Practice Interview Question Thread

[JL538]

Rather than a lie or white lie could you say something direct like "I understand your concern but I believe it is better for you to discuss the matter with Joan directly as it is a personal family issue" or is that a bit cold and harsh

 

[hazell]

Disclaimer: Second time interviewing, not successful yet, take my advice with a grain of salt

Placing your position statement "...not okay", signposting your answer with "Although", "Furthermore", and "instead", and adjective buzzwords such as "relationship", "learning", "reflect", and "respectful" make this an excellent response on its own as it's logical to follow. Exploring multiple alternate possibilities and showing how they arrive back at the same conclusion makes this an outstanding response, as you validate your argument and show the ability to think laterally. I especially love how you talked about the importance of open and tactful communication in a working relationship, and making sure all perspectives are understood. Spot on response - wouldn't have done anything differently.


1. Again, an excellent response, but what makes it excellent is that you've picked up the nuance in the prompt that her husband isn't at home hosten. While you've mentioned that it's understandable that she can get overwhelmed, I would have personally made it a point to validate her feelings, but you've covered the 'emotional' part of the response adequately.
2. IMO, you've covered how to respond (quite nicely, and acknowledging your role in the conflict is excellent), but not what you would say. My ideal response to this would provide an example sentence that you would say, such as "I'm unsure as to what happened, but you should talk to Joan to find out.", while acknowledging that the situation is ethically difficult + your role in the situation, but a white lie that may lead to them making steps towards a resolution is better than telling the husband which breaks the trust, saying that you don't know anything which is a 'worse' lie and may make him more angry when he finds out + break trust with both parties, or hanging up on him which technically resolves the issue of having to say anything but is suspicious and would probably lead to him probing further.
I'm curious to hear what people have to say on this one. It's a tough situation where you have to draw the line about what's an ethical response and what isn't, or perhaps I'm overinterpreting it.
3. Good response that covers a. verbal abuse not ok, b. looks at the husband's perspective but explains why it still isn't ok to be verbally abusive, c. the psychological consequences of verbal abuse within a relationship and reasons why victims don't leave, d. resources for seeking help, showing you understand this issue which is prevalent in many communities.
You do acknowledge that it may not be possible to initiate a productive conversation with the husband, but from my limited knowledge it would probably be better to take more decisive action and help Joan and her children seek refuge ASAP, when it is safe and possible to do so, and assist her to your best ability. Victims of abusive relationships often find it hard to recognise the symptoms of being in one and leave the relationship due to gaslighting, manipulation, and other such factors. It is impossible to know whether the abuse will escalate and result in harm to either Joan, the children, or both. I would personally put the focus on making sure she is safe.
The onus is not on Joan to try and fix the relationship - the husband is responsible for his behaviour. In a healthy relationship, the husband would have recognised that the problem is not entirely of Joan's making, but that he also shares responsibility for not carrying some of the household's workload, and made action towards correcting this - working as a team, not sparring from two distant viewpoints.

Again, please take my advice with a huge grain of salt. I'd love to hear other advice too as the questions are quite complicated!

Take my advice and viewpoint with the biggest grain of salt, I have not interviewed before and have only just started my own interview prep so I am by no means as knowledgeable or experienced as you guys.
This is my perspective on the third part of the question since part 1 and 2 were answered really good in my own opinion:
I personally wouldn’t advise her to leave the relationship since this verbal abuse has occurred as a result of an extremely stressful and upsetting life experience- it could be triggered by a traumatic life event. By all means abuse should not be condoned, but it is important to also consider the husbands point of view. I agree that she should be given support etc. but I think leaving the relationship with 5 children is a little extreme at this point. I think it’s important to try salvage the relationship via counselling and therapy and go from there.

 

[dande]

This is my first attempt at a prompt so feel free to annihilate my answers if necessary. any feedback at all is appreciated

A close friend (Harry), who is in one of your university classes tells you that his brother has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (a blood cancer). He feels a need to spend time with his brother through this tough time. Harry also states that as his mother is a single mother working full time to earn enough money, that he should take on the role as carer for his brother. Harry then comes to the conclusion that he should drop out of university to make time and provide care to his brother.

1. As Harry’s friend, what should you do next?
As Harry's friend he clearly trusts me a lot since he confided in me all this personal information. As such, I would first empathise with him and tell him that I understand his concerns and acknowledge he must be going through an extremely tough time, particularly with his mother being a single mother and working full time and I would ensure that his reasoning for wanting to drop out feels validated. However, I would further explore the reasons as to why Harry feels he that the ONLY option is to drop out of university, as I really wouldn't want him to make any rash decisions which aren't logical and are driven by pure emotion rather then by reason. If for example he feels that he wouldn't have time to study (likely the major reason), I would encourage him to speak to the university about his situation and see if any accommodations/adjustments can be made. I would explain what some things the uni may do to accomodate him which may convince him to seek out this help. E.g. I may say that it is possible that they may allow you to fall back to part time study for the time being and extend the duration of his course or even allow him to take a Gap year in the middle of his study until he feels comfortable to restart again. Additionally, I would also speak to him about creating perhaps a schedule which allows him organise his time in order to enable him to both spend time with his brother in order to support him whilst also being able to study. Overall, I really wouldn't want harry to make any rash decisions and ensure that he exhausts all options before he makes a decision and ensure he has considered everything however at the same time I would be attempting to empathise with him and validate what he may be feeling.

2. What can you do to help Harry through this ordeal?

-I would definitely want to provide any emotional support for Harry during this time, whether because of the stress of his brother and I would want to make sure Harry feels he has a safe place he can confide in with anything that may be worrying him, or even go out with him once a week to do something he enjoys in order to mentally recuperate and destress thus ensuring that Harry doesn't feel too stressed.

I would also offer if there is anything (in terms of university work) that I could help him with if I am in the position to do so. whether that may be something such as a concept harry may be struggling with, or a particular assignment that he is unsure of what is required etc. I would ultimately want to support him in any way I can academically (whilst maintaining academic honesty ofc) that would allow him to save time and therefore spend more time with his Brother.

3. What support services could Harry take up to help ease the burden of taking care of his brother?


Harry could perhaps hire a part time carer (if financially possible) that may look after his brother while he is not home and therefore give him time to ensure that his brother is safe and well while also allowing him to attend uni.

I’m cant think of any questions for 3. and ik that my answer is quite dodgy because the prompt already said money may pose a challenge so a bit dodge but yeah if someone could tell me what other support services are available

 

[threefivetwo]

Take my advice and viewpoint with the biggest grain of salt, I have not interviewed before and have only just started my own interview prep so I am by no means as knowledgeable or experienced as you guys.
This is my perspective on the third part of the question since part 1 and 2 were answered really good in my own opinion:
I personally wouldn’t advise her to leave the relationship since this verbal abuse has occurred as a result of an extremely stressful and upsetting life experience- it could be triggered by a traumatic life event. By all means abuse should not be condoned, but it is important to also consider the husbands point of view. I agree that she should be given support etc. but I think leaving the relationship with 5 children is a little extreme at this point. I think it’s important to try salvage the relationship via counselling and therapy and go from there.

Thank you for the insight! I didn't consider that the husband's verbal abuse may have been caused by a trigger. Although I've interviewed before, this doesn't mean that my opinion carries more weight or that I have more experience across the board particularly in subjects where it is beneficial to discuss from multiple viewpoints - that's why I think it's important to feel free to give feedback, as we all have something to bring to the table in terms of maturity, life experience, or insight and we can all uncover each other's holes in thinking that way

 

[Sokka]

The medical "hierarchy" may discourage many students from directly taking up their concerns with someone who is more senior to them, so in that case you may want to suggest some other ways of making yourself heard.

Regarding other ways to make yourself heard, what would you recommend? I can’t imagine there’d be systems in place for a medical student to complaint about a consultant? (Maybe talk about how these systems should be implemented in the future?)

 

[Scorpion]

This is my first attempt at a prompt so feel free to annihilate my answers if necessary. any feedback at all is appreciated

A close friend (Harry), who is in one of your university classes tells you that his brother has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (a blood cancer). He feels a need to spend time with his brother through this tough time. Harry also states that as his mother is a single mother working full time to earn enough money, that he should take on the role as carer for his brother. Harry then comes to the conclusion that he should drop out of university to make time and provide care to his brother.

1. As Harry’s friend, what should you do next?
As Harry's friend he clearly trusts me a lot since he confided in me all this personal information. As such, I would first empathise with him and tell him that I understand his concerns and acknowledge he must be going through an extremely tough time, particularly with his mother being a single mother and working full time and I would ensure that his reasoning for wanting to drop out feels validated. However, I would further explore the reasons as to why Harry feels he that the ONLY option is to drop out of university, as I really wouldn't want him to make any rash decisions which aren't logical and are driven by pure emotion rather then by reason. If for example he feels that he wouldn't have time to study (likely the major reason), I would encourage him to speak to the university about his situation and see if any accommodations/adjustments can be made. I would explain what some things the uni may do to accomodate him which may convince him to seek out this help. E.g. I may say that it is possible that they may allow you to fall back to part time study for the time being and extend the duration of his course or even allow him to take a Gap year in the middle of his study until he feels comfortable to restart again. Additionally, I would also speak to him about creating perhaps a schedule which allows him organise his time in order to enable him to both spend time with his brother in order to support him whilst also being able to study. Overall, I really wouldn't want harry to make any rash decisions and ensure that he exhausts all options before he makes a decision and ensure he has considered everything however at the same time I would be attempting to empathise with him and validate what he may be feeling.

2. What can you do to help Harry through this ordeal?

-I would definitely want to provide any emotional support for Harry during this time, whether because of the stress of his brother and I would want to make sure Harry feels he has a safe place he can confide in with anything that may be worrying him, or even go out with him once a week to do something he enjoys in order to mentally recuperate and destress thus ensuring that Harry doesn't feel too stressed.

I would also offer if there is anything (in terms of university work) that I could help him with if I am in the position to do so. whether that may be something such as a concept harry may be struggling with, or a particular assignment that he is unsure of what is required etc. I would ultimately want to support him in any way I can academically (whilst maintaining academic honesty ofc) that would allow him to save time and therefore spend more time with his Brother.

3. What support services could Harry take up to help ease the burden of taking care of his brother?


Harry could perhaps hire a part time carer (if financially possible) that may look after his brother while he is not home and therefore give him time to ensure that his brother is safe and well while also allowing him to attend uni.

I’m cant think of any questions for 3. and ik that my answer is quite dodgy because the prompt already said money may pose a challenge so a bit dodge but yeah if someone could tell me what other support services are available

(Disclaimer: Year 12 student)

I thought your answer to 1. was very well-considered and you touched on most of the aspects of the question I can think of. This question has been answered before and there was discussion of the nature of Harry's brother's cancer, which may be worthwhile to mention. Things such as whether/how long the brother is expected to live may factor into what Harry decides to do. I would encourage you to go back a few pages to look for previous responses which may explain this more clearly.

2. This was good but I think you could expand on a couple of points depending on how you're doing for time. For instance, you mentioned the need for Harry to recuperate and destress but you could bring up the emotional toll that being his brother's full-time carer may take on him and the need for balance between his time caring for his brother, possibly studying, and time for himself. This was implied by your response, so maybe you don't need to state it so explicitly but it's something to think about.

3. (I have taken most of this from previous answers) Support services can include organisations such as BeyondBlue, Lifeline, etc. which offer free online resources for taking care of your mental and emotional health as well as phone numbers to call and talk to a support person. Universities may have specific counseling or similar services you could mention, assuming Harry decides to stay at university. Otherwise, he can look elsewhere to access counseling or support groups. I would definitely be mentioning that cost is likely a limiting factor, so the free and cheap resources Harry can access should be identified.

 

[Crow]

Regarding other ways to make yourself heard, what would you recommend? I can’t imagine there’d be systems in place for a medical student to complaint about a consultant? (Maybe talk about how these systems should be implemented in the future?)

Take it to your medical school for them to handle, would be the real-world answer to that.

 

[dande]

(Disclaimer: Year 12 student)

I thought your answer to 1. was very well-considered and you touched on most of the aspects of the question I can think of. This question has been answered before and there was discussion of the nature of Harry's brother's cancer, which may be worthwhile to mention. Things such as whether/how long the brother is expected to live may factor into what Harry decides to do. I would encourage you to go back a few pages to look for previous responses which may explain this more clearly.

2. This was good but I think you could expand on a couple of points depending on how you're doing for time. For instance, you mentioned the need for Harry to recuperate and destress but you could bring up the emotional toll that being his brother's full-time carer may take on him and the need for balance between his time caring for his brother, possibly studying, and time for himself. This was implied by your response, so maybe you don't need to state it so explicitly but it's something to think about.

3. (I have taken most of this from previous answers) Support services can include organisations such as BeyondBlue, Lifeline, etc. which offer free online resources for taking care of your mental and emotional health as well as phone numbers to call and talk to a support person. Universities may have specific counseling or similar services you could mention, assuming Harry decides to stay at university. Otherwise, he can look elsewhere to access counseling or support groups. I would definitely be mentioning that cost is likely a limiting factor, so the free and cheap resources Harry can access should be identified.

ok thankyou for the feedback, I'll have a look at it now (I purposely didn't look at the discussion because I wanted to go in and try answer it without anything influencing me). cheers.

 

[JL538]

ok thankyou for the feedback, I'll have a look at it now (I purposely didn't look at the discussion because I wanted to go in and try answer it without anything influencing me). cheers.

Little thing but I think I read somewhere for Q2 that you could help Harry with household duties (grocery shopping, cleaning, lawn mowing etc) obviously if you have the time to reduce his already large workload of caring for his brother and university work, which you have already touched on.

 

[whoartthou]

Actually, it is legal for doctors to conscientiously object to things like abortion/euthanasia, HOWEVER if it is an emergent situation then conscientious objection is not an excuse to not perform a life-saving procedure. Certainly, and particularly prior to the recent changing of abortion law in some states, objections by doctors in rural areas - while legal - did actually result in a number of women passing the then legal gestational age for abortion, thus they either a) Had the child or b) Sought alternative and naturally unsafe means to terminate their pregnancy. Thankfully the laws have changed in QLD recently which should reduce the chance of situations like these from happening.

Sokka - good insights in your answer there. This is a particularly tricky area and your answer would really depend on how much time you were given in an interview. Generally speaking there are laws in place to protect children of Jehova's Witnesses from loss of life due to parental declines of consent for blood transfusions etc.

It's only legal for doctors to conscientiously object if they can organise transfer of care to a practitioner that can provide the service in a timely manner. If they do not do this they can still be held legally responsible.

Hi! I'd love some feedback on my response to this question


The issue is that my classmate has taken credit for my work within the context of a small university class that’s just started.

There are several considerations to take into account. The first is that my classmate is tired and flustered, and has been dealing with personal issues. Although it is inappropriate of her to take credit of my work, it is best to be compassionate in my response and assume that she perhaps slipped up in being tired, rather than jump to conclusions and assume that she’s trying to ‘impress the professor’, or let my emotions get the better of me and attack her for stealing my work.

The second consideration is the severity of the situation. The context of the situation is not an assessment that is weighted, but lecture readings - hence, the situation is not particularly serious. Although I would still speak to her about taking credit for other people’s work, this means it wouldn’t be particularly appropriate to escalate the situation beyond what’s needed, i.e. to the professor. The professor is settling in too - it’s best to let her focus on doing so and not cause any unnecessary burden on her.

The third consideration is that the course is small, hence it is important to handle the situation locally, discreetly, and at an appropriate time and place in order to prevent unnecessary rumors from spreading and best utilise the available resources.

The fourth consideration is that it is only the third day of class. With this in mind, it is preferable to resolve the situation in a peaceful manner in order to ensure a good working relationship with my classmate over the duration of the course.

Taking into account all of these considerations, I would approach the situation by catching her at the end of class and offering to buy her a coffee as she seemed to be tired. Assuming she accepts, over coffee I would ask if everything would be alright for next week’s readings and if she would like any help with them. I would ask if she followed along alright today, and kindly compliment her on making the effort to seek out a summary of the readings despite her ongoing personal issues that must be complicated. With that being said, I would gently tell her in a non-confrontational manner that I felt that she shouldn’t have repeated my summary as it wouldn’t be good academic practice. If she understands, I would ask that she not do so next time in the same manner. If not, I would explain to her the consequences of doing so in a formal assessment, as it would be dishonest and not acknowledge the source, then remind her as I would not make further discussion on the matter, as it is only the first time, she is dealing with personal issues and is tired, and it would not be advisable to escalate the situation further. As we finish our coffee, I would wrap up our conversation by kindly reiterating my offer of help for next week’s readings and wishing her the best for them.

If she declines coffee, I would repeat the same steps as I did over coffee, i.e. asking if everything would be alright for next week’s reading and the following steps.

I like your considerations but it comes across as a bit naive. You can phrase it better instead of trying to explain all her choices due to stressors in her life. I don't think you considered the negative consequences of this behaviour in the future for this particular student.
In terms of real life experience I don't see an issue with burning bridges but it should be done after careful consideration which in the above scenario may not be appropriate at this stage.

 

[Sokka]

Hey MSO,
I've tried to incorporate more nuance into my answers (something I've learnt from our previous discussion), and I'd like to hear some feedback.
Thanks
You are a head chef at a restaurant. During service, you receive a complaint from a patron. They complain of finding a small bone in the soup. This frightens you, as you know that they are a regular customer at the restaurant and are also vegetarian. Soon enough, the patron gets very vehement and starts to raise their voice in front of both you and the other customers dining.
1. What do you do next?
2. How would you discipline the chef that made the soup, if you choose to do so?
3. After the patron’s rant, more diners become very uncomfortable, and even up to a point, where some leave. What would you do to fix this?
4. What would you do to prevent this from occurring again in the workplace?
5. What factors may have caused this to occur?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Note, I will be assuming this patron is a "he" for the sake of saving myself to write "this patron" over and over again)
1. First, I would need to calm down this patron to prevent scaring the other customers. I would have to delegate my tasks to another chef, and I then I will tell this patron that I will investigate this issue. I will need to verify that meat has actually gone into the vegetarian soup, and the mistake was not this patron receiving the wrong soup. If the outcome was the latter option, I would offer a refund, and potentially a free meal to this patron as we have caused him some trouble while providing our service. Furthermore, we may have actually done him a disservice as there are a variety of reasons as to why this customer does not want to consume meat, such as he could be a Muslim (where it is against his religion to eat meat) or be on a very restrictive diet as it may be bad for his health to consumer meat. However, if this issue occurred because meat went into the vegetarian soup (which is much worse), I would need to immediately tell the chef to make another vegetarian soup (and discard the meat contaminated soup), and also make an announcement to let everyone in the restaurant aware of the situation due to the reasons mentioned previously (religion and diet restrictions). I should be willing to provide refunds and be prepared for any legal actions that may be taken against our restaurant, and although this was an accident it is understandable that some people would be angry at this situation. To help alleviate the issue and anger, I should provide free vegetable soups (or even meals if possible) for those who were affected.
2. I would need to ask the chef in a non confrontational way what happened. It is very likely that this was an accident, but I need to ask the chef how this occurred to prevent this from happening again. For example, he could have had too much to do during that shift and so he made a mistake when adding meat into the soup, and so I would need to be more careful when delegating tasks in the kitchen and ensure that everyone has a reasonable load. Alternatively, someone may have accidentally moved the position of his pot and so he accidentally put meat in it, and in this case I would need to implement a system in the kitchen where vegetarian meals are made in a specific section of the kitchen. Assuming this was an accident, I would not take disciplinary action on the chef.
3. I would need to try move the conversation between the patron and myself outside to minimise the disruption to our customers, and allowing me to talk to him without the pressure of our customers. Regardless if he complies or not, I would ask him what he wants, whether it be a refund or a free meal, as at the end of the day I need to be aware I may have provided a disservice and he has a reason to be angry. However, if he continues to disrupt/scares our customers, I would need to escalate the situation by calling security or the police as this poses a threat to the safety of my customers, staff, and myself.
4. Answered in Q2
5. Answered in Q2

 

[N182]

(Note, I will be assuming this patron is a "he" for the sake of saving myself to write "this patron" over and over again)

You could use they/them if you really wanted to be gender neutral but I don't think this matters too much. Also I'm another student but I think you're too nice to the chef/team, even if it was an accident he/the team still made a mistake and should take responsibility and should be more careful in these matters as that is his/their job!

 

[Scorpion]

Hey MSO,
I've tried to incorporate more nuance into my answers (something I've learnt from our previous discussion), and I'd like to hear some feedback.
Thanks
You are a head chef at a restaurant. During service, you receive a complaint from a patron. They complain of finding a small bone in the soup. This frightens you, as you know that they are a regular customer at the restaurant and are also vegetarian. Soon enough, the patron gets very vehement and starts to raise their voice in front of both you and the other customers dining.
1. What do you do next?
2. How would you discipline the chef that made the soup, if you choose to do so?
3. After the patron’s rant, more diners become very uncomfortable, and even up to a point, where some leave. What would you do to fix this?
4. What would you do to prevent this from occurring again in the workplace?
5. What factors may have caused this to occur?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Note, I will be assuming this patron is a "he" for the sake of saving myself to write "this patron" over and over again)
1. First, I would need to calm down this patron to prevent scaring the other customers. I would have to delegate my tasks to another chef, and I then I will tell this patron that I will investigate this issue. I will need to verify that meat has actually gone into the vegetarian soup, and the mistake was not this patron receiving the wrong soup. If the outcome was the latter option, I would offer a refund, and potentially a free meal to this patron as we have caused him some trouble while providing our service. Furthermore, we may have actually done him a disservice as there are a variety of reasons as to why this customer does not want to consume meat, such as he could be a Muslim (where it is against his religion to eat meat) or be on a very restrictive diet as it may be bad for his health to consumer meat. However, if this issue occurred because meat went into the vegetarian soup (which is much worse), I would need to immediately tell the chef to make another vegetarian soup (and discard the meat contaminated soup), and also make an announcement to let everyone in the restaurant aware of the situation due to the reasons mentioned previously (religion and diet restrictions). I should be willing to provide refunds and be prepared for any legal actions that may be taken against our restaurant, and although this was an accident it is understandable that some people would be angry at this situation. To help alleviate the issue and anger, I should provide free vegetable soups (or even meals if possible) for those who were affected.
2. I would need to ask the chef in a non confrontational way what happened. It is very likely that this was an accident, but I need to ask the chef how this occurred to prevent this from happening again. For example, he could have had too much to do during that shift and so he made a mistake when adding meat into the soup, and so I would need to be more careful when delegating tasks in the kitchen and ensure that everyone has a reasonable load. Alternatively, someone may have accidentally moved the position of his pot and so he accidentally put meat in it, and in this case I would need to implement a system in the kitchen where vegetarian meals are made in a specific section of the kitchen. Assuming this was an accident, I would not take disciplinary action on the chef.
3. I would need to try move the conversation between the patron and myself outside to minimise the disruption to our customers, and allowing me to talk to him without the pressure of our customers. Regardless if he complies or not, I would ask him what he wants, whether it be a refund or a free meal, as at the end of the day I need to be aware I may have provided a disservice and he has a reason to be angry. However, if he continues to disrupt/scares our customers, I would need to escalate the situation by calling security or the police as this poses a threat to the safety of my customers, staff, and myself.
4. Answered in Q2
5. Answered in Q2

(Disclaimer: yr 12)
1. I think you need to clearly state you would apologise to the patron straight away. You are the head chef and therefore at least partially responsible for the food which is served to patrons. You mention a couple of times that you 'may have done [the patron] a disservice', I think it's important to note this was definitely a disservice as the patron did not receive what he ordered but that is a very minor comment.

2. I think you could go down the avenue of explaining what you would do if the chef at fault was less apologetic about the incident than you assumed. As mentioned by N182 , you seemed to go very easy on the chef and while this is one potential scenario, I think you could do better by exploring other possibilities. You don't know for sure that the chef's accident was out of their control or that the chef apologetically accepted responsibility for their actions. Alternatively, they may have deflected the blame to less experienced chefs, or become angry at you for accusing them of making a mistake, etc. In these circumstances I believe you need to escalate the situation and disciplinary action should be taken. You could also mention the possibility that this is a mistake repeatedly made by the chef at fault, in which case you may need to do make significant changes to prevent the pattern from continuing. In addition to these possibilities, you could empathise with the chef at fault. How might the chef feel after the patron has- very loudly- announced their mistake? Embarrassed? Frustrated? How would you address this? I think you could have elaborated more on this question.

3. Maybe empathise with the other customers here. Acknowledge that they are at your restaurant for a service and environment they are not receiving and this is reason enough to be frustrated and uncomfortable. You could also consider the restaurant's reputation. The customers may tell others or post to social media negative comments about the restaurant, negatively impacting your business. You need to ensure they have a comfortable meal from this point forward to limit damage to your reputation. You could even apologise to the other patrons in the restaurant for the mistake and subsequent situation.

Overall (in my very inexperienced opinion), I think the avenues you did explain were very well-considered, but there were other possibilities you could explore in addition to them rather than simply assuming they did not occur.

 

[Sokka]

(Disclaimer: yr 12)
1. I think you need to clearly state you would apologise to the patron straight away. You are the head chef and therefore at least partially responsible for the food which is served to patrons. You mention a couple of times that you 'may have done [the patron] a disservice', I think it's important to note this was definitely a disservice as the patron did not receive what he ordered but that is a very minor comment.

2. I think you could go down the avenue of explaining what you would do if the chef at fault was less apologetic about the incident than you assumed. As mentioned by N182 , you seemed to go very easy on the chef and while this is one potential scenario, I think you could do better by exploring other possibilities. You don't know for sure that the chef's accident was out of their control or that the chef apologetically accepted responsibility for their actions. Alternatively, they may have deflected the blame to less experienced chefs, or become angry at you for accusing them of making a mistake, etc. In these circumstances I believe you need to escalate the situation and disciplinary action should be taken. You could also mention the possibility that this is a mistake repeatedly made by the chef at fault, in which case you may need to do make significant changes to prevent the pattern from continuing. In addition to these possibilities, you could empathise with the chef at fault. How might the chef feel after the patron has- very loudly- announced their mistake? Embarrassed? Frustrated? How would you address this? I think you could have elaborated more on this question.

3. Maybe empathise with the other customers here. Acknowledge that they are at your restaurant for a service and environment they are not receiving and this is reason enough to be frustrated and uncomfortable. You could also consider the restaurant's reputation. The customers may tell others or post to social media negative comments about the restaurant, negatively impacting your business. You need to ensure they have a comfortable meal from this point forward to limit damage to your reputation. You could even apologise to the other patrons in the restaurant for the mistake and subsequent situation.

Overall (in my very inexperienced opinion), I think the avenues you did explain were very well-considered, but there were other possibilities you could explore in addition to them rather than simply assuming they did not occur.

Yeah you definitely mentioned some stuff which I overlooked but should’ve said, thanks for providing different perspectives!
However (for discussion’s sake), wouldn’t it be fair to assume that the chef wouldn’t be willing to jeopardise his job? What you said actually came to mind but I thought it would waste precious time in an interview talking about something that seems so unlikely to happen. I couldn’t come up with why a chef would want to put meat in a veg soup on purpose? If he was a terrorist he would’ve poisoned it instead (a bit extreme, but that was what I was thinking) I’m interested to hear thoughts on this.
However, I do agree that I should empathise with the chef/look at different situations where he reacts differently.
But yeah thanks a lot for the feedback, appreciate your input <3

 

[Crow]

and also make an announcement to let everyone in the restaurant aware of the situation due to the reasons mentioned previously (religion and diet restrictions). I should be willing to provide refunds and be prepared for any legal actions that may be taken against our restaurant, and although this was an accident it is understandable that some people would be angry at this situation. To help alleviate the issue and anger, I should provide free vegetable soups (or even meals if possible) for those who were affected.

What did you mean by “everyone in the restaurant”? If you are including other customers/diners, I wouldn’t agree with this unless you’ve identified there was a max-scale mix up affecting many customers rather than a single isolated incident. Drawing the whole restaurant’s attention to a (potentially very significant) mistake probably won’t do anyone any favours unless you’re aware that more than one other person was affected.

I think with additional time you could potentially elaborate more on how you’d address the angry person beyond “calming them down” - how exactly would you go about this, what would you say other than telling them you’ll investigate the issue or giving them a meal for free? (While a good consideration, it’s very possible they’re more concerned about rectifying and avoiding the mistake itself rather than getting free food).

2. This seems like a trap of a question, because nothing in the stem indicates the chef is at fault - jumping to conclusions could lead to you having a crack at someone who did nothing wrong; maybe the waiting staff accidentally handed out the wrong meals to the wrong people, maybe the wrong table number was written down for that particular order, maybe another kitchen staff incorrectly labelled the meal etc etc (these things could also tie in with Q5 of this scenario). If I were to answer this question that’s the first thing I would bring up - determining where the problem actually went wrong before then going into the specifics of the disciplining. However, if extra info was given or the wording was different and it was clear the chef was at fault, then I wouldn’t mention that stuff of course.

3. Agree with the above comment, the issue is equally about the specific patron as well as the other customers - definitely would want to address how you’d deal with the others (losing a bunch of customers would be worse than losing one).

4 & 5 - you may have touched on these in your answer to Q2 but I think there would be more to add here. Understaffing issues, personal issues affecting individual staff, inefficient or ineffective workplace policies/procedures etc are a few that spring to mind that you could discuss.

 

[Sokka]

What did you mean by “everyone in the restaurant”? If you are including other customers/diners, I wouldn’t agree with this unless you’ve identified there was a max-scale mix up affecting many customers rather than a single isolated incident. Drawing the whole restaurant’s attention to a (potentially very significant) mistake probably won’t do anyone any favours unless you’re aware that more than one other person was affected.

I think with additional time you could potentially elaborate more on how you’d address the angry person beyond “calming them down” - how exactly would you go about this, what would you say other than telling them you’ll investigate the issue or giving them a meal for free? (While a good consideration, it’s very possible they’re more concerned about rectifying and avoiding the mistake itself rather than getting free food).

2. This seems like a trap of a question, because nothing in the stem indicates the chef is at fault - jumping to conclusions could lead to you having a crack at someone who did nothing wrong; maybe the waiting staff accidentally handed out the wrong meals to the wrong people, maybe the wrong table number was written down for that particular order, maybe another kitchen staff incorrectly labelled the meal etc etc (these things could also tie in with Q5 of this scenario). If I were to answer this question that’s the first thing I would bring up - determining where the problem actually went wrong before then going into the specifics of the disciplining. However, if extra info was given or the wording was different and it was clear the chef was at fault, then I wouldn’t mention that stuff of course.

3. Agree with the above comment, the issue is equally about the specific patron as well as the other customers - definitely would want to address how you’d deal with the others (losing a bunch of customers would be worse than losing one).

4 & 5 - you may have touched on these in your answer to Q2 but I think there would be more to add here. Understaffing issues, personal issues affecting individual staff, inefficient or ineffective workplace policies/procedures etc are a few that spring to mind that you could discuss.

Thanks for the feedback Crow,
"What did you mean by “everyone in the restaurant”? If you are including other customers/diners, I wouldn’t agree with this unless you’ve identified there was a max-scale mix up affecting many customers rather than a single isolated incident. Drawing the whole restaurant’s attention to a (potentially very significant) mistake probably won’t do anyone any favours unless you’re aware that more than one other person was affected."
- What I meant was that in the case that the vegetable soup was "contaminated" with meat, I would let everyone be aware of it so that those who ordered it can stop eating if they have a reason to. Unless you would think it's better to let those who ordered the soup know there's meat in it individually? (Although this prevents EVERYONE from knowing, it means that some people may have finished their veg soup before we could tell them to stop. I suppose I could have clarified this in my response).

"I think with additional time you could potentially elaborate more on how you’d address the angry person beyond “calming them down” - how exactly would you go about this, what would you say other than telling them you’ll investigate the issue or giving them a meal for free? (While a good consideration, it’s very possible they’re more concerned about rectifying and avoiding the mistake itself rather than getting free food)."
- I agree with you here. However, how would I tell them how I'll avoid the mistake if I don't know what the mistake is? As in, it seems like it would take some time before I can find the causes of this and come up with a viable prevention strategy. I suggested a quick fix in my response to please the customer.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Scorpion]

Yeah you definitely mentioned some stuff which I overlooked but should’ve said, thanks for providing different perspectives!
However (for discussion’s sake), wouldn’t it be fair to assume that the chef wouldn’t be willing to jeopardise his job? What you said actually came to mind but I thought it would waste precious time in an interview talking about something that seems so unlikely to happen. I couldn’t come up with why a chef would want to put meat in a veg soup on purpose? If he was a terrorist he would’ve poisoned it instead (a bit extreme, but that was what I was thinking) I’m interested to hear thoughts on this.
However, I do agree that I should empathise with the chef/look at different situations where he reacts differently.
But yeah thanks a lot for the feedback, appreciate your input <3

By 'other scenarios', I didn't mean the possibility that the chef put meat in the soup on purpose (I agree, that does seem a bit of a stretch). I was more so referring to the chef's reaction when you notified them of the issue. I don't think it's beyond reason for the chef to become overly defensive at this point, or retaliate out of frustration, particularly if they've had a very stressful night. It's also a very real possibility that the mistake has happened before. In each of these cases, you may need to handle the situation differently, through either disciplinary action or more significant changes to the working space. Crow 's suggestions for question 2 were further considerations I missed, but the same goes for if you discover a member of the wait staff, etc. is at fault. They could react several ways and as the head chef, you need to stand up as a leader and let them know this type of incident is unacceptable in your restaurant and while you will make the changes you can to ensure this situation doesn't repeat itself, they also need to pay attention to their responsibilities.

 

[Crow]

However, how would I tell them how I'll avoid the mistake if I don't know what the mistake is? As in, it seems like it would take some time before I can find the causes of this and come up with a viable prevention strategy. I suggested a quick fix in my response to please the customer.

That’s ok, I get where you’re coming from. I’m more meaning that you need to validate their anger, acknowledge that what happened was unacceptable and they are completely in the right to be angry (agreement and validation are great when dealing with angry people - it’s much harder for someone to fire up and continue to be angry when you’re just agreeing with them and validating their viewpoint - this also helps address the later question of how you’d act when the angry patron is causing others to leave). The stem also mentions they’re a regular customer - you could acknowledge to them that you really appreciate their loyalty to the restaurant and how this makes rectifying their situation especially important. You can then offer them a replacement meal for free and assure them you’ll be investigating what happened to ensure the situation won’t happen again.

The “inform everyone else” part assumes that there was a wide-scale mix up or contamination which the stem doesn’t provide, so you’d need to be informed of that before acting to inform the other customers (who may well not have anything wrong) - you could still bring this up and say “if I found out that.... then I could do this”.

 

[kotoloper]

Hi all, another quick practice attempt! As always, any feedback is much appreciated. In the earlier questions (1 and 2) it kinda feels like the later questions could have been incorporated there, but I saved it for actual questions, so it might seem a bit lacking. Thank you!

Your grandmother lives alone and is fiercely independent. Recently however, she has become quite ill, and your mother is worried that she is unable to look after herself anymore. Your grandmother however, flatly refuses to live in a nursing home. Your mother then decides that it would be best for her if she came and lived with the family instead. Your father however, is resolutely against this idea.

1. What should the mother do?
2. How might you discuss this with your father?
3. How might you persuade your father?
4. Imagine you are a teenager, and your grandmother is very conservative. How might you react to having your grandmother living with you?

1. My mother should discuss with my grandmother about what she wants to do – does she want to come and live with the family? Since my grandmother is described as ‘fiercely independent’, she may not want to rely on her family’s support. My mother should emphasise to her that family is there to help, but if my grandmother continues to refuse, my mother should explore other options available to find one that my grandmother is satisfied with and that is beneficial to her health. For example, having an in-home nurse would still give my grandma her independence around her own house, and help when she needs it. It is important here to maintain an open line of communication with my grandmother to ensure that she is happy with the proposed solution. If my grandmother agrees that living with the family is the best idea, my mother should discuss with my father about why he is resolutely against this idea – are there specific reasons to his opposition? She should try to understand my father’s perspective and attempt to reach a compromise.

2. I would initiative a conversation with my father, perhaps about schoolwork or what’s going on at work to get him into a relaxed mood. I would then tentatively bring up the subject of grandmother moving in, and ask him about his reasons for objecting to this. I would encourage him to vent out his possible frustrations and motives, maintaining an open body language to emphasise that I want to understand his perspective. There could be issues surrounding his side of the family, work-related stress, or even his own relationship with my grandmother. I would explore whatever issues he brings up and try to find a solution together.

3. I would remind him of the importance of family, and that family have an obligation to help each other in times of need. I would also remind him of grandmother’s deteriorating health, and that she requires assistance. If he rebuts this by suggesting to put her in a nursing home or equivalent, shifting the responsibility from the family onto other facilities, I would encourage him to empathise with my grandmother’s situation – she wants to retain her independence, and she may feel more comfortable living among family . I would suggest to him to put himself in her shoes, and understand her perspective. If their relationship is strained, fuelling his objection, I would suggest that living together is a great opportunity to reconcile and re-connect with each other.

4. Being a teenager in the 21st century and living with a conservative grandmother could result in a strained relationship. This is because my grandmother probably retains traditional values that may not resonate in today’s community, and may try to impose them on me. For example, she may think that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, or that only heterogenous relationships are ‘normal’. I could feel trapped by the imposition of these values, but since I don’t really want to strain my relationship with my grandmother, this could result in a large contradiction between my actions and feelings – I might present a fake version of myself to her while keeping my true self bottled up inside, which can be detrimental to my mental health and perception of myself. I could either feel increasingly alienated from her and may not interact with her often, or there is the possibility of getting into arguments surrounding our disparate values. I might become progressively frustrated, and, being a teenager, would probably have the perseverance to try and maintain a healthy, open conversation but instead lash out and strain our relationship.

 

[Sokka]

Hi all, another quick practice attempt! As always, any feedback is much appreciated. In the earlier questions (1 and 2) it kinda feels like the later questions could have been incorporated there, but I saved it for actual questions, so it might seem a bit lacking. Thank you!

Your grandmother lives alone and is fiercely independent. Recently however, she has become quite ill, and your mother is worried that she is unable to look after herself anymore. Your grandmother however, flatly refuses to live in a nursing home. Your mother then decides that it would be best for her if she came and lived with the family instead. Your father however, is resolutely against this idea.

1. What should the mother do?
2. How might you discuss this with your father?
3. How might you persuade your father?
4. Imagine you are a teenager, and your grandmother is very conservative. How might you react to having your grandmother living with you?

1. My mother should discuss with my grandmother about what she wants to do – does she want to come and live with the family? Since my grandmother is described as ‘fiercely independent’, she may not want to rely on her family’s support. My mother should emphasise to her that family is there to help, but if my grandmother continues to refuse, my mother should explore other options available to find one that my grandmother is satisfied with and that is beneficial to her health. For example, having an in-home nurse would still give my grandma her independence around her own house, and help when she needs it. It is important here to maintain an open line of communication with my grandmother to ensure that she is happy with the proposed solution. If my grandmother agrees that living with the family is the best idea, my mother should discuss with my father about why he is resolutely against this idea – are there specific reasons to his opposition? She should try to understand my father’s perspective and attempt to reach a compromise.

2. I would initiative a conversation with my father, perhaps about schoolwork or what’s going on at work to get him into a relaxed mood. I would then tentatively bring up the subject of grandmother moving in, and ask him about his reasons for objecting to this. I would encourage him to vent out his possible frustrations and motives, maintaining an open body language to emphasise that I want to understand his perspective. There could be issues surrounding his side of the family, work-related stress, or even his own relationship with my grandmother. I would explore whatever issues he brings up and try to find a solution together.

3. I would remind him of the importance of family, and that family have an obligation to help each other in times of need. I would also remind him of grandmother’s deteriorating health, and that she requires assistance. If he rebuts this by suggesting to put her in a nursing home or equivalent, shifting the responsibility from the family onto other facilities, I would encourage him to empathise with my grandmother’s situation – she wants to retain her independence, and she may feel more comfortable living among family . I would suggest to him to put himself in her shoes, and understand her perspective. If their relationship is strained, fuelling his objection, I would suggest that living together is a great opportunity to reconcile and re-connect with each other.

4. Being a teenager in the 21st century and living with a conservative grandmother could result in a strained relationship. This is because my grandmother probably retains traditional values that may not resonate in today’s community, and may try to impose them on me. For example, she may think that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, or that only heterogenous relationships are ‘normal’. I could feel trapped by the imposition of these values, but since I don’t really want to strain my relationship with my grandmother, this could result in a large contradiction between my actions and feelings – I might present a fake version of myself to her while keeping my true self bottled up inside, which can be detrimental to my mental health and perception of myself. I could either feel increasingly alienated from her and may not interact with her often, or there is the possibility of getting into arguments surrounding our disparate values. I might become progressively frustrated, and, being a teenager, would probably have the perseverance to try and maintain a healthy, open conversation but instead lash out and strain our relationship.

Disclaimer: yr 12 student
Overall, I really do like your response kotoloper. I felt that everything you discussed made sense and there was nothing that you did "wrong" per se (imo). However, for Q4, it does ask how you would react, so I think maybe explaining what you will do is a better way to answer it.
What I think may benefit you is by looking at other people's responses to this just to see different perspectives of this issue and the different ways you can answer this. This is why I've attached my response, and although a lot of what we said was similar, I think I mentioned a couple different things to you Like always, any feedback is appreciated.

Your grandmother lives alone and is fiercely independent. Recently however, she has become quite ill, and your mother is worried that she is unable to look after herself anymore. Your grandmother however, flatly refuses to live in a nursing home. Your mother then decides that it would be best for her if she came and lived with the family instead. Your father however, is resolutely against this idea.

1. What should the mother do?
2. How might you discuss this with your father?
3. How might you persuade your father?
4. Imagine you are a teenager, and your grandmother is very conservative. How might you react to having your grandmother living with you?

1)Considerations:

• Grandmother’s wishes (does she want to move in?)
• The competency of the grandmother (what type of illness is this? Neurological?)
• How far away does the grandmother live? (Nearby or far away?)
• What are her options? She could leave her grandmother be, have her move in with the family, or she could look for an alternative such as maybe having the grandmother’s friend live with her.

Exploring outcomes:

• If the grandmother was left on her own, the mother would understandable be very anxious, potentially leading to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Furthermore, the grandmother may be at a higher risk living by herself as in case anything were to happen to her, she would have no one to help her. This is where knowledge of the grandmother’s condition comes in handy, as we will be able to gauge the risks of her living on her own. For example, if she has a very bad arthritis to the point where she is unable to use a phone, the risk is much higher as she may be unable to call an ambulance in the case of an emergency. In contrast, if her condition happened to be a slight knee pain, although this poses may risks such as instability when walking, it is much lower than what I mentioned previously. Furthermore, if the grandmother happens to live nearby in a neighbouring suburb for example, it may be feasible to have her stay where she is for the benefit of everybody (grandmother and husband). However, this matter is further complicated if the grandmother lives far away as she will be quite inaccessible for the family.
• If the mother were to make her grandmother life with her, this could have adverse effects on her family dynamic. The husband may view this as disrespecting his place in the relationship, and may get angry. This may lead to a deterioration of their relationship, potentially leading to a divorce or worse, domestic violence. It is important for the mother to communicate with her husband and ask him exactly why he doesn’t want the grandmother to live with them. It could be a very valid reason such as he feels it breaches their privacy, or it could be that they have a poor relationship and he finds it awkward. Both of these are understandable as people want to feel comfortable in their own home, however, the mother may be able to look for a solution such as building a granny flat (if money and space permits)
• A viable option to ensure that both parties are happy would be to negotiate with her grandmother to live with a housemate. In this case, the grandmother can maintain her sense of independence, and she will not be going against her husbands wishes.

2) Continuing from Q1, the mother would have to ensure she remains very open and understanding, as the husband needs to have an equal say in this as he is living here too.

3) To persuade the husband, the mother must explain to him the potential consequences of leaving the grandmother on her own. If he agrees the consequences are bad and easily avoidable if she lives with them, it is very likely that (assuming he is rational) he would be more accepting of allowing her to stay with them. However, in the case that he does not want her to stay despite explaining to him the reasons, this suggests that there may be some underlying issue in the husbands and grandmother’s relationship, which must be fixed. If this is the case, counselling could a be a viable method to overcome this.

4) Being a conservative grandmother suggests that she will oppose many actions of someone living in the 21st century. It is likely that she would voice her strong opinions of my actions which could potentially insult me. For example, she may not like the fact that I use technology and so she may ruin my experience by constantly condemning me and telling the “back in my day” stories to make me feel inadequate. Ultimately, this suggests that our relationship will be strained and may lead to an unhealthy environment at home. As a teenager, I should try to negotiate with her and explain that times have changed. She may get upset at me speaking to her like this (because she is a conservative loll), so I must ensure that I speak respectfully as she is still my grandmother living under the same roof as me. If discussions don’t work, I could invite some of my friends over/take her out for lunch to give her a better understanding of the world now as she may have been uncomfortable to explore the unknown causing her to hate it. Overall, I should react in such a way to help her understand my lifestyle to strengthen our relationship.