worked as an analyst and bookkeeper at an engineering firm since 2011.
+ what type of workplace environment response
Follow up question about the special care comment on your resume
So that referred to a specific experience in student clinics where I had a 26 year old patient with autism show up with their father for a filling on the 48. That patient was very anxious, sensitive to pain making injection very difficult. I employed the ‘tell, show do’ method as well as various distraction methods to keep the patient occupied while delivering the injection. The patient also avoided brushing because of the vibration sensation on their electrical toothbrush which he didn’t like, so I suggested he set his brush on a milder setting, or downgrade to a manual if that meant he will brush more often.
