Once you've decided that travel physical therapy is for you, you'll need to start the interview process with your healthcare staffing agency to find the right assignments. Interviewing with hiring managers can be a stressful time, no matter the profession. In order to keep calm and make sure that you put the right foot forward, we have a few pointers.
Prepare yourself
Whether your interview is in person or on the phone, if you haven't spent your time preparing, it's going to show. Not only does lack of preparation come off poorly to the interviewer, but it also increases your level of stress and anxiety during the process. As a result, you may stumble over your words, forget to ask important questions and come off as a genuinely poor candidate. Do your research ahead of time, know who you are talking to and come up with quality questions to ask.
Another aspect of getting ready for the interview includes ensuring that you are on time. Give yourself extra time to mentally prepare for the interview so that you aren't rushed and are ready for any question that comes your way. In the case of a phone interview, make sure your area is removed from distractions and background noise, and be ready at least 15 minutes early.
While talking
Once the interview begins, it's your chance to shine. Although there are general interview questions you're likely to be asked, expect several that are specific to travel therapy and patient care. Don't let yourself get tripped up on discussing your strengths and weaknesses, or where you see yourself in five years. These are the types of questions you should be prepared to answer, flawlessly.
Use past examples of working with therapy patients when answering questions, if it's appropriate. Ahead of time, think of an instance where you struggled with a patient on the job and how you worked through that. You'll also want to pick out a story that you consider one of your greatest successes. It's important that you allow your true personality to come through while interviewing. As a travel therapist, you will spend a lot of time interacting with patients, so it's important that you come off as personable, passionate and friendly.
When the interview comes to a close, be sure to thank the interviewer for his or her time and let him or her know that you look forward to a future in travel PT.