Share an experience when you counseled a patient and their family members and helped them overcome a challenging situation.

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Focus Your Answer On
What to Avoid
Answer Example

As a Hospice Social Worker, counseling patients and helping them overcome challenging situations is an everyday occurrence. The interviewer asks this question to understand your communication and problem-solving skills, essential to your profession.

Focus on a recent example of a time you counseled a patient and helped them overcome a challenging situation. The interviewer wants to see how you speak with your patients and help them make difficult decisions. They want to hear that you are patient, compassionate, and good at coming up with solutions for your patients.

When responding to this question, avoid being vague. If you do not explain in detail how you counsel patients and help them overcome challenging situations, the interviewer will not be able to gauge your communication or problem-solving skills.

"I recently counseled a patient who was having difficulty deciding what funeral arrangements he wanted upon his death. My patient wanted to be buried next to his wife, but his family wanted him cremated so they could keep his ashes. I advised my patient to do what he felt was the most important and what would make him happy in the end. I helped explain his wishes to his family and why it was important for their father to be buried next to their mother. I counseled the family and told them they could visit their father and mother together at the cemetery, and they agreed it was up to their father to do what he felt was best."

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How to Answer: Share an experience when you counseled a patient and their family members and helped them overcome a challenging situation.

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Hospice Social Worker job interview.

2. Share an experience when you counseled a patient and their family members and helped them overcome a challenging situation.

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question

As a Hospice Social Worker, counseling patients and helping them overcome challenging situations is an everyday occurrence. The interviewer asks this question to understand your communication and problem-solving skills, essential to your profession.

Written by Krista Wenz on March 27th, 2022

Focus Your Answer On

Focus on a recent example of a time you counseled a patient and helped them overcome a challenging situation. The interviewer wants to see how you speak with your patients and help them make difficult decisions. They want to hear that you are patient, compassionate, and good at coming up with solutions for your patients.

Written by Krista Wenz on March 27th, 2022

What to Avoid

When responding to this question, avoid being vague. If you do not explain in detail how you counsel patients and help them overcome challenging situations, the interviewer will not be able to gauge your communication or problem-solving skills.

Written by Krista Wenz on March 27th, 2022

Answer Example

"I recently counseled a patient who was having difficulty deciding what funeral arrangements he wanted upon his death. My patient wanted to be buried next to his wife, but his family wanted him cremated so they could keep his ashes. I advised my patient to do what he felt was the most important and what would make him happy in the end. I helped explain his wishes to his family and why it was important for their father to be buried next to their mother. I counseled the family and told them they could visit their father and mother together at the cemetery, and they agreed it was up to their father to do what he felt was best."

Written by Krista Wenz on March 27th, 2022

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