What is your availability?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Entry Level Example
Answer Example
Experienced Example
Community Answers

The interviewer asks about your availability to get an idea of your schedule and how it may fit with the needs of the practice or facility. It could also be a way to gauge your level of commitment and dedication to the position, especially if on-call hours are part of the job. To ensure a successful working relationship, it's important to be transparent about your availability and any potential scheduling conflicts. If you have particular times when you aren't available to work and the job requires those times, hopefully, that would have been discovered in the job posting or a phone interview prior to interviewing in person.

"Being a new Psychiatrist, I am entering the workforce completely open to availability. I can cover day, evening, and night shifts on the unit and any on-call time to help me become a better Psychiatrist."

"I am available to work any shift in this inpatient practice, but I just need to know what my schedule looks like with a week's advance in time. I need to coordinate daycare, but with advance notice, that will not be an issue."

"In seeing this posting and talking to you on the phone before the interview, I understand this is a Monday through Friday day shift practice, which is exactly what I am looking for in a new position. I have the flexibility to provide hospital coverage in the evenings and some weekends as well, as long as it was scheduled ahead of time to be able to plan ahead."

Anonymous Answer

"I can work full-time as required by your position description, including nights and weekends on call. I am working part-time and plan to increase my availability before the commencement of the next clinical year. Currently, I am also undertaking my MPM studies to spread the workload over the coming year."