29 Health Educator Interview Questions & Answers
Below is a list of our Health Educator interview questions. Click on any interview question to view our answer advice and answer examples. You may view 5 answer examples before our paywall loads. Afterwards, you'll be asked to upgrade to view the rest of our answers.
1. What are your career goals in this field?
How to Answer
The interviewer is asking this question to align expectations for the role with your long-term expectations. The interviewer is also checking to see if you have realistic goals and to gauge your level of ambition. You need to research the job before your interview to ensure that your personal professional goals align with the job and organization you are interviewing with. Be open and honest with your interviewer on this question and express how important these goals are to you.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"My long-range career objective is to publish a book. I would love to tell the world about my involvement in ending childhood obesity, and this organization will put me right at the forefront of working with the youth in our region. I think that my story growing up to get to the point where I am at today will resonate with a lot of people."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"In the near future, I am focused on coming up to speed quickly in my new role. My longer-range goal is to become a subject matter expert in this particular field. After working for years in a more general role with a large hospital system, I became most passionate about diabetes prevention. Your organization would allow me the opportunity to focus on my passion where I would become the person that others seek out for the answers to their most difficult problems."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"Having worked in the field for almost 15 years, I'm at a point where I am ready to focus on my true passion in this field, working with mental health awareness and treatment. We are at a point where mental health is one of the top needs of people in this country, and there aren't enough resources to help all that are in need. In our field, our work as educators can go a long way with the general public, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do my part to bring mental health awareness to the minds of people."
Written by Ryan Brunner
2. Talk about a time where you had to deal with a big change within your workplace. How did you handle that situation and what did you learn from it?
How to Answer
In any career, employees need to have the ability to adapt to changes within their workplace that fall outside of their control. In no field is this more evident than in the healthcare and public health sectors. Changing laws, organizational buyouts, and evolving techniques in healthcare are just a few of the reasons that the workplace can change rapidly for a Health Educator. On this question, your interviewer will be looking for you to remain flexible when things change on the job and for you to be a leader among your peers in accepting the change. Talk about a time where you were open to changes and talk about how it made your day-to-day life on the job different while being able to adapt quickly and effectively to the change.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"During my college years, I worked as a waiter for four years to support myself through school without taking out loans. Working at a busy restaurant in a small college town, our staff turned over almost twice a year as the semesters changed and summers came and went. This revolving door of cooks, dishwashers, wait staff, and bartenders kept me on my toes in working with new personalities. I'm a firm believer that a person has to love what they do for a job, and I did this by getting to know my coworkers with each new round of employees that joined us. The number of friendships that I developed during my time there goes a long way to show that I was able to adapt and relate to many different personalities and cultures."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"A couple of years ago, the organization that I was working for went through a merger with a much larger organization. Our daily lives were rocked by changes in leadership structure, new policies, and new job descriptions during the change. Keeping my eye on the end of the tunnel rather than on the bricks in the path that lay ahead of me, I knew that the new organization would be full of resources and people to help me do my job better. Many of my colleagues were scared about the change and their jobs, but I tried to remain positive and remind them to keep their end goals in mind. While adapting to small policy changes and reporting structures was difficult at times, in the end, my job ended up even better."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"In my current position, I started in the role as a department of one person as a Health Educator that reported directly to our hospital's vice president of operations. As we worked together over time, our relationship grew, and we developed a great rapport in developing new projects that helped many people in our community. Three years ago, the decision was made for me to report to our clinical director to give me a more direct path to our patient side of our operation. At first, I was sad to be parting ways with my boss of many years. But knowing that working closely with clinical staff and supporting their patient's needs was a top priority made this an easy step to change with ease. Besides, I was still working closely with my former boss and just not reporting directly to him anymore."
Written by Ryan Brunner
3. What are some challenges that you see Health Educators facing in the near future in this field?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, there are many problems in the health and well-being of individuals projected for the future in the field. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you have great foresight into the future outlook in the field and that you truly show concern here. There are no right or wrong answers to this question as long as you can elaborate on your answer and speak with some knowledge.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"The biggest issue that I see in our field moving forward is the need for mental health education among the entire population of people in our country. Having been overlooked for so many years, mental health is at a crossroads in the healthcare world, and I am very motivated to help bring this issue to the forefront. The term mental health often brings about a very negative stigma, and I hope to get rid of that stigma by educating people on the issues that people are facing daily and how to help those in need."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"Having worked in the field for the past six years with a prominent healthcare organization, the projected healthcare provider shortages are a terrifying proposition when looking at the outlook for chronic disease and other conditions. Knowing that physicians could be in high demand for patients, I think our job as Health Educators will be super important moving forward when tackling prevention tactics."
Written by Ryan Brunner
4. Do you have experience with public speaking? What size groups are you comfortable speaking in front of?
How to Answer
Most Health Educator jobs require a person to get up in front of groups, both large and small, and give presentations and answer questions. While public speaking has always been a top fear of humans, you need to stress to your interviewer that you are an effective public speaker and love doing so in the process. If you have specific examples of diverse groups you've presented to, use those examples to show your interviewer that you can work in front of any group of people.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"From a very young age, I have been comfortable performing and speaking in front of large groups. Having participated in both drama and band throughout high school, I have a lot of experience performing in front of both small and large groups, and I think my confidence here will translate nicely into this job. Confidence is key in being able to do this, and you'll quickly find that I am confident in my ability to work with large groups of people."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"While most people are scared to death to get up in front of a group of people and talk, I absolutely love being able to do this. We have such an important and sometimes underappreciated job, and I take great pride in educating people on important health issues. I am comfortable in both large and small groups and can improvise based on my audience with ease."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"I have experience through my career speaking to large crowds and small groups of folks, and I love the opportunity to do so each time. Perhaps more intriguing about my experiences are the diverse groups I've had a chance to work with. During my career, I've spoken at large school assemblies with over 500 high school-aged kids. I've done campus presentations working with groups ranging between 5 to 100 students at a time. In the business world, I've presented to company boards with CEOs and leaders and have also done community lectures in front of hundreds of people."
Written by Ryan Brunner
5. Talk about a time where you had to think outside the box to solve a problem on the job? What resources did you use to help?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, providing effective education to a group or population often requires some fresh thoughts or ideas. Thinking outside the box in this field can also relate to problem-solving and quick thinking. For this question, think of a specific situation that you've encountered where you've had to think outside the box and do something nontraditional that will impress your interviewer. Be specific in your answer and talk about the problem you faced, how you came to your decision, and what the outcome was.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"During my internship for my college degree, I had the awesome opportunity to work for a non-profit organization that focused on drug and alcohol abuse prevention in a large metro area. During the three months that I was with the program, I was tasked with a project where I was compiling metrics on drug and alcohol abuse prevalence in the city. To best compile some of the metrics, I asked my supervisor if I could hit the streets to poll the public on their use of drugs and alcohol. Rather than mailing surveys, which are most often thrown out, I found that I received truthful and honest responses from people when I spoke with them directly. At the end of my time there, the staff was shocked with the number of people I spoke with and the data that I was able to gather to be put to use in future programs with the organization."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"On a recent project I was working on, my organization tasked me to coordinate, plan and implement a county-wide initiative on birth control among the young population in the area. Knowing that teen pregnancy was a recurring issue, I wanted to make this impact on young people. In planning to do presentations at three local high schools, I looked into the funding for a guest speaker that could talk about how pregnancy as a teenager had affected her life. After receiving the funding, I put feelers out around our organization and ended up finding a great speaker to come with me to the presentations. I was told by two of the school administrators that our program had a great impact just because of the experiences that the speaker talked about."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"During my time as a Health Educator with a large healthcare system, we were finding that we weren't getting much support from our upper levels of administration on some programs that we thought were necessary. Knowing that many major research and statistics were pointing to mental health as one of our region's number one health concerns, we asked our CEO, CFO, and Administrative Council if we could present the statistics and our plan to them for providing education on mental health awareness. It was not common for our department to do this. After being welcomed and scheduled, our presentation really opened their eyes to the needs for our plan, and we were able to implement it with the blessing of our top leaders."
Written by Ryan Brunner
6. Talk about your strategies on how you stay organized and on track when you are working on multiple projects at the same time.
How to Answer
A successful career as a Health Educator requires managing multiple projects and tasks at one time. Your interviewer will be looking for you to talk about the resources and strategies that you use to keep yourself organized and on task for these projects that you will be juggling at one time. If you use technology like an electronic calendar, talk about how it helps you in staying organized. If you are a list maker, talk about how that helps you. As long as you have a strategy for staying on top of things, there really are no wrong answers here as long as your interviewer understands that you take the necessary measures to stay organized.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"Coming into my first job as a Health Educator, you'll quickly find that I am a very organized and detail-oriented person, and these skills make multitasking a breeze. I am a note-taker and keep a running list of projects with due dates. Based on my notes, I can effectively prioritize deadlines to ensure that things are completed on time. I utilized a system like this in college where I was balancing a large credit load, family life, and a part-time job."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"In my current job, I am managing many things at any given point in time. I am following up with metrics on past presentations and projects, planning for upcoming seminars, and am always researching and scoping out future projects. To keep me on track, I utilize my phone and laptop to keep on track with my Outlook calendar with the tasks function. Being away from my office frequently, I use a software called Evernote that enables me to type or speak notes into a program that shares the notes across my devices. These tools are essential for me to stay on track while multitasking multiple things."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"Throughout my career, I have found myself relying on technology more and more to help myself stay organized in my job as a Health Educator. My smartphone is my lifeblood, where I utilize my calendar for meetings, deadlines and set aside work time for specific projects. I find that if I physically schedule time on my calendar to work on particular projects, nothing gets left behind, and deadlines are never missed."
Written by Ryan Brunner
7. What role do you feel that a Health Educator plays as part of a larger community health care team?
How to Answer
Depending on the organization that a Health Educator works for, the small-scale goals and target audience can differ. But in the end, the goal of the health education field is to help empower people to make healthy life choices that benefit themselves and the greater good of the community. In your answer here, talk to your interviewer from both a macro, large scale perspective and a micro, focused perspective that is focused on the organization you are interviewing for. Your research into the organization and its target audience will go a long way in answering this question.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"Health education is so important to the general public as a whole because access to research into healthcare issues is not sought after among the general public. We play an integral role in assessing the needs of a population, analyzing data, and putting that research into use by providing educational programs to better the community's overall health. This role with your organization is very exciting to me as it will help provide education to college students who are often naive to the health risks that they face on campus."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and making healthy life choices are things that many people take for granted and don't pay much attention to. Bad habits and poor life choices become hard things to break the habit from, and Health Educators play a vital role in this education process to make the community a better place health-wise for everyone. In my current role working with a nonprofit organization, I am mainly focused on diabetes prevention in our region of the state. In my years in this role, I loved the challenge of focusing my time and effort on learning about and teaching about the illness. I feel that this past focus will help greatly in your focus on obesity. There is a great need for public education in this area, and I look forward to the challenge of this role."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"I have always been a firm believer that our jobs play a vital role in bettering the overall health of the people that we work with and educate regularly. While it is hard to acknowledge, many people overlook their health and the choices that affect it. I have taken my role as an educator very personally during my career to helping people better understand how the choices they make play a big impact on their overall health."
Written by Ryan Brunner
8. Are you able to work independently with little oversight?
How to Answer
A career as a Health Educator requires the ability to work independently and make critical decisions on your own. On an organizational chart, health education departments are more often than not just one person who reports to a manager/director/administrator that doesn't have a detailed background in health education. Because of this, your interviewer will be looking for you to give examples of your ability to work freely on your own with no one watching over your shoulder. Talk about decisions you've made on your own and how you thrive in this type of environment while still being able to seek support when needed.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"As I enter my first job in the field out of college, I am ready to hit the ground running on my own as a Health Educator. While my manager will always appreciate the direction, you'll quickly find that I am a motivated employee who can work and create new ideas on my own. During my college years, I worked evening shifts in our campus book store, where I progressed to a shift leader within six months. In this position, I was not working directly with my manager, and I could make critical decisions on my own while being trusted to do so. This experience will benefit me greatly coming into this position."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"In my current position with a large urban health system, I am the lone person in my department, and I report directly to an administrator that oversees many departments. Besides our weekly bi-weekly meetings to connect, I have a lot of freedom in my work and the direction that I take our health education. I love the autonomy in my role, and I really am a self-starting individual. My colleagues that I work closely with know that I have an open door and open mind for thoughts, ideas, and suggestions on new directions that I can take with my work."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"During my career, I've worked in healthcare and for a public university, and in both roles, I was able to have full autonomy in my work. In my current role with the college, I love the fact that I have the creative freedom to work with the overall health of the campus and create new initiatives and programs each year. I work under one of the Assistant Deans on the campus, and we have a very open relationship where we can bounce ideas off of each other, make a quick plan, and then run with it from there. I have been very successful to this point in my career because of my ability to work independently."
Written by Ryan Brunner
9. Do you have any experience in grant writing?
How to Answer
In some jobs as a Health Educator, it may be required to seek funding for particular programs, and the job may require grant writing skills. If you have any experience in grant applications or the process of applying, talk about your specific experience. It is okay if you don't have experience, and if that is the case, try and speak about the importance that funding can play in the success of programs and how you have great writing and research skills. A willingness to learn a potential new skill here can also go a long way with your interviewer.
Written by Ryan Brunner
Entry Level
"While I'm entering the field without direct experience in grant writing, you'll find that I have a lot of the skills required to create effective grant applications as I am familiar with the process. I am highly organized and detail-oriented and can prioritize multiple deadlines on different projects. I have great project management skills as well on top of my ability to think outside of the box and be creative."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"In my current job, we have a specific department that handles the actual grant writing process, but I have been involved in a lot of the legwork of successful grants we have received. On a recently awarded grant, my expertise on the community mental health needs and data I had gathered was instrumental for the application being awarded to us. I would look forward to the challenge of being more involved in grant writing because these funds can go to great lengths for a lot of people."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Experienced
"In my current position, I have worked on many grant proposals that have been a huge asset to our organization. I have researched available grants with the government and private organizations and walked through all of the steps of a proposal process. My foresight into our field and research on local trends have been vital to many of our successful grant applications. When I lead the way in these applications, I lead a team effort and involve input from others who have a stake in the potential funds as well."
Written by Ryan Brunner
10. How do you help clients set goals?
How to Answer
Give the interviewer a step-by-step approach to how you help each client or patient set goals. Give an example to make it more concrete. Your interviewer wants to hear that you take each person individually based on many factors in their personal life. It doesn't hurt to talk about goal setting in a group setting as well.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"Goal setting is important in any process to change habits and ways of life. As a new Health Educator, my first step to helping clients would be to assess their entire living situation by talking to them about their family, job, hobbies, and other important things. Once I got to know them, I'd get a great sense of what motivates and drives them daily. Then, with this knowledge, I would work with the client and empower them to be a part of the goal-setting process by talking about my end goal for them and have them come up with creative and fun ways for them to get there in a step-by-step fashion. For an end goal to work, the client needs to be 100% committed to the process, and giving them choices in it helps immensely."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"I had a client who was struggling with an eating disorder. We set small goals to help her take better control over it. Then, we looked at the bigger picture of her life and found opportunities to take control, like her job and living situation. Finally, we worked with a Psychologist for an added support system. By learning a little bit about her and her personal life, I was able to help her set attainable and meaningful goals on her road to recovery."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"Recently, I worked with a young lady that was struggling with alcohol dependency after she was released from a rehab center. To help keep her motivated in her battle to beat the addiction, I started by working closely with her rehab team to find out all that I could about her. Then, in our initial meeting, I took the time to learn about the woman and her family. Knowing that chemical dependency is best beaten with internal motivation, we based her goals on staying sober for her children and helping her be a better mother to them. In the months that I've been working with her, she has stayed clean and has become a better mother in her own words. In group settings, I have to keep goal setting at a much higher and generic level because I don't often get to know the internal motivations of each individual. In these settings, I like to talk about the fact that people need to find their own motivation and show them how to do this by breaking their motivations down to pain and pleasure. In the end, personal motivation comes down to replacing pain with pleasure."
Written by Ryan Brunner
11. How long do your counseling sessions last?
How to Answer
Your counseling sessions could last from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Let the interviewer know that you are flexible to work with the client's needs. You may prefer 60-minute sessions because it gives you enough time to review the last meeting and still have time to listen and advise your client. Explain your preference, and then ask about expectations. Share how you manage your time to set up your clients for success. Your prior work experience and client base may differ from the job you are interviewing for, and that is okay as long as you reiterate why the length of time was necessary with the clients you were working with prior.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"During my internship with a private business, my experience is mostly classroom-type trainings that normally lasted about an hour to two hours at the most. However, I am open and able to be very flexible for the needs of this job moving forward and look forward to the challenge of doing 1:1 counseling sessions for the first time in a real work environment."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"During my time working with the university, my sessions really varied depending on the topic and whether I was 1:1 with students or in a large or small group setting. In 1:1 settings, my sessions were normally around 30 minutes long due to college students' busy schedules. If follow-ups were needed, I could assess that right away with the student and get them on the schedule for both of us. In group training sessions, I've done 30 minutes presentation to half-day trainings with ease."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my current role that I've held for 12 years, the hospital setting requires me to be very flexible with
each patient and class that I encounter. The patient's needs come first, and I am willing to do what it takes with each individual or group. Part of my role is brief 20-minute discharge meetings with patients to discuss healthy living choices, and part of it is putting on three-hour classes for weight management. Each session that I operate has a distinct message, and the time is based on my messaging."
Written by Ryan Brunner
12. How do you measure progress with your clients?
How to Answer
Progress doesn't look the same for every client. It's your job to help them move forward in their lives by looking at the past patterns and ways of thinking that keep them from living a full life. They may never reach their full potential through the time you are counseling them, but you have the opportunity to show them what they are capable of. Give an example of how you understand that progress is relative to each client.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"In this setting where I will be providing education on living with chronic illness in the hospital and clinical setting, any progress that is measured will have to be immediate and on a pretty subjective scale. Knowing that each patient will have a different background, personal needs, education level, and cultural bias, I will rely on picking up on learning cues to assess the effectiveness of what I am teaching them. Before I would complete any session with a patient, I would ask them to speak to me on what they learned and why it was important to them."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"Progress is the client meeting their short-term goals during our treatment together. Our job can be tough at times because, in many instances, we don't get closure with our students outside of our setting to see the progress they've made. I most often rely on feedback from them long after we have had our meetings, and I love when these people follow up with me later down the road to thank me for the skills and information I provided them to help make a positive change in their lives."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"I look to measure progress with individual patients that I see on tangible and objective measures. For example, with the diabetes patients I counsel, my follow-up appointments measure their blood sugar, weight, and blood pressure to track their progress the same way a physician would. I use these measurable improvements or declines as motivation for each patient. With others where results aren't possible to record as objectively, the patient and I predetermine measures to monitor their progress, and these often rely on the patient to be truthful and honest with their progress."
Written by Ryan Brunner
13. How do you keep yourself a model citizen when it comes to nutrition, exercise, and overall health?
How to Answer
They say, 'practice what you preach.' Talk about how you lead by example in a positive and healthy way. For example, describe how you bike, do yoga, do not smoke, and do your best to eat healthy every day. Tell the interviewer why you take care of yourself and believe that portraying a positive self-image will help your clients know that you believe in what you teach so much that you practice it yourself. Be open and honest with your interviewer on this question and talk about any specific ways that you stay healthy.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"As a Health Educator, I know that I will be looked up to in regards to personal health habits. Growing up as an athlete and competitor, it is ingrained in me to treat my body as a temple. Recently, I took up yoga and now am leading a class every Saturday."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"For me personally, I stay physically fit by playing in a men's hockey league and running 5k events a few times a year. I am a healthy eater, but I still feel it is okay to indulge in some cheater foods from time to time. Fitness in my life has important from a very young age."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"For me personally, my own health starts with routine physicals every year, and I stress to my students how important this is. I am a healthy eater that adheres to a vegan diet, though I never will push this choice on others. Outside of work, I am an avid outdoors enthusiast that enjoys hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and kayaking regularly to keep me in great shape."
Written by Ryan Brunner
14. If you could start any public health initiative, with an unlimited budget, what would it be?
How to Answer
This question is your chance to tell the interviewer that if you had the resources and endless supply of money, how you would change the world. Talk about a program that speaks to you personally. Give the interviewer some insight into where your true passions fall in this field and, if possible, relate this passion to the job that you are interviewing for.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"My public health initiative would be to provide plan b birth control within the school systems for middle school, high school, and college-aged students. In addition, I would encourage school nurses to work with the school psychologists to counsel young women and have the medication available if necessary. I am very passionate about teen pregnancy and its prevention, and I believe a program like this would positively change the lives of many young women and men every single day."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"If the budget weren't a concern, I would give five cities per state $500,000 to build a community garden. I think community gardens bring people together, encourage healthy eating, get people outside, and help our environment. All of these factors greatly benefit the overall health of people."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"My true passion in this field is in mental health awareness and making this a priority. I am a firm believer that many of the extremely violent acts that we've seen in our country in recent years could have been avoided with awareness from loved ones and friends of those involved. As well, I do a lot of work with suicide awareness and prevention. If funds were unlimited, the initial stages would have to involve research and testing into effective methods of bringing mental health to the public's eye. How this is best done remains to be seen, but I think it needs to be a focus of our profession moving forward."
Written by Ryan Brunner
15. Tell me about your post-secondary education. What was your favorite course and why?
How to Answer
Think back to your favorite college classes. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to get a little extra insight into what drives you or motivates you in this field by hearing about experiences that you hold close to your heart. There is no wrong answer to this question as long as you speak to it with passion.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"I've always enjoyed my biology lab classes. I like the hands-on aspect of labs and loved learning new things. In addition, the human body is extremely awe-inspiring to me, and this field is enabling me to blend my passion for education with this."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"I graduated from the University of Florida at the top of my class. During my last year, my favorite course was where I was the guest speaker at our local high school. The topic was underage drinking and sexual activity. I was able to incorporate a bit of humor and music into the assembly. I knew it was a success because of the students' participation and attentiveness."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"My passion for pursuing a career in Health Education was born during my freshman year in college when my interests in education and healthcare blended. Knowing my path to this career would entail pieces of both, I was shocked by how much I liked my statistics courses and how well they prepared me for this career. Having never been the biggest fan of math, analyzing statistical data is an important part of this job, and I came to enjoy learning this subject."
Written by Ryan Brunner
16. How do you typically assess the learning needs of your students?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, you use formal and informal techniques to assess your students' learning needs and styles. Tell the interviewer about a successful way you were able to reach your students. Describe how you know your techniques are working.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"During my internship, I was fortunate to be able to work with a private employer where I worked with groups of people that really needed and desired our programs and learning opportunities. We used assessments and surveys to gauge the general needs of the employee population and developed programs around the needs. Then, during training sessions, we utilized a classroom style training that engaged the learners in activities and role-playing activity. By ensuring their participation, we saw greater results and satisfaction in the classes."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"One of my most common and easiest ways that I assess the learning needs of my students is by pausing every few minutes to see whether students are following along with the lesson. It not only identifies gaps in comprehension but helps break up lectures into more digestible bites. Asking for participation among the group is also a technique that I use to keep them engaged and continuously learning."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In the actual classroom type of setting that I am used to teaching in, I start off with a question and answer session to help get a feel for the knowledge base that the group has that I am speaking to. I have fun prizes for participants and I find that this helps brings participation to a maximum level. Then, when I get into the meat and potatoes of my presentation, I watch for body language and facial expression cues to ensure that participants are listening and engaged. Through this part, I always ask questions to the audience."
Written by Ryan Brunner
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17. Are you comfortable giving commands to people and leading a group or a team?
How to Answer
If the Health Educator position you are applying to is a leadership position, then the obvious answer is yes, followed by several convincing reasons why this is so. Tell the interviewer about a time where you were a successful leader and what the outcome was. Even if the position is not a leadership position, Health Educators often need to collaborate with large groups of people when they are leading projects. Your interviewer will be looking for your ability to lead in this fashion as well.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"As a new graduate, I haven't had the opportunity to lead co-workers, but I have had the opportunity to lead groups during my time in school, and I also was a shift leader at my job through college. My job through school was with a large retailer, working weekend and PM shifts. While there, my manager entrusted me to delegate work duties during my shift and be available to answer questions and problem solve on my shifts. I also coordinated with other department leads when I was working. I think the leadership skills that I gained in this job will translate nicely into this role because they have made me very comfortable and confident in my ability to lead others on projects both large and small."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"My supervisor regularly requests me to be the lead on many projects. The most recent lead role I had was forming a diabetes support group for our community. So when I took over this project, I grabbed the reins right away and began coordinating information-gathering meetings with local physicians and nurses to do some fact-finding for the project. With their buy in to the project, it has been going strong now for 6 months."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my current role, I work with a great team of employees and interns that I manage and lead. As the team leader, I assess our projects and delegate responsibilities based on the strengths of my team members. In wanting to help grow my team's skills, I also ask people to step out of their normal comfort zone from time to time to work on developing new skills, and I know that my team appreciates this. As a leader, I also utilize the skills and talents of people outside of my team when we need extra help and resources on large projects."
Written by Ryan Brunner
18. What type of communicator are you?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, it is important to know which type of communicator you are. You might consider yourself analytical, intuitive, functional, or personal. Tell the interviewer that you can change your communication style based on your audience and their way of learning. The important thing to relay is that you are an effective communicator. Tell your interview that you welcome the back and forth dialogue with your clients.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"I am a direct communicator. I find that it is best to be brief and direct, especially when presenting instructions or directions to clients. This leaves little room for miscommunication. I also take this same approach with my colleagues while being open to new thoughts and ideas."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"I'm the type of communicator that encourages open communication. I like to show my clients and co-workers that I'm approachable, knowledgeable, and want to help others. I do this by asking a lot of questions of my students and reflectively listening to what they are saying."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"I am a personal communicator that also utilizes a very analytical approach. To best reach my learners, having a personal touch goes a long way with each individual to make them open and more receptive to what I am presenting. I am empathetic and a great listener to each person's needs. Once I have a personal connection, the data that I have researched becomes more impactful with the students."
Written by Ryan Brunner
19. Share an experience when you applied new technology or information in the classroom. How well was it received?
How to Answer
In an ever-changing field like health education, a successful Health Educator needs to be at the forefront of changes in data and technology to ensure that their training is effective. With this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you are adaptable and open to new ideas and changes and see that you are creative in finding new ways to get to the minds of those learning from you. Talk about a specific new technology or idea that you utilized in your educational approach and how it made your class successful.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"Prezi isn't necessarily new technology, but it was new to me before I created a presentation with it last month during my internship. The slide maker is fun and upbeat, and I thought I kept my audience's attention more so than the presentations I've used in the past."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"During my time working for the Department of Transportation, I was tasked with a regional project on motorcycle safety specifically focused on helmet use. In preparation for the forums I would be hosting and the classroom training sessions at motorcycle safety classes, the internet was a great resource. There are so many great resources available online, and using these was extremely helpful. As well, people now are all connected online and utilizing great safety websites and resources is a snap to be able to refer people to."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"As an experienced veteran in the field of health education, the best new method for connecting people to fresh ways of learning is social media. At first, I was very hesitant to utilize social media because I hadn't grown up with anything of the sort. I vividly remember the first time I recommended it to a group of diabetes patients that I was working with. I started a group on Facebook and invited the patients to join. Outside of our classes, the Facebook group page promoted open conversations and provided a forum for me to post great articles and tips for a healthy lifestyle. Seeing the great results and hearing the awesome feedback from the group was enough to tell me that social media could be a powerful tool in our arsenal as Health Educators."
Written by Ryan Brunner
20. Please share with me an example of how you helped coach or mentor another educator. What improvements did you see in the person's knowledge or skills?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, you mentor your clients every day. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to mentor your peers. Share a story with the interviewer of a recent time you mentored a co-worker. Tell the interviewer why they came to you, what the outcome was, and what you both learned throughout the process.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"Being new to the field, I haven't directly coached another Health Educator, but I was a trainer at a job I had through my college years. As an experienced bartender, the owner of my establishment trusted me to take new employees under my wing and train them how to make drinks, work efficiently, and provide the best customer service possible. These skills will transfer well to this career."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"One of my fellow co-workers has a fear of speaking to large audiences. Knowing that I have first-hand experience and a passion for this, he approached me for help. I was able to help him prepare his presentation, and he practiced with me a couple of times to the point where he felt comfortable enough to do the presentation. The thanks that I received from him were all the appreciation in the world that I needed for helping him out."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my current role working for a large private business, I get the wonderful opportunity to work with and train a Health Education intern each year. Working with the interns allows me to pass along the necessary skills to succeed in this field, and I receive many showings of gratitude from the program director at the local university. One particular student was very bright, and I could tell had almost all of the skills to succeed in this career, but the one area they lacked was confidence in the field. I first started with a 1:1 talk to help her understand that she had all the skills needed to be confident. Next, I entrusted her to lead a project independently for the remainder of her time with us. Watching her succeed in the project, I wrote her a great letter of recommendation and was delighted when she was hired at a local healthcare organization. We still see each other at business events regularly and have become great friends."
Written by Ryan Brunner
21. Share an experience you had in dealing with a challenging student and how you handled the situation.
How to Answer
There is always that one student...the one that heckles you, mocks you, insists they've tried it all, and you couldn't possibly be the one that will change their ways. Share a brief story about a time you worked with a difficult student. Be sure to close with how you settled the situation and share what the two of you learned from it.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"It's funny that you ask this question because my internship brought me in front of a very challenging student within my first couple of weeks on the job. My internship was with a large hospital, and my supervising Health Educator threw me right into existing classroom sessions with patients. With one particular group, I presented managing life with diabetes and the effects that healthy living can have on the disease. As I started talking about healthy eating habits, I could tell that one younger man in the class had become disengaged by rolling his eyes at me. Not wanting to call him out in front of a large group, I approached him following the session and asked him bluntly why he had stopped paying attention during that part of the presentation. Point blankly, he told me that he wouldn't stop eating potato chips, pizza, and red meat completely. I explained to him that healthy eating habits aren't started overnight and that I thought his goal for the week should be to eat two completely healthy meals each day with one meal of his usual choice for the other. The following week, he told that he had done this successfully and would be working to get that cheater meal down to every other day for the coming week."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"I had a client that was in a group session for smoking cessation. The client had insisted that no one could help him with his nicotine addiction and that I wouldn't be any different. I talked to the client one on one and showed him that we would work through the struggles together despite his past. He was appreciative and started opening up more in the group. With his newfound positive attitude, I truly believe that he is bound to stop smoking soon."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my current job, I spend a lot of time talking about a variety of health issues in schools with middle and high school-aged kids. Knowing that teenagers have attitudes because of my experience with my own children, I know that teenagers project a rough exterior to try and impress their friends but are often very vulnerable and looking for help on the inside. If I notice this happening in group classroom settings, I take time individually with students to meet one-on-one as I find it more helpful to the students. This was the case with a recent young man that was in my class on drug abuse. In the classroom setting, he was disruptive and not attentive. Following the class and noticing that he stuck around after the other kids have left, I asked if he wanted to talk with just me, and he said yes. Getting him one on one, he opened up that he was scared for his future, being that his friends were all abusers of both drugs and alcohol. After talking more, I had him prepared with ammo to both talk to his friends about their choices while being able to say no while still being their friend."
Written by Ryan Brunner
22. Are you efficient with your time?
How to Answer
This question is to test your time management skills and your ability to prioritize. Tell the interviewer how you prioritize your day and get everything completed in a timely fashion. Tell the interviewer about a time you were in charge of a project and were able to delegate work to meet a deadline. As a Health Educator, time management is your middle name. Explain how you can juggle your time and still give 100% to your job.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"Knowing that managing multiple projects and deadlines is required in this job, I feel that my college experience has prepared me well for this opportunity. I utilize technology with spreadsheets and calendars to keep me organized when working on multiple things simultaneously, and I begin each workweek by updating and making a new to-do list. Each evening at the end of the workday, I update my to-do list with accomplishments and new tasks to help keep me on track."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"I am very efficient with my time. I set aside time each morning to evaluate my day and ensure I'm meeting deadlines, responding to urgent needs, and staying on track with meeting goals. With that said, I also reflect daily on the long-term goals and projects and carve out time for the planning required on those."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"Becoming successful in this job requires great time management and organization skills, and I am very proud of my skills. Any free time that I have is spent collecting data, tracking success in my clients, and putting workshops together for the future. On top of that, I'm never hesitant to seek assistance when needed. For a current project that I'm working on with a State Senator, I am utilizing the services of several public health officials in data collection."
Written by Ryan Brunner
23. What do you enjoy most about being a Health Educator?
How to Answer
This is your chance to display your passion as a Health Educator. Maybe you enjoy working with a particular group of people, or there is a topic that you jump at the chance to teach your community about because it personally speaks to you. Tell the interviewer why you continue to educate your community. This job requires passion, and your interviewer will be looking for you to display it in your answer here.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"My journey to becoming a health educator started with my mother being diagnosed with heart disease. After being diagnosed, she still didn't put forth any effort to exercise and become healthier even after many years of us hounding her as her children. Health and well-being are commonly an afterthought for most people, and I am on a mission to help bring health issues to the forefront of people's minds in our community and region."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"The thing I enjoy most about being a Health Educator is knowing that I'm genuinely helping people become healthier. I've built great relationships with my community and get regular feedback from clients telling me that I've helped them. Knowing that I've helped even one person makes me want to continue doing what I'm doing."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"During my years working in this field, the thing that I appreciate the most about the job is the freedom to create fun and impactful training and education sessions that have a great influence on people. I have a knack for being creative while also having a passion for health and wellness, so this career has been a match made in heaven for me."
Written by Ryan Brunner
24. In what ways can you improve your skills as a Health Educator?
How to Answer
No matter how experienced you are or how many great examples you have of how you have worked to develop and improve your skills in the past, you will need to prove it by demonstrating an open and flexible attitude. Share with the interviewer a skill you have that you would like to improve upon. It might be your public speaking skills or empathy towards your clients that you would like to improve. The only wrong way to answer this question is to not support it with a way that you are working on improving your skills.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"Stepping into this career field out of college, I know that managing multiple projects and deadlines will be a part of this job. I have been working on my project management skills by taking an elective project management course during my senior year alongside my internship. During this course, I learned great techniques to managing several projects at one time that I'll be able to utilize from day one on the job."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"Having worked in the field for close to five years, I have been solely focused on the education of the youth population. Knowing that I'd be looking to step outside of this box now, I've been reading and working with others in our field that focus on adult learners to help prepare me for this moment. If hired, you'll find that I'm adaptable and can take the skills that I've learned in working with children and apply them to working with the adult population that I'll work with here."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my current role, most of my sessions are given in a small classroom style setting. This role will be stepping outside what I'm used to with the need to present to large crowds exceeding over 50 people. Knowing that I'd be looking to move on from my current job, I have started giving volunteer presentations on fitness at our local YMCA and several of my sessions have been near 75 people. While it had been a while since speaking with a group this large, I eased back into these pretty easily and look forward to the challenge moving forward in this role."
Written by Ryan Brunner
25. In what ways do you often see people making poor choices in regards to their health?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, you have people all around you making poor choices regarding their health. Describe what program you are most passionate about. Tell the interviewer about a few ways you know people are making poor choices, how you educate them to change their ways, and a few success stories to support your efforts.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"As it has been for many years, tobacco usage is one of the leading causes of health issues and disease in the United States. My dream of going into health education was to end up working in a university setting. If I were to have the opportunity to work here, tobacco prevention and cessation would be one of my biggest priorities. I watched the habit cause the death of my grandfather, and I'm very passionate about prevention."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"Our local elementary school requested I come down to speak to the kids about healthy eating. Having school-aged children myself, I really took this project to heart. I worked with the school over a six-month period of time to get healthier food in the school lunch program. Healthy eating habits are formed at a very young age and, unfortunately, many parents today take easy shortcuts to feed their children, and these shortcuts are more often than not an unhealthy choice."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my years in this field, I have noticed that poor health choice trends have changed over time due to lifestyle choices. In my current role, working with a very diverse population in a varying age range, the common theme that I see today is a lack of exercise and overall fitness among people due to advancements in technology. Rather than playing outside, kids are glued to televisions or tablets, and adults are really no better. I have developed a program called Get Offline and Get Outside that focuses on the wonders of being in nature and the health effects that doing so can provide to people. This program has received many accolades from people that have dedicated more time to staying off their phones and getting outside to see nature."
Written by Ryan Brunner
26. Do you collect data and track results as your health education classes are progressing?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, your job is all about tracking data to see what needs our out in your community. To track your information, talk about a particular program you use. Tell the interviewer how you track your data and the importance of it. Describe how you go back and refer to your data collected to use it for a future class. Collecting data both before and following classes is important, so be sure to reiterate this to your interviewer.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"During my schooling, I learned a lot about the importance of collecting data in both the implementation and review of programs. I have a lot of experience creating and implementing surveys and conducting interviews with people as a means of data collection. During my internship, I had first-hand experience working with focus groups on mental health issues. Here, I used a software system called EasyMorph that helped tabulate and analyze data that was captured to help put it to use in our programs."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"Each class I teach, I collect various types of data from the sessions. From compliance to feedback from the students, I utilize the data as constructive feedback to continuously improve my future classes. Depending on the presentation and the student base, I utilize initial surveys and follow-up surveys. Most of the time, surveys are one of the most reliable methods to collect data."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"To run a successful program or training, I have to have relevant and factual data to base my class off of, and I utilize many resources for data collection. Scientific research and studies are a great starting point. Still, working locally in a particular region, I also utilize surveys and interviews to collect data to implement programs. Equally as important, I run follow-up data on all of my programs in the form of surveys and other data analytic methods as deemed appropriate. To put this in perspective, I created a healthy activities program for a local employer over six years ago. I still conduct follow-up surveys to the employees who remain with the company to this day. The employer loves seeing the positive results that are still occurring years down the road."
Written by Ryan Brunner
27. What websites do you like to direct your students towards, in regards to health information?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, you know that you have to appeal to various types of populations. Some people learn best from researching the information via the internet. You provide only the best sites that give accurate and up-to-date information. It's important to know some great resources to get to your students to help themselves outside of your educational setting. Your interviewer will be looking to see that you are cognizant of these types of resources.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"During my internship, I was working with a private employer on health and fitness programs for their staff. One common site that I referred people to was health.com, particularly the fitness section. This website has a wealth of information and ideas for people that are looking to create a healthier lifestyle through fitness and activities."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"The go-to website that I like to share with my clients is the American Heart Association website at www.heart.org. With my current role focusing on heart health among the aging population, this website has a ton of great facts and healthy living ideas for the population that I work with."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my time working with high school and college-aged students on healthy lifestyle choices, the most impactful website that I recommend to them is thetruth.org. This website is focused on the harmful effects of tobacco and does so in a straightforward manner. In today's age of kids being so technologically savvy, a website like this is a breath of fresh air, and I've had many people thank me for the referral to the site."
Written by Ryan Brunner
28. Tell me about a health related event you have hosted. What was the goal of the event and did you consider it a success?
How to Answer
When answering this question, refer to one of your biggest accomplishments and why it was a success. Feel free to name-drop someone that could verify the success of this event. Tell the interviewer about the event you led at an elementary school about healthy eating habits or a workshop for adults on better controlling their diabetes. Tell the interviewer your steps from developing a checklist, determining the budget, securing the location, planning the publicity, and reflecting after the event has ended to see where you can improve next time.
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"This past summer, while I was a senior in college in my program, I had a booth at our local city picnic. I brought information about healthy living and healthy choices that were engaging to a general audience. While working in the booth, I engaged people in conversation, and I consider it a success because I had a lot of traffic past my booth as well as questions."
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"I led an event at our local elementary school about healthy eating habits. My goal was to encourage better choices during the lunch hour. The kids participated in the workshop and had a blast. My work in coordinating with the school administration and lunch staff went a long way to making the entire event a success among the students."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my time working for a private healthcare organization, one of the most successful events that I coordinated was a booth at a heart health conference at a nearby university. In planning for the event and looking to stand out from the rest of the crowd, I decided to theme our booth on the effects of smoking on heart health to impact attendees that were tobacco users to quit. Looking to have some shock effect on people stopping by, I had a running DVD with images of hearts impacted by cardiovascular diseases and heart attacks caused by smoking. At the event, I had several people exclaim to me how impactful my booth was."
Written by Ryan Brunner
29. Tell me about a successful program you taught. What made it successful and why was it different?
How to Answer
As a Health Educator, you assess individual and community needs for health education.
You plan health education strategies, interventions, and programs. Tell the interviewer about a recent program you taught and why you felt it was successful. This is your chance to show success as a Health Educator, so make sure to shine!
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Entry Level
"During my internship, I got to work with a non-profit organization that worked with teenagers that were struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. During my three months there, I was tasked with preparing a new presentation on the harmful effects of methamphetamine on both people and entire families with the audience being middle school students between sixth and eight grades. As my finale, I had the chance to put on a one hour assembly in front of the student body and staff. Following the presentation, I was thanked by the principal and administrator for such a powerful program"
Written by Heather Douglass
Answer Example
"A recent event that I coordinated was a cooking class. We had 12 participants, and all had a great time. Everyone laughed, helped each other out, and learned the importance of eating fresh and eating healthy. I knew it was a successful class because the class that followed had a waiting list of 10 people who were all referred to the class by others. In the planning stages, I wanted to make the class both educational and fun at the same time."
Written by Rachelle Enns on June 13th, 2021
Experienced
"In my current role, I get contracted to work with private businesses to provide education to their staff to help lower healthcare costs and better the health and well-being of their workforce. For one particular organization, I was asked to come in and speak on the importance that diet and exercise play on a person's health to a manufacturer that employed over 75% men. Being a woman in this field, this task seemed very intimidating at first. But in my initial consultation with the HR Director at the company, seeing the rising health costs and work comp claims for the company told me that my services were needed. Knowing my audience after this initial consultation, I took a straightforward approach to my facts in the presentation and used some hard-to-see examples from people that suffered from obesity leading to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. After the presentation, several employees and the HR Director approached me and thanked me for the point-blank presentation."
Written by Ryan Brunner