Hello fellow DPT hopefuls! For those of you that have already had interviews this year, what were some questions that stood out to you?
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One of the more odd questions I've received so far is as follows:
"If you could give us one sentence to remember you by, what would it be?". This was the last question of the interview and really put us (group interview) on the spot. I'm sure everyone who got that question felt the same way. Take this as a heads up!
"If you could give us one sentence to remember you by, what would it be?". This was the last question of the interview and really put us (group interview) on the spot. I'm sure everyone who got that question felt the same way. Take this as a heads up!
I have interviewed at two different schools this cycle, both of which I found asked similar questions. At one school, I had two 1-on-1 interviews with faculty members, and at the other school it was a 2-on-1 interview (myself and 2 faculty members at the same time)
The first question any program is going to ask is "Tell me about yourself" or "Why PT?" Given that you know yourself and hopefully why you want to be a physical therapist, this shouldn't be too challenging for the first question.
Typical questions:
"Why PT and not OT?" (or athletic trainer, other health care professional, etc.)
"Tell me about your greatest failure"
"Why do you make a good candidate for our program?"
"Why are you interested in our program?"
"Tell me about a challenge you have faced"
"Tell me about your role in leadership"
I also once got a question regarding a specific "ethical dilemma" and how I would respond in that situation. These are just a handful of questions I know I was asked. The best advice I can give for ANY interview is to be yourself and be honest. Additionally, don't practice excessively to the point where you sound like a robot. You want to prepare for questions you know you are likely to be asked, but also be ready to have to come up with answers to questions you weren't expecting. A great piece of advice I used during one of my interviews is NOT answering immediately after the question is posed - if you are stumped by the question THAT IS OKAY. It's likely that the question has stumped others as well. What I have done in this situation is simply said "That is a great question, would you mind allowing me to think about that for a few moments?" this way, you give yourself time to think about it and you will hopefully not just start rambling on about a subject before being prepared to answer the question. The interviewers will not mind giving you a few moments to think, and will probably respect the fact that you want to think about it before answering.
Really this is all the advice I have regarding interviews. Both of mine were similar and felt more like a conversation rather than an interview. Both were extremely relaxed and made me feel very welcome. I was accepted to both schools I interviewed with.
The first question any program is going to ask is "Tell me about yourself" or "Why PT?" Given that you know yourself and hopefully why you want to be a physical therapist, this shouldn't be too challenging for the first question.
Typical questions:
"Why PT and not OT?" (or athletic trainer, other health care professional, etc.)
"Tell me about your greatest failure"
"Why do you make a good candidate for our program?"
"Why are you interested in our program?"
"Tell me about a challenge you have faced"
"Tell me about your role in leadership"
I also once got a question regarding a specific "ethical dilemma" and how I would respond in that situation. These are just a handful of questions I know I was asked. The best advice I can give for ANY interview is to be yourself and be honest. Additionally, don't practice excessively to the point where you sound like a robot. You want to prepare for questions you know you are likely to be asked, but also be ready to have to come up with answers to questions you weren't expecting. A great piece of advice I used during one of my interviews is NOT answering immediately after the question is posed - if you are stumped by the question THAT IS OKAY. It's likely that the question has stumped others as well. What I have done in this situation is simply said "That is a great question, would you mind allowing me to think about that for a few moments?" this way, you give yourself time to think about it and you will hopefully not just start rambling on about a subject before being prepared to answer the question. The interviewers will not mind giving you a few moments to think, and will probably respect the fact that you want to think about it before answering.
Really this is all the advice I have regarding interviews. Both of mine were similar and felt more like a conversation rather than an interview. Both were extremely relaxed and made me feel very welcome. I was accepted to both schools I interviewed with.
thats very helpful, thanks so much!
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Some that I have been asked:
"Tell me about your greatest accomplishment"
"Tell me about a leadership role and explain what issues that came across"
"A challenge that you have recently experienced and what you did to overcome it"
"Tell me about your observation hours and a patient that stuck out to you"
"Let's say you are a physical therapist working at a private practice, the owner tells you to let the PTA take the majority of your work for you so you can take on new patients for evals. The owner knew it was wrong and still told you to still do it. What would you do in this situation?"
"Tell me about your communication skills and how you handle interpersonal problems"
"What is your definition of physical therapy and tell us about the scope of practice."
"Tell me what you know about the physical therapy boards and the steps to take it." (this one stumped me lol)
"Why did you choose to apply to this school"
"Why PT"
That's all I can think of right now. Hope this helps. Good Luck!
"Tell me about your greatest accomplishment"
"Tell me about a leadership role and explain what issues that came across"
"A challenge that you have recently experienced and what you did to overcome it"
"Tell me about your observation hours and a patient that stuck out to you"
"Let's say you are a physical therapist working at a private practice, the owner tells you to let the PTA take the majority of your work for you so you can take on new patients for evals. The owner knew it was wrong and still told you to still do it. What would you do in this situation?"
"Tell me about your communication skills and how you handle interpersonal problems"
"What is your definition of physical therapy and tell us about the scope of practice."
"Tell me what you know about the physical therapy boards and the steps to take it." (this one stumped me lol)
"Why did you choose to apply to this school"
"Why PT"
That's all I can think of right now. Hope this helps. Good Luck!
I have only been on one interview so far, but this is what I was asked:
"How did you get interested in PT and why our program?"
"What would you bring to our program?"
"What was a challenge you have overcome or a weakness you have?"
"Describe a time when you were in a group and the other group members made a decision that you did not agree with but had to be supportive."
"How did you get interested in PT and why our program?"
"What would you bring to our program?"
"What was a challenge you have overcome or a weakness you have?"
"Describe a time when you were in a group and the other group members made a decision that you did not agree with but had to be supportive."
