Top Physical Therapy Assistant Interview Questions with Example Answers [2022]

Prepare for your Physical Therapy Assistant interview by going through these most asked Physical Therapy Assistant interview questions. Additionally, get access to sample answers and interviewer's expectations.

Physical Therapy Assistant Questions
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  • Question: Tell me about yourself.

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: Answer with professional background, education, skills/strengths, etc. Not to respond with personal information.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Why did you choose this career path?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: Share passion/interest in PTA, speak to professional experiences and/or educational experiences that have further reinforced your chosen path.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: What would you identify as your strengths and weakness?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: Highlight strengths that are pertinent to the career like communication skills, critical thinking, compassion, etc. Be sure to identify an area of opportunity where you are clearly taking strides to improve and may have minimal impact on job performance like public speaking and forcing yourself in situations that require you to speak in-front of crowds.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Please provide me an example of your communication skills?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: Share a specific example where you provide the background of the situation, how you demonstrated your communication skills and the outcome.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: What would you do if a co-worker was talking negatively about a patient?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: You would want to articulate how you would confront the co-worker directly on this concern. This question’s purpose is to gather how professional you remain in a precarious scenario.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Give an example of a time you dealt with a difficult patient/customer and how you handled yourself

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: This is where you need to be sure to provide an example (or provide how you would handle yourself in this situation) of how you successfully diffused the situation, kept your cool and were able to continue with the task at-hand.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Can you give me an example of when you went “above and beyond” your normal responsibilities?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: This example should translate to the quality of professional needed to succeed in the position. You can speak to extra time that you took to do something well to support someone else, or how your attention to detail on something made a positive impact on the team overall in some way.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Think of a day you had many things that you needed to accomplish. How did you prioritize your work?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: An employer wants to understand how well you prioritize and manage your workday. As you will be working in a high-stress environment, it is necessary to have strong prioritization and time management skills in order to complete your primary tasks while providing exceptional care for your patients.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: What does it mean to you to present yourself professionally?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: This is a time to not only identify how you physically compose yourself, but also how you mentally prepare yourself for a professional setting.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: What is the most important characteristic you want to find in an employer you work for?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: Be prepared to align how this characteristic aligns with your professional mission/goals.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Describe a time you made a mistake and how you handled the situation.

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: Everybody makes mistakes, so don’t give an example where you had terrible decision-making skills. Select an occurrence that allowed you to learn a good lesson and describe how you grew from it. Let them know about the situation and how you would make changes if given the opportunity to do it again.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: Would you consider yourself a team player or an individual contributor? Why?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: This can be interpreted as a bit of a trick question as the best response is to articulate how you are both a team player and have the ability to work independently. Ultimately you want to articulate to the interviewer that you work well in a diverse team, but that you can also work effectively with little input from others.

      What the interviewer is looking for:

  • Question: What does HIPAA mean to you?

    • Question Overview: None

    Sample Answer: HIPAA is a huge concern for medical providers, and they expect their employees to take HIPAA very seriously. Confidentiality violations can result in extremely expensive fines. Be prepared to talk about specific confidentiality procedures when taking down patient information, walking away from your computer, and speaking on the phone to patients or other medical providers.

      What the interviewer is looking for: