PhD/PsyD Performance-Based Interview--what to expect?

[HomeworkHelper]

Hi all, I have an interview at a VA for a staff psychologist position. They mentioned they would be using a PBI. I looked at the PBI website and downloaded the sample questions that are pretty generic. I'm not currently at a VA, so I'm not in a good position to ask people what the questions look like more specifically for a psychologist position. Has anyone had experience with a PBI-style interview and would be willing to share the kinds of questions you remember? Thank you!

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[erg923]

I don't think I can/should share specfic questions, but suffice to say "Tell me about a time when..." or variant thereof, will be at the beginning of each. Be prepared to discuss examples of complex patients, specific treatments/assessment approaches, specific orientations, conflict resolutions techniques, working with management and within confines of a large organization, etc.

 

[WisNeuro]

Yeah, it's nothing out of the realm of a normal interview. If you are not prepared to answer the PBI type questions, you are probably not prepared for an interview in general. As erg said, just be able to talk about your clinical skills in relation to specific examples.

 

[HomeworkHelper]

Thanks to you both. My previous interviews for internship and postdoc were more conversational in nature, asking questions more broadly, like "tell me more about your experience with DBT." I did generate specific examples of challenging cases, but didn't get too many of those kind of questions at the places I interviewed. I'm usually a good interviewer, but I wanted to make sure I was prepared. My interview is only an hour, which I hope doesn't mean anything in and of itself.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I don't think I can/should share specfic questions, but suffice to say "Tell me about a time when..." or variant thereof, will be at the beginning of each. Be prepared to discuss examples of complex patients, specific treatments/assessment approaches, specific orientations, conflict resolutions techniques, working with management and within confines of a large organization, etc.

I preferred those types of questions when interviewed. I can talk about cases all day long. Answering vague open-ended questions is much harder for me, although I have gotten better with all the practice we get during the process.

 

[cara susanna]

Hi all, hope you don't mind me bumping this thread.

Does anyone know how much one's score on the PBI factors into the hiring decision? Or does that vary across VAs?

 

[WisNeuro]

Varies. We just asked the questions to say that we did to satisfy HR and then went ahead with our own rankings.

 

[erg923]

Hi all, hope you don't mind me bumping this thread.

Does anyone know how much one's score on the PBI factors into the hiring decision? Or does that vary across VAs?

At my former VA, scores are the deciding factor unless something about your personality/behavior grossed us out.