It was way past midnight; just another uneventful night of mindless doomscrolling on social media. But tonight, something truly caught my eye and transfixed my mind. A Tanishq Jewellery – The Interview (2022) – India – Mother’s Day advertisement about a new mom rejoining the workforce after her maternity break. No, this post is not a commentary on women in the workforce or a story of a new mother breaking the glass ceiling.
However, this is about frequently asked dental school interview question and controlling the narrative – how you can position life experiences, including career gaps, and spin them in your favor. More specifically, this is about building a convincing story around conscious pauses and unforeseen setbacks. As foreign-trained dentists trying to find our feet in an alien world, we could probably take a leaf out of the protagonist’s ‘job description’. And this brief post is merely our attempt to give you the confidence, and maybe an idea or two, to do so!
How to Confidently Explain Resume Gaps in Your Dental School Interview.
So what does count as a gap? A prolonged absence – say more than six months – from active dentistry is construed as a gap. That said, if this period had also occurred a long time ago in the past, and was subsequently followed by reemployment or higher education, then you don’t really have to worry about the explanation.
As international dentists who have moved to the U.S. and are aspiring to get back to dentistry, this pause is common and often inevitable. The real win lies in acknowledging the gap and reemphasizing your efforts to get your foot back in the door. And how best to do it?
Own it – accept the gap.
Like I said before, it is common, happens to most aspirants, and is not a big deal. Hence, accept and acknowledge the gap openly, without getting defensive. And it is absolutely not necessary to overexplain.
Eg:
Yes, I had to lay off dentistry for about two years upon moving to the United States, after five years as a professor of dentistry.
Outline it – the reason.
And then, follow it up with the truth – at least as much of it as you can share. Having a career gap is not a red flag, but a hesitation to explain it, could be! Yes, sometimes facts can be stranger than fiction, but are still understandable when explained. Some such common reasons include during your dental school interview:
- Relocation and the regional prerequisites for gaining dental experience in any capacity
- Family commitments, parenthood, financial circumstances
- Higher education/additional qualification (MPH, for instance)
Eg:
The small town I had moved to did not have more than two dental practices – both of which did not allow volunteers to shadow, and the closest other practice was a 2-hour drive away.
That was the year I had taken off to focus on preparing for my residency entrance exam back in my home country.
I had just moved to the U.S. – I needed some time to orient myself to the climate, culture, and community.
COVID and the resultant job cuts dented my financial stability, and I had to switch careers temporarily to stay afloat.
Reposition and repackage it.
This is the most crucial step in answering this dental school interview question; the deal-breaker. Such gaps are normal, both as humans and as professionals transitioning between lives and careers across geographies. However, it is crucial to shift the focus to
- How your time was employed during that interlude
- What efforts you took to stay connected to dentistry
Eg:
Even when health-related jobs were scarce, the odd jobs I did taught me not just finance and marketing but also resilience and fortitude. I worked as a project manager in a financial investment firm, where I learned to negotiate, market, coordinate and maintain ethical protocols. I predict these skills will help me in the future.
Uber, McD, 7 Eleven: My diverse work experiences, beyond dentistry, have instilled invaluable wisdom within me, such as the significance of time management, communication, and customer service from my tenure at McDonald’s, the art of negotiation and communication from my role as a Financial Representative at Money Mart, and customer handling and decision-making from my job at 7 Eleven. These skills are crucial not only for the positions mentioned but also for managing complex dental cases.
In summary, the best way to answer this dental interview question is by being honest.
- Accept facts, own them
- Do not get defensive
- Focus on what you did to fill that gap period – freelance, volunteering, related work
- Takeaways and how they can be applied to life as a dental student/ professional.
Make the gap a chapter, not the plot of the story
Because life happens. And most journeys are not linear. Your path may have meandered, but what matters is that you are still on that road, forging your way forward.
All you need to do is remind the listener that every experience in life has the potential to teach valuable lessons; lessons that can be applied in multiple areas of life. If you can repackage the gap as your strength instead of a weakness, and position the learnings as opportunities instead of threats, your gap stands explained.
And you become the protagonist of your life, instead of a victim of the circumstances!!
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