Transcription
(Woman) Well, welcome.
(Man) Thank you.
(Woman) Um, why don't you start out today by telling me a little bit about yourself?
(Man) Sure. My name is John Smith. I'm a student at the University of Minnesota. I'm currently working towards my Bachelor's degree in Animal Science. Um, while attaining my degree, I've developed animal handling skills while working as a volunteer at The Humane Society. I've also developed veterinary medical skills while working, while job shadowing a livestock veterinarian. So I'm planning to graduate in the spring of 2012, and afterwards, I'm hoping to go on and become a veterinary assistant. So my long-term plans are to go on to vet school, become a veterinarian, and eventually own my own clinic. And the reason I'm applying to the internship at your vet clinic is in order to further utilize my education in Animal Science and my passion for working with animals.
(Woman) Great. What are some of your strengths?
(John Smith) I would say that my two main strengths are my attention to detail and my organizational skills. My attention to detail, I developed while working as a hospital sanitary technician. It was my job to go in prior to any surgery and clean and prepare the surgical room and the equipment before they did a surgery. And so I knew that if I didn't clean and sanitize everything properly, that a patient could get even sicker from my negligence. So that really motivated me to pay close attention to what I was doing and developed really good habits that ensure close attention to detail. My organizational skills came from working years as a manager at Target. I had to manage five employees, create schedules, track inventory. So all those things really demanded good organizational skills. Also maintaining databases, keeping accurate records, all while going to school full-time also demanded organizational skills. So I think those two things would be my strengths: my close attention to detail and my strong organizational skills.
(Woman) Okay. On the flip side, what are some of your weaknesses?
(John) I would say that the biggest weakness in regards to this position is the fact that I've never worked in a vet clinic before. So were I to be hired, I would have to learn the different roles of the vet clinic; the roles of the employees and kind of how everyone works together in order to make the clinic run properly. However, I am a quick learner, and I also think I have a number of experiences that really helped prepare me for this type of job. As I mentioned, I did job shadowing with a livestock veterinarian, so I already have some experience with veterinary medical procedures, with the medications, and a few techniques. My work as a sanitary technician helped prepare me for working in a sterilized medical environment, and my work as a manager at Target showed me how teams work together and how specialized roles can come together to accomplish a group goal. So while if I were hired, I would have a little bit of learning to do, I also think I have a number of positions that have really helped prepare me for this type of position.
(Woman) Describe a time where you've had to complete multiple tasks in a short period of time.
(John) Sure. Well, last December, I was going to school full-time, and I was working at Target part-time, and I was also the acting treasurer of the Animal Science Club. So finals were approaching for school, Target was ramping up its inventory and hiring new employees to get ready for the holiday rush, and the Animal Science Club was getting ready to do a big fundraiser. So all of these things were demanding more time from me, and I knew that if I wanted to accomplish them all, I would really have to get organized and effectively manage my time. So my strategy was to actually use the calendar on my smartphone to manage my time and make sure that I gave proper attention to everything that I needed to get done. So I prioritized whatever I needed to get done according to the deadline. I estimated the amount of time that it would take to accomplish each task, and then I blocked out that amount of time on my calendar, on my phone. And this allowed me to manage my schedule at any time and also to make sure that I was following the plan that I created. Wherever I went, I would always have my phone on me. So, and I also created alarms in order to remind myself what I should be doing at that time, just in case things got hectic and I needed to be reminded. This really allowed me to effectively manage my time to give proper attention to each task that I had to get done. And the result was that I got a 3.3 GPA for that semester, we raised over $5,000 for the Animal Science Club, and I was also awarded the Outstanding Manager of the Holiday Season for Target.
(Woman) Okay. Can you describe a time when you've been in conflict with a co-worker or a team member and how you handled that situation?
(John) Sure. Well, in my small animals class, we were assigned to a group and given the responsibility of researching and writing a report on a small domesticated animal. My group decided to split up the different sections of the report and have everyone do an individual portion, then bring everyone's portion together to form the final product. So we did that, and when it came time to put everyone's parts together for the final report, it was obvious that one team member, who I'll just call James, didn't do his part up to standard. It was obvious that he didn't put a lot of time or effort into it. So myself, the other team members, we were kind of upset that we had worked so hard on our portions but he hadn't, and now our grade would suffer because of it. But rather than confronting James, I took him aside, away from the other group members, and asked him what had happened. So I listened to him as he explained to me that he wasn't able to put as much time into the report as he would have liked because he had some very legitimate personal issues going on. So he apologized to me, and I sympathized with the situation, and I offered to help him finish his part of the report. So we analyzed what needed to be done, what was left to be done. We divided up the responsibilities, and then we collaborated on the finished product, and we actually ended up getting it done that same day and getting it handed in on time. So the result was that we got an A on the report with compliments from the professor.
(Woman) Okay.