- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What are your hobbies?
- What skills do you bring to the program?
- What areas of SLP do you find most interesting?
- What are your career goals?
- What are your plans if you’re not accepted into our program?
If you’re preparing for an interview, it’s often helpful to review common interview questions. This can help you plan thoughtful responses, anticipate frequently asked questions and improve your chances of moving forward in the hiring process. When interviewing for a position as a speech-language pathologist (SLP), your interviewer may ask you a variety of questions about your education, experience and career goals. In this article, we provide a list of 35 common SLP interview questions and offer sample answers for five of them.
GRAD SCHOOL INTERVIEW TIPS!! | How To Ace An Interview | Speech Language Pathology | Graduate School
What does a typical speech session look like for you?
An interviewer may ask you this question to learn more about your specific processes and therapy style. In your answer, be as clear as possible about the steps you take, the tools you use and how you like to conduct your sessions. This can help them envision you in the role and understand how you could best help patients or students.
Example: “My sessions can look different depending on the IEP I have for the student and their specific needs. Typically, though, I begin each session with a casual greeting. This is to get them relaxed and to remind them Im a safe person they can trust. I might review the details of our last session and see if they can remember the progress we made. Then, Id speak with them and gauge their response to my words. Id continue the session, using toys or cards, taking cues from the student and doing my best to keep them comfortable.”
In-depth SLP interview questions
Here are some of the more in-depth questions you may hear in your SLP interview:
What makes someone a good SLP?
Your answer to this question can reveal a lot about what you find most important in your profession. Often, the answer you give can show employers what you value and what skills you work to emulate in your own work.
Example: “I think patience and empathy are two of the most important qualities an SLP can have. Being a good SLP means you care about those you help and stay dedicated to their success. They can also help in working with the families of a student. Helping someone with a disability, children especially, requires a special sensitivity, and I think those two skills are crucial for someone to be an effective SLP.”
Speech and Language Therapy Masters Interview Questions: Before the Interview
A how-to article about SLP grad school interview questions wouldn’t be complete without first providing you with a rundown on what you’ll want to do before you even sit for the interview.
If you’re prepping for your grad school interview, that means you’ve already done your homework and researched a couple CAA-accredited SLP graduate programs at length to learn about the graduation rate, clinical internship. You may even be starting to think about whether an SLP thesis track or clinical research paper option is right for you, and considering opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, and more.
But you may have additional questions that the committee can clear up for you regarding everything from elective options to clinical requirements. It’s always a good idea to bring a notebook and pen with you to the interview. You can refer to your notes at the end of the interview when you’re given an opportunity to ask a few questions, and you’ll want to keep it handy in case you want to jot down some notes as you go.
And this goes without saying, but make sure your portfolio is polished and ready to go. It should include your resume/CV and any school papers and relevant docs and presentations you may want to share with the grad committee.
Confirm the exact location where you’ll interview, and do yourself a favor and make a dry run a few days beforehand, if possible, to calculate your drive time and figure out where you’ll park. Plan to get there at least a half hour before your interview to account for any unexpected delays in your drive or other last-minute curveballs that could cause you to miss your appointment time. You’ll appreciate this cushion of time before the interview to take a few deep breaths and give yourself a much-needed pep talk.
Talk about your proudest educational achievement and why it makes you feel so proud.
The Admissions Officer at Boston University would like to know what areas of achievement are most important to you. Perhaps you have maintained an exceptional GPA or excelled in school while working a part-time job. Maybe you finished top of your class in your undergrad and received a special award for your achievements. Think of any accolades that you may have received along the way.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 25th, 2022
“The achievement that made me feel most proud so far was the honor of being on the Deans list for three of my four undergraduate years. I started my undergrad very determined to study hard and earn top grades. I am proud of this achievement because its allowed me to interview at Boston University, a school ranked among the countrys best educators of future speech-language pathologists. This achievement shows that my hard work and dedication earned me one step closer to achieving my goals of becoming a world-class speech-language specialist.”
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 25th, 2022
“Im proud of graduating from my undergrad program in three years while maintaining a 3.92 GPA.”
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview CoachMarcie Wilmot Reviewed the Above Answer
This is a great achievement! Nice job. Consider adding more details to your answer, however, to make it more meaningful and memorable to the interviewer. Perhaps you might discuss what sacrifices you had to make to graduate so quickly and with such a high GPA. What was challenging about it? How did you manage to do it? If you held down a job or participated in extracurriculars as well, you should mention this too.
To help you prepare for your Speech Pathology interview at Boston University, here are 30 interview questions and answer examples.
Boston University was written by Rachelle Enns and updated on June 25th, 2022. Learn more here.
FAQ
What questions do they ask in grad school interview?
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why do you want to study at our school?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- If accepted, what will be your biggest challenge here?
- How has your professional experience (or education) prepared you to succeed in this program?
- What are your career goals?
How do you stand out for SLP grad school?
How do I prepare for a speech and language therapist interview?
Tell us about your speech and language therapy experiences so far. What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are? What would you do if you were about to discharge a client after their 6 week treatment block and they complained to you and were not happy about it?
What questions should I ask in an interview SLP?
…
Questions You Should Ask:
- Questions you might want to ask in your interview.
- What are the caseload averages in the district.
- How do you handle caseloads that grow during the year?
- What would my caseload make-up look like (age, disability, etc.)
