Interview Questions: How to Prepare for an Interview
By asking psychology interview questions, employers can find out about a psychologist’s sense of humor, specific strengths, personality, and ability to fit into the company’s work environment. When preparing for a job interview, psychologists should know what kinds of questions they might be asked and how to answer them. Think carefully about each question and answer so you can come up with a good answer when similar questions are asked. This article talks about common interview questions in psychology and shows you how to answer them. How to Prepare for an Interview
Example answers to the most common psychology interview questions
When preparing for a psychology interview, you should be ready for any question. Here are some examples of how to answer some of the most common questions.
1. Why should we hire you instead of another qualified person?
You need to talk about yourself to answer this question. Your answers should be short and clear, but they should also include important information, like what you’ve done and what makes you more qualified than the other job applicants. Find out what the qualifications are so you can show that you have them and can do more than what is required.
Example: “You should hire me because I have proven office efficiency skills, good communication skills, passion, and problem-solving skills. In the past, my coworkers and bosses didn’t like how passionate I was about my work and how much I cared about my clients. I can’t wait to help more people with this group.”
2. Have you thought about getting another job?
Tell the interviewer the truth if you have other job offers or have applied for jobs in psychology elsewhere. The person who is interviewing you might call other places where you have applied for jobs to find out more about you.
Example: “One hospital in this area has offered me a job, and I’m still waiting to hear from two other places where I’ve applied. I applied for this job because I am an expert in educational psychology and have spent the last 12 years working in schools, where I enjoyed my work.”
3.Why would you want to study psychology?
You should be able to show how much you love and care about psychology by how you answer this question. Show how much you like psychology by telling stories about it.
Example: “My mother was told she had bipolar disorder when she was ten years old. She was sad, and I didn’t have anyone to help me. I chose to work in health care facilities so I could help other families who were having the same problems as mine.”
4. Why are you interested in working here?
This is a question an interviewer can ask to make sure you know what the facilities are for. To answer this question, you will need to find out more about the company.
Example: “As I looked for a new job, I realized that I want to work in a place that helps people with mental health problems and for a company that knows how important honesty is. Your organization is at the top of the list of companies fighting for institutional integrity, which is what I want in my next job. It helps poor families with mental health problems.”
5. How do you communicate?
Showing that you know there are different ways to talk to people that work better in different situations is a great way to answer this question. Give an example of a way to talk that is quick, effective, and can be used to go into detail. How you answer can also be affected by where you are applying for a job.
“Working with patients who live in remote areas has taught me that I can easily reach them through phone calls and not through methods that require an internet connection.”
6.How will you make a difference?
Ask the people being interviewed what they want to do and what their goals are. Tell the person who is interviewing you that you can do anything.
“At my last job, I helped a lot of people with mental health problems and made sure the facilities did their jobs as planned.”
7. How much do you think you’ll get paid?
Doing a lot of research to find out how much people at the facility make can make it easy to answer this question. Find out how much different psychology jobs pay as well. Tell the people you are interviewing with that you are flexible and willing to talk about pay.
“My salary needs match my skills, and I’m sure we can come to an agreement on a salary.”
8. What do you do best as a therapist?
Before you go to an interview, you should think about what you’re good at in psychology and come up with good examples that not many other people will think of.
Example: “**I am a social person with a large group of friends that I stay in touch with by finding ways to stay in touch, like talking on social media platforms. I get along with all kinds of people, which helps me when I work with people who have mental problems.”
9. What do you think is the best thing you’ve ever done?
Interviewers may ask you this question to find out what you think is your best accomplishment. Tell me about your last job or school project. What did you do, what was your role, and why do you think it was worth it?
Example: “My center won an award last month because feminist psychology cares about social justice. I was in charge of putting together the team and making sure that feminist psychology was a top priority. We helped women who were having problems with their mental health get back with their families and deal with social issues.”
10. Why did you quit your previous job?
This question gives employers information they can use to figure out what went wrong at your last job. They also use this question to figure out if you were fired from a job because you didn’t do your job well or because you did something wrong. Don’t say anything bad, but answer the question truthfully.
Example: “Even though I liked my previous jobs, I didn’t find any more ways to grow that fit with my professional goals. This job sounds like a good fit for what I want to do with my career.”
11. How do you deal with stress?
Stress is a big part of therapists’ jobs, and they can’t avoid it. Employers ask this question to find out how you can keep the great culture of the company even when you’re working hard.
Example: “Communication has been a great way for me to deal with stress. When I talk to my coworkers, I keep my clients’ privacy in mind. I go to my therapists for help when I can’t handle the stress, and they help me a lot.”
12. In eight years, what do you think your job will be like?
Think about this question and tell me what you want to accomplish. Even if you’re not sure if you’ll be there for the next eight years, include this company in your story of the future.
“I hope to gain more experience and show other therapists in this facility how to do their jobs better.”
13. What difficulties did you face at your last job?
This question is meant to find out what kind of experience you have and if you’re a good fit for the job. Talk about what went wrong and how you fixed it.
Example: “You have to be patient to be a therapist. When I first started my last job, I felt alone in my work and tired of helping people. Over time, I’ve made friends, so it’s not hard for me to feel bad for my patients now.”
14. Tell me about your daily life.
Employers want to know what you do when you’re not at work or school. Describe a typical day at work for you.
Example: “I spend my days as a therapist talking to clients about things like depression, family problems, and drug use. When I don’t have a meeting, I call my clients to find out how they’re doing.”
15. Tell me about what you do as a counselor.
Tell me about the problems you had at your last job, the skills you used, and what you learned.
Example: “As a therapist, I worked with people who had very serious mental problems, but to help them, I had to meet their needs. My work experience was great because it gave me the chance to learn about the lives of many different people, which is what I want to do here.”
16. What should a therapist’s mind be like?
This question asks you to explain how you work with clients and how seriously you take their problems.
“I worked with people who had mental health problems, and even when their problems were hard, I treated them with a positive attitude.”
17. What gets people going?
This question helps the interviewer figure out what you need to keep working even when things are hard. Tell us what keeps you going and sure of yourself at work.
Example: “As a therapist, I have to deal with a lot of issues. But I keep going because I want to solve all of my problems, no matter how hard they look.”
18. In psychology, what kinds of models do you know?
This is a question an interviewer might ask to see if you are the right person for the job. Answer this question by using what you’ve learned and what you’ve done.
“Most psychologists only use one model, but I know about cognitive, biological, psychodynamic, and behavioral models.”
19. What are the most common mental health problems you’ve seen?
This question is used by the interviewer to see if what you’ve done in the past is similar to what their facility usually deals with. Your answer should be about what the facility has the most trouble with.
Example: “I’ve worked with people with many different mental disorders, but the one I’ve seen the most is bipolar. Most of the people I’ve helped have a history of bipolar disorder in their family.”
20. What kinds of counseling make you feel at ease?
An employer will ask you this question to find out how you do your job.
Example: “I have been in different kinds of counseling sessions, like ones with kids or adults. I’m happy to work with any type of client.”
21. What do you do if you and a coworker are fighting?
This question is meant to see if you know how to handle problems and conflicts. Show an example of how you would deal with a problem.
Example: “**I would first listen to both sides of the argument before looking at the facts to figure out why they are fighting. I would say what I would have done if it had been my problem. If one side is wrong, I would show them why they are wrong.”
22.How do you help people who are hard to help?
This question is meant to find out how you treat patients. You need to show that you can easily take care of any patient.
Example: “Mentally ill patients sometimes can be uncontrollable. I watch how patients act and work with doctors to treat them if they start to act crazy.”
23. Do you console patients?
The point of this question is to see how much you care about other people. Tell me how being kind to your clients helps you help them.
Example: * “**I met a client who had lost his job and was depressed. His family also had nothing to eat. I tried to make the patients feel better and told him that a lot of people have problems like his. Then I sent him to a place where people get jobs.” *
24. What do you do when a patient doesn’t want to be treated?
When an employer asks this, they want to know if you can handle something like this.
Example: “**I would ask the patient why they don’t want to take their medicine. If there were bad effects, I would tell his doctor so they could fix it. If there wasn’t a reason, I would explain the risks of not getting treatment.”
25. What’s the difference between a therapist and a psychiatrist?
Employers in the field of psychology can use this question to find out how well applicants know the field. Your answer needs to show how the two are different and what their relationship is.
Example: “Therapists do not give out prescriptions because they are not doctors. Once a therapist figures out what’s wrong, a psychiatrist takes care of the medical part.”
More questions about psychology for an interview
Here are some more questions to help you prepare for the interview:
- How do you handle keeping secrets?
- Where do you need to improve?
- How do you keep things straight?
- How does your business work?
