Landing your first physician assistant role is an exciting milestone. Before you reach it, though, you have to have a successful interview, and that can be an intimidating process whether it’s your first job or if you’re a 10-year veteran of the field. The good news is, the better prepared you are for PA interviews, the fewer of them you’ll need to do before you land your ideal job.
Preparing for a PA interview
Physician assistants who just graduated from a PA program have recent experience interviewing in an academic context. While this can be helpful experience to draw from, job interviews with employers are a bit different.
The first change that needs to happen is a shift in mindset. There is a natural power alignment in the student-teacher relationship. Your role as a student is to absorb as much knowledge as possible, and the main thing you want to show in the interview is eagerness and willingness to learn. Successful PAs are always learning, too, but that’s a secondary goal to providing patient care. Employers want to see that you already have the skills you’ll need for the position, and the interviewers will be considering you as a potential colleague and peer.
Arming yourself with knowledge can be one way to bolster your confidence in preparation for a job interview. This starts by fully understanding the specific PA role you’re interviewing for. Each practice area, specialty, and type of healthcare facility has its own unique work environment, typical patients, and must-have skills. Pay close attention to the job description to identify where your strengths align with the needs of the role, and be prepared to demonstrate how your education and experiences make you the best fit for it. This not only shows employers your abilities, but also that you fully understand the position and its needs.
The other side of this preparation is researching the employer. A general PA role in a hospital will be different than one in a private practice or long-term care facility, for example, and the same is true across specialties. Taking the time to understand the specific organization where you’re interviewing can help you better demonstrate your strengths as a candidate. This research also lets you assess the workplace environment and culture to gauge if the opportunity matches your life and career goals. Finally, knowing about the company helps you craft more insightful and valuable questions for the interviewer, and enables you to build a better rapport with them during your conversation.
There are several places you can research physicians and healthcare facilities. The FSMB’s DocInfo tool lets you look up the physician’s license history, specialty, education, and any disciplinary actions against them. There are similar databases for healthcare facilities, like the American Hospital Directory, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. You can also take advantage of PA professional organizations to get insights on potential employers from others in the field.
Finally, remember there is truth to the phrase “practice makes perfect.” Preparing answers for common PA interview questions in advance takes the pressure off to come up with perfect responses in the moment. You can have a friend or family member conduct mock interviews, or use a tool like My Interview Practice to hone your interviewing skills.
Common interview questions for physician assistants
While there isn’t a standard interview process for the entire PA profession, there are some interview questions you can expect to be asked. Here are some of the most common PA interview questions, why interviewers ask them, and what should be included in a great answer.
Why do you want to work at this hospital/in this specialty?
This question helps hiring managers evaluate how much homework you’ve done on the institution. They want to hire people invested in their specific role, not just someone who’s looking for any PA job. Your answer should draw on the research you did in preparation, highlighting a unique feature of this role or organization that appeals to you. For example, if they offer procedures or services that are unique, or if they have a reputation for excellence in their care standards or work environment. Personal anecdotes can be effective here, as well, like if you’re drawn to a specialty area because of a family member’s experience with that illness or injury.
What are your weaknesses?
A similar question is, “What would be the most challenging aspect of this role for you?” Both questions aim to learn similar information: whether you’re self-aware about areas where you can improve, and what you’re doing to address them. Your answer should be honest but with a positive spin, emphasizing what you’ve learned that will help you rise to the challenge of the PA role. Avoid the temptation to say you have no weaknesses, or wouldn’t find the role challenging. Even experienced PAs have things they can learn more about or do better. Claiming that you don’t makes you seem dishonest or too arrogant to see your own shortcomings, neither of which will count in your favor.
Describe a time you experienced conflict in the workplace and how you resolved that situation.
Conflict is inevitable in any workplace, and especially so in a high-pressure, high-stress healthcare environment. While avoiding conflict is always the goal, employers also want to know you can remain calm and professional if it does happen. In your answer, describe the situation briefly and impartially, without assigning blame or giving in to emotion. Devote the bulk of your answer to how you identified the root causes of the conflict and helped to resolve it.
Describe a time you had a difficult patient and how you managed their care.
You can draw on your clinical rotation experience for this answer if you’re interviewing for your first PA job. Interviewers get two valuable pieces of information from this question: your approach to patient care, and just what makes a patient “difficult” in your view. Your answer should demonstrate empathy first and foremost. Explain how you identified the source or cause of the patient’s behavior and how you addressed it. The best answer demonstrates your positive bedside manner and your ability to manage a patient’s comfort along with their health and safety.
How do you manage your time/workload/work-life balance?
Physician assistants have a lot of different tasks competing for their attention in a typical work day. Burnout is also a significant concern for healthcare professionals. Employers want to know that you can prioritize tasks, use your time efficiently, and set healthy, practical boundaries. In your answer, outline 1-2 specific strategies, and how those help you to make the best use of your time at work without sacrificing your mental health.
7 tips for success in a physician assistant interview
1. Dress for success.
First impressions have a big impact in job interviews, and how you dress is a key part of making a good one. A business suit is the standard professional attire for interviews. Ensure your outfit is clean and unwrinkled, and that it covers any visible tattoos that you have. Personal grooming is part of this, too. If you wear makeup, it should be restrained and natural. It’s also smart to remove any facial piercings and keep other jewelry to a minimum.
2. Plan to get there early.
If you’re late to the job interview, this sends the message you’re bad at managing your time, or else that you don’t care about the job, and either way it doesn’t count in your favor. Planning to arrive early gives you time to spare in case of traffic, missed turns, or other transportation mishaps. It also demonstrates your excitement for the position, and will make sure you’re not rushing and stressed before the interview even starts.
3. Listen carefully and answer questions thoroughly.
Communication skills are very important for success as a physician assistant, particularly active listening skills that allow you to hear and respond to patient concerns. You can demonstrate these in the interview by paying close attention to the questions that are asked, then making sure you address each completely with your answer. If you don’t completely understand a question, it’s better to ask for clarification to be sure than to launch into an off-topic response.
4. Focus on yourself, not former supervisors or colleagues.
This is especially important to keep in mind when answering questions about your weaknesses, past failures, or greatest challenges. Employers want to see that you’re self-aware about where you can improve and take ownership of your mistakes. Candidates who use their interview to complain or gossip about other people often turn out to be toxic and difficult employees, so many interviewers will see this as a red flag.
5. Know your value and strengths.
Even though physician assistants are in high demand, it’s still a fairly competitive field. You can expect there are other candidates vying for whatever position you’ve applied to. The interview is where you need to demonstrate that you’re the best, and you can’t do that if you don’t know your own strengths. If you’re not sure, reach out to former professors, fellow students, or professionals where you did your rotations to find out what qualities they’d say add the most value to your application.
6. Address your weaknesses head-on.
Nobody is perfect. If you claim to be, this comes across as dishonest or lacking in self-awareness. A better approach is to acknowledge your weaknesses and the steps you’re taking to improve in those areas. This shows you’re someone who is able to self-correct and committed to personal growth, much more desirable traits in any healthcare professional.
7. Ask the right questions.
The interviewer shouldn’t be the only one who asks questions during a physician assistant interview. The interview process is the candidate’s chance to learn more about the company, too, and you want to take full advantage of that. Not only will asking the right questions help you better understand the role and culture you’ll be stepping into if hired, but it also demonstrates that you’ve done your research and are thinking critically about the role. Some great questions to ask include:
- What are the main challenges facing this practice right now, and how do you see the PA role fitting into the solution?
- What are the organization’s goals for the next five years, and how do you envision this role contributing to them?
- What is this practice’s philosophy on patient care?
- Why are you hiring for this role currently? How long was the previous PA in the role?
- Is this practice familiar with the PA role? How many PAs has the practice hired in the last few years?
- What growth and advancement opportunities are available to this role?
- What is your training and orientation process for new PAs? How long does it usually take, and who will be involved in it?
- Can you describe the typical day-to-day environment and workflow for PAs in this practice?
- What other roles will this position work with most closely? Will I have my own patient list or is the caseload shared?
Following up after an interview
How you follow up after an interview can make the difference in whether or not you’re hired. A follow-up note shows your persistence, commitment, and eagerness for the role. It can also sabotage your job search efforts if you fail to do so since some hiring managers will eliminate candidates who don’t follow up from consideration.
The first step of effective follow-up is to send a note to the interviewer within 1-2 days of your interview. You can do this via email or with a physical card or letter, whichever seems to suit you and the employer best. In this note, thank them for the opportunity to meet them, express your ongoing interest in the position, and reiterate briefly what makes you an ideal fit. This is also a great chance to clarify points brought up in the interview, or ask any practical questions you forgot, like the timeline or next steps of the search.
Choosing the right PA to hire can be a long process, especially if there are a lot of strong candidates in the running. Be patient after this first thank you note. Messaging every day comes across as needy or desperate, and can hurt your chances of being hired. Instead, wait for about two weeks. If you haven’t heard anything by then, you can reach out for an update. Keep this message brief and positive. Start by reminding them of your name, when you interviewed, and for which position, then reinforce your interest in the position and politely ask when they think they’ll be making a decision.
It’s worth it to follow up even if you think you haven’t been chosen for the role. Your perception of the situation may be wrong, for one thing. You’ll only hurt your own chances if you sound bitter or angry about not getting the role when you were actually toward the top of their list. Job interviews are also a form of networking. Polite and timely follow-ups keep more doors open for future opportunities, even if they don’t help you to land the job you applied for this time.
FAQs
How long does it take to get hired as a PA?
That’s a bit of a tricky question to answer because it varies greatly from state to state and between types of employers. Healthcare as a whole has one of the longest average times to hire of any industry, and in some cases it can take 8 months or longer from the time a job is posted until someone is hired. This is one of the main reasons you don’t want to give up on a job just because it’s taken them a while to get back to you. As a general rule, smaller practices average around 15 days to complete their interview process, while larger hospitals and healthcare facilities have an average of 25 days from interview to offer.
How long does a PA job interview last?
On average, the typical job interview lasts around 20-30 minutes, though they can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 45. In some cases, you may also have multiple interview sessions or rounds with different staff members. If the hiring manager doesn’t tell you the interview length or who will be conducting it, reach out to ask as part of your preparation.
What should I bring to my job interview?
Bring printed copies of your resume for every person that will be interviewing you, along with a portfolio containing your list of professional references, copies of your certificate, degree, and license, and letters of recommendation from employers or PA program faculty. You may not be asked for these, but if you are you want to be prepared to provide them. It’s also smart to bring a small snack, a bottle of water, and some gum or breath mints, as well as a comb, lint roller, and any other things you’d need to touch up your appearance. Looking and feeling your best will help you to be more confident and make the best impression on your interviewer.