Describe a situation when you demonstrated initiative and took action without waiting for direction. What was the outcome?

"I was administering a breathing treatment to a patient who had a history of asthma. The Respiratory Therapist got a call to check on another patient and left me alone. About five minutes later, the patient started clutching his chest and became very pale and diaphoretic. He was sitting in a chair, and I pushed the call button for the nurse and moved the patient to a hospital bed. I grabbed some electrodes and started hooking him up to the monitor. The nurse came in and took over, while I called the Respiratory Therapist to give him an update. Soon after, the patient went into cardiac arrest and we started CPR. A code was called, and a team came in with the crash cart. Fortunately, the patient survived after they took him into surgery."

The interviewer is looking for an employee that can take the initiative and work independently. Respiratory Therapy Technicians will often work with a Respiratory Therapist. Still, a situation might happen where you are working alone, and you need to be decisive and take action. Describe a situation where you took action without waiting for direction. This could be something that happened while working as a Respiratory Therapy Technician or in a previous job.

Why should we hire you?

"You should hire me because I have the skills and experience you are looking for. Not only do I have a strong work ethic, but I provide excellent customer service and place the patient's needs first. I am honest, reliable, and compassionate and believe I will be the perfect addition to your team."

This is the time to tell the interviewer that you have the skills and experience to be a great employee for their company. Describe some qualities that make you an excellent Respiratory Therapy Technician and how you will be a great addition to their team. Show your passion for the job when answering why they should hire you.

How do you handle difficult patients who don't want to listen to you?

"When I have difficult patients, I try to figure out why they are difficult. It might be because they do not understand what I am saying, they might be fearful of doctors and hospitals, or they are just stubborn. I listen to what they are saying and then ask questions to see if I understand why they are being difficult. If I can explain in simpler terms what procedure I am going to be doing or alleviate their fear of hospitals, I find they often become less difficult to work with. If they are just plain stubborn, I enlist the help of a significant other or family member to help talk to them."

It is important to remain calm and professional when working with difficult patients. Patients can be difficult if they have trouble breathing or do not understand what treatment or procedures you are administering. Explain how you listen to the patient so you can understand what the problem is, and then patiently and calmly try to help them after explaining what it is you are going to do. Sometimes you might have to get a spouse or family member involved to reason with the patient if they are just stubborn.

How do you handle stressful situations?

"I work in stressful situations every day. The way that I handle stressful situations is by remaining calm and professional. Patients and their families are looking to me for help, and I cannot do my job effectively if I do not remain calm. Sometimes that takes me having to take a few deep breaths and focusing on the situation that is before me."

Working as a Respiratory Therapy Technician can be a stressful job. You will have sick patients who are struggling to breathe and anxious family members. You must be able to be calm and work quickly in stressful situations while simultaneously treating and reassuring the patient and family members. Describe how you handle stressful situations while remaining professional.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

"I see myself working for your company as a Respiratory Therapist in five years. I will start my training next year after gaining a little more experience as a Respiratory Therapy Technician. I am also interested in training new Respiratory Therapy Technicians and hope to be doing that when I become a Respiratory Therapist."

The interviewer wants to see what goals you have for professional development in the next five years. It might be that you want to go to school to become a Respiratory Therapist, or you may choose to switch careers. There is time and training that goes into hiring a new employee, and the interviewer is looking to see that you are planning on remaining in their organization. Describe any courses you plan on taking in the next five years that pertain to your industry.

Do you work well under pressure?

"I work extremely well under pressure. Whether I'm working on a tight deadline at school or treating a patient in cardiac arrest, I always remain calm and focus on the job that is before me. During my clinical, I had a Respiratory Therapist who was really tough. She made me feel that I couldn't do anything right, which put a lot of pressure on me in addition to the pressure I was feeling while treating my patients. I knew what I was doing was right, so I remained focused on my patient and provided excellent care. After my clinicals were completed, the Respiratory Therapist said I did an outstanding job and told me she was hard on me to see how I would work under pressure. I think her technique helped me to work well under pressure."

Working as a Respiratory Therapy Technician can be a stressful job. You will be working under pressure when you have a patient that is in respiratory distress or arrest. Having respiratory issues is very unnerving to the patient who cannot breathe. You must be able to be calm and work quickly under pressure while treating and reassuring the patient simultaneously. Describe how you work under pressure and give an example of a time you worked under pressure.

How are your communication skills?

"I believe I have excellent communication skills that I have gained through my education and work experience. I can give treatment plans to my patients that they understand. I instruct them how to use the prescribed breathing treatments in a way that is not confusing to them. I communicate effectively with my coworkers and peers, so there is no miscommunication. I am a good listener, which helps me understand a situation and prepare an appropriate response."

Being able to listen and communicate are important skills to have in the medical field. Patients need to understand what is being told to them in terms they can understand. Coworkers need to communicate efficiently to get the job done correctly and without errors. Give some examples of how you effectively communicate with your patients and coworkers.

How would you define great patient care?

"I define great patient care as treating every patient how I would want to be treated. I believe being empathetic to the patient's experience is essential. I treat every patient with compassion and empathy and listen to what they have to say. I believe it is important that every patient feels that they are receiving excellent customer service and that their provider cares about them as a person."

Excellent patient care and customer service are the backbones of the medical industry. If patients are not happy with their provider and the way they were treated, they will go elsewhere. The interviewer wants to see that you have the qualities to provide great patient care, and it will show in your answer. Empathy, compassion, and good listening skills are important qualities to have to provide great care.

What is your greatest weakness? What are you doing to improve it?

"My greatest weakness is my lack of experience in this field since I just became licensed. I am improving that by interviewing for this job to get hired and gain hands-on experience. Until I get hired as a Respiratory Therapy Technician, I have been doing a ride-along every week for the past three months with the local ALS ambulance company. The medics have been very gracious and helpful and let me take vital signs and assist with airway interventions. I feel that I have gained a great deal of experience in the past three months riding with them."

This is a common question in interviews. The interviewer wants to see that you are humble enough to identify a weakness and determined enough to turn it into a strength. Identify a weakness you have, and end on a positive note as to what you are doing to correct it. Choose a weakness as it relates to the job of a Respiratory Therapy Technician, such as lack of experience, freezing up when public speaking, or difficulty in remembering people's names.

What is your greatest strength?

"My greatest strength is the ability to remain calm and think quickly in emergencies. I am normally a calm person, but I did not know how I would be during an emergency before I got into this field. I had a patient go into respiratory arrest while explaining to him and his wife how to set up his breathing treatment and home oxygen. I was able to get the wife to get help while I used an airway adjunct and set up the BVM. I was able to start ventilating him before the Respiratory Therapist came running into the room. It all happened so fast, but I remained calm throughout the incident and the patient start breathing shortly after. It ended well."

Most people have many strengths, but pick the one greatest strength that stands out to you. Choose a strength that relates to the job of Respiratory Therapy Technician, and explain how it is a great strength to have in this field. Give an example of your greatest strength put into action.

Tell me about your clinical experience.

"My clinical experience was great. I had an excellent mentor who made me feel calm and confident even though I had never worked in the medical field before. I learned a lot from him about bedside manners and how to have empathy for all patients, even if they are difficult to work with. I discovered just how frightening it is for someone who cannot breathe and how much the breathing treatments and oxygen help. It was a great learning experience."

When describing your clinical experience, choose positive aspects that stood out for you. Do not describe anything that would sound like a negative experience. The interviewer wants to see how you handled your clinical time and what you learned from it.

What are your career goals?

"My career goals are to work for a few years as a Respiratory Therapy Technician to gain experience, then work towards getting my Respiratory Therapist licensure. My goal is to be working as a Respiratory Therapist in the next five years."

The interviewer wants to see your career development plans and how motivated you are to achieve those goals. If you have plans to advance your career, explain your goal and how you will achieve it. If you are happy with your position as a Respiratory Therapy Technician, explain to them that you love what you do and want to gain more experience in the field.

There are times when we are placed under extreme pressure on the job. Tell me what you would do if the Respiratory Therapist or another healthcare worker yelled at you on the job in front of a patient.

"I would wait until we were away from any patients and ask whoever yelled at me if I could talk to them in private. I would calmly explain that I did not appreciate being yelled at and that it was unprofessional to do so in front of the patient. It would depend on what they yelled at me about, but if it had to do with my skills, I would ask what I could do to improve."

Respiratory Therapy Technicians need to remain calm and professional in stressful situations. While there is no excuse for being yelled at, especially in front of patients, it might happen. The interviewer wants to see your conflict resolution skills. It is best to wait until you can get the person in private to tell them how you felt about them yelling at you. Explain that you feel yelling at someone in front of patients is unprofessional.

Have you performed any medical procedures on an actual patient?

"While I was training for my Respiratory Therapy Technician license, I rode along with an ambulance company for two months. The paramedics I rode with allowed me to take vital signs and provide oxygen therapy to the patients who required assistance. I have administered Albuterol treatments, ventilated patients who were intubated and in cardiac arrest, and assisted with a humidified oxygen treatment for a child who had croup."

The interviewer wants to hear about your experience with patient care. Describe any procedures you have performed and the outcome. If you do not have experience with patients, explain procedures you learned and performed during your training.

Tell me about a demanding situation in which you managed to remain calm and composed.

"I was doing my clinical rotation and was working in the emergency room. A lady came running in holding a limp toddler and said her baby had drowned. I was closest to the mother and took the baby from her arms. A nurse quickly brought a gurney, and we started CPR while wheeling the child back to a room. The mother had followed and was hysterical. The Respiratory Therapist took over for me, and I ushered the mother out of the room. I got her to calm down by staying composed and professional, and she was able to tell me what happened. I stayed with the mother until the doctor came out and said her baby was going to be just fine. It was a very scary moment, but I had to stay composed to do my job and calm the mother down."

Respiratory Therapy Technicians are required to work under pressure every day. Patients who are in severe respiratory distress or respiratory arrest are demanding situations. Interviewers want to see that you will stay composed and calm while working in a stressful environment. Describe a situation when you were in a demanding situation and what you did to remain calm.

Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.

"First, I would prioritize the tasks by their level of importance. I would then ask if any of my coworkers or respiratory therapist had time to help, and if so, I would delegate some of the tasks. If I were able to work overtime, I would keep working until everything was complete. If overtime were not approved, I would push off the least important tasks until the next shift."

It is important in the medical field to be able to multi-task and delegate. The interviewer is looking to see how you can accomplish your tasks by delegating duties and prioritizing what the most important tasks to be completed are. This also shows your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

How would you describe your previous boss or respiratory therapist?

"The last respiratory therapist I worked with was very kind to the patients and me. She was a great mentor, had an excellent bedside manner, and taught me invaluable skills. It was important to her that everyone was treated fairly and with the best customer service we could provide."

You want to answer in a respectful, positive manner. Interviewers do not want to hear that you thought your previous boss was too demanding or placed too much work and responsibilities on you. They want to see that you are a team player who gets along well with your superiors. Even if you did not enjoy your previous boss or respiratory therapist, find something complimentary about them.

What would your previous coworkers say about you?

"I think my previous coworkers would describe me as someone who has an exceptional work ethic and is always dependable. I always arrive for my shift early and help my coworkers with anything they need to finish up their shift. Sometimes, they get to leave early when working together to complete the tasks. If someone asks me to do something, they know they can depend on me to get the job done without supervision. And, they know they can depend on me to show up for my shift and not call in sick. I only used one sick day in three years working my last job, and it was because I had been in a car accident and was in the emergency room."

Interviewers ask this question to see how honest and self-aware you are. They also want to see what type of employee you are and what traits you have that would make you a good fit in the organization. Highlight two or three qualities that your previous coworkers would use to describe you and explain why. Use traits or qualities that pertain to the position you are applying to.

Why did you choose this profession?

"I chose this profession because I had an experience where I was in the hospital for one month after a motorcycle accident. I had a tension pneumothorax that developed into pneumonia, along with many other injuries. Every day, the Respiratory Therapy Technician and the Respiratory Therapist would assist me with my breathing treatments and sit and talk with me about how well I was recovering. I started asking questions about their training and how they liked their jobs. They had nothing but great things to say about the field and their patients. I got to know them well that month, and they both encouraged me to go to school once I got better. I chose this profession because I want to give back to others as they gave to me."

Interviewers are looking for something personal. Think about a specific time in your life when you discovered you wanted to be a Respiratory Therapy Technician. It could be that you started a career in another type of healthcare field and want a change. Or, you might have a personal experience where a Respiratory Therapy Technician helped you or a family member.

What types of respiratory illnesses do you dislike treating?

"I enjoy treating all types of respiratory illnesses, but if I had to choose which I dislike treating, I would say it would be illnesses affecting children. My sister had severe asthma growing up and was limited in what she could do. Every time I treat a child with asthma or another respiratory illness, it reminds me of my sister. It makes me sad to realize these kids are helpless and may not be able to do many activities like my sister could not do. But, it makes me feel better after giving them a treatment and seeing their breathing improve. This is why I love my job."

There is no wrong answer to this question. The interviewer is trying to learn a bit about what you don't like, which reflects your personality. Some Respiratory Therapy Technicians do not enjoy working with respiratory illnesses affecting infants and children, while others dislike treating respiratory illnesses in the elderly. Describe why you dislike treating certain respiratory illnesses and give a reason why. Then, turn it into a positive to show the interviewer that even though you dislike something, you find something positive about it.

How would you remain calm if you had a patient in severe respiratory distress?

"I remain calm by feeling confident in my role as a Respiratory Therapy Technician. If I am not calm, it will make the patient and family members more stressed. My goal is to put the patient and family at ease while I am administering breathing treatments. I explain what I am doing the entire time so they understand how I am trying to help them. When they see that I am calm, they realize I am proficient at my job, and it seems to calm them down."

Working as a Respiratory Therapy Technician, you need to have the ability to remain calm in stressful situations. You also need the skills to help put your patient at ease as they are struggling to breathe. Explain to the interviewer how you understand the need to work quickly and efficiently to help patients in respiratory distress while staying calm and putting the patient and family members at ease.

Tell me about your past training and education.

"I went to EMT school and received my EMT certificate. While working on the ambulance, I became interested in becoming a Respiratory Therapy Technician. I received my associate's degree in Respiratory Care, passed the exams, and became licensed in this state. I also have my CPR, PALS, ACLS, AND BTLS certifications, which are current."

Include any past training and education pertinent to the Respiratory Therapy Technician position. Describe what certifications or licensure you have received. If you are currently taking courses related to the job description, tell the interviewer what courses you are enrolled in. The interviewer wants to see if you have the appropriate credentials to work as a Respiratory Therapy Technician.

Do you want to become a Respiratory Therapist in the future?

"I thought that I wanted to become a Respiratory Therapist, but after working in the emergency department during my clinicals, I became intrigued with the emergency room nurses' position. So, I am switching gears and studying to become a registered nurse. But, I want to continue working as a Respiratory Therapy Technician until my schooling is complete, which will be in four years."

This question shows the interviewer your career goals and professional development. If you want to become a Respiratory Therapist, explain why and what steps you will take to get there. If you do not want to work as a Respiratory Therapist, be honest and tell them why. Or, you may have a different career path and want to become a nurse or doctor.

Tell me about a patient you couldn't treat as well as they needed.

"When I was doing my clinical training in the emergency department, I had a patient who suddenly started vomiting large amounts of blood. There was so much blood I couldn't keep up with suctioning fast enough. I couldn't even give him oxygen because the blood kept coming so fast. I felt helpless. He ended up going into cardiac arrest and died shortly after. The doctor said he had esophageal varices and bled out."

This question shows your compassion and empathy for others. When telling a story about someone you couldn't help as well as you would like, the interviewer can see on your face what emotions you are feeling. Respiratory Therapy Technicians need to be compassionate, caring individuals.

Why do you want to work in this field?

"I want to work in this field because my little sister has asthma. Growing up, she would have severe asthma attacks where she would need to go to the hospital. I spent many hours watching the Respiratory Therapy Technicians and Respiratory Therapists work to help my sister with her breathing. They were very calm and professional and always made my sister feel comfortable. I decided then that I wanted to work in the same industry and help others like they helped my sister."

Interviewers are looking for something personal, not the typical answer that you want to help people. Most individuals working in healthcare want to help people. Think about a specific time in your life when you discovered you wanted to be a Respiratory Therapy Technician. It could be that you want to be part of a team, or you have a family member in the field. Or, you might have a personal experience where a Respiratory Therapy Technician helped you or a family member.

Respiratory Therapy Technicians Interview Questions

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1. Describe a situation when you demonstrated initiative and took action without waiting for direction. What was the outcome?
2. Why should we hire you?
3. How do you handle difficult patients who don't want to listen to you?
4. How do you handle stressful situations?
5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
6. Do you work well under pressure?
7. How are your communication skills?
8. How would you define great patient care?
9. What is your greatest weakness? What are you doing to improve it?
10. What is your greatest strength?
11. Tell me about your clinical experience.
12. What are your career goals?
13. There are times when we are placed under extreme pressure on the job. Tell me what you would do if the Respiratory Therapist or another healthcare worker yelled at you on the job in front of a patient.
14. Have you performed any medical procedures on an actual patient?
15. Tell me about a demanding situation in which you managed to remain calm and composed.
16. Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.
17. How would you describe your previous boss or respiratory therapist?
18. What would your previous coworkers say about you?
19. Why did you choose this profession?
20. What types of respiratory illnesses do you dislike treating?
21. How would you remain calm if you had a patient in severe respiratory distress?
22. Tell me about your past training and education.
23. Do you want to become a Respiratory Therapist in the future?
24. Tell me about a patient you couldn't treat as well as they needed.
25. Why do you want to work in this field?

Respiratory Therapy Technicians Interview Questions

1. Describe a situation when you demonstrated initiative and took action without waiting for direction. What was the outcome?

2. Why should we hire you?

3. How do you handle difficult patients who don't want to listen to you?

4. How do you handle stressful situations?

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

6. Do you work well under pressure?

7. How are your communication skills?

8. How would you define great patient care?

9. What is your greatest weakness? What are you doing to improve it?

10. What is your greatest strength?

11. Tell me about your clinical experience.

12. What are your career goals?

13. There are times when we are placed under extreme pressure on the job. Tell me what you would do if the Respiratory Therapist or another healthcare worker yelled at you on the job in front of a patient.

14. Have you performed any medical procedures on an actual patient?

15. Tell me about a demanding situation in which you managed to remain calm and composed.

16. Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.

17. How would you describe your previous boss or respiratory therapist?

18. What would your previous coworkers say about you?

19. Why did you choose this profession?

20. What types of respiratory illnesses do you dislike treating?

21. How would you remain calm if you had a patient in severe respiratory distress?

22. Tell me about your past training and education.

23. Do you want to become a Respiratory Therapist in the future?

24. Tell me about a patient you couldn't treat as well as they needed.

25. Why do you want to work in this field?