Top 21 School Psychologist Interview Questions In 2024 [With Answers]

As if adults were not enough, students, especially teens face a lot of challenges and issues while growing and acclimatizing with this world, which is still new to them. It is an established fact, that students are simply unable to cope with the increasing demands of society and certainly need some external help.

Thus, school authorities search for and employ school psychologists who are primarily responsible for aiding and assisting the students with all their mental needs and wants. It is a reputed profession, which enjoys attractive pay packages and incentives. Thus, prepare hard for your interview session and deliver exceptional performance by reading lots of frequently asked interview questions.

21 Best Interview Questions To Study

1.Why Students Need A Psychologist, Given The Fact They Are Too Naive To Understand This Real World?

This question tests how effectively do you understand your profession.

Sample Answer

Sir, along with being naive, they lack maturity as well. Students can be influenced, manipulated, and maneuvered using simple techniques, which can affect their overall mental well-being. This is largely reflected in their lower grades and poor academic performances. Thus, there is a need for psychologists, who can mend their thought processes and instill confidence in them so that they feel energetic and live their innocence to the fullest.

2. Domestic Violence Is A Common Issue Witnessed By Several Kids. How Can You Negate Its Impact?

This question tests your practical working knowledge.

Sample Answer

Sir, I completely agree with this statement. Violence, especially domestic, destroys the ignorance and unsophisticated nature of kids, making them feel stressed, problematic, and obsessed with happiness. It has been observed that such kids lack love, and develop a defective belief system. I always counsel them positively, and in the initial few sessions, we just play games and perform activities that amuse them. This way, I gain their confidence and am able to lead them towards optimism using my communication skills.

3. How Will You Counsel A Student Who Lacks Self-Confidence and Is Under The Influence Of Depression?

This question tests your practical working knowledge.

Sample Answer

Sir, it is common for the students to maintain disbelief at a young age and develop a negative attitude. I always start by praising such students and making them aware of their own strengths, which makes them unique and different from others. This makes them feel really nice and confident. Post this, slowly, I raise the bar, and try to first understand, then resolve all their issues, by engaging in deep interactive sessions. If the need arises, I don’t shy away from even meeting their parents.

4. Name The Three Best Software Widely Used For Writing Psychology Reports.

This question tests your awareness and acquaintance with the different software used in your field.

Sample Answer

Sure, sir, these are:

• Click report
• Smart Templates
• SP Report Writer

5. School Psychologists Must Be Limited To Students Only. Comment On This Statement.

This question checks your practical working knowledge.

Sample Answer

Sir, I completely disagree with this statement. The influence of parents upon the overall response, behavior, and analytical ability of a student is huge, and can not be undermined in any case. The success of this profession lies in the ability to constantly maneuver the parents and create a positive attitude in them, which ultimately gets transmitted and shifted to the students. I personally believe in working closely with the parents of the students by organizing several sessions.

6. How Does Brain Transmits Its Message?

Being a psychologist, you must possess a basic knowledge of the process of transmission of messages sent by the human brain.

Sample Answer

Sir, the transmission of messages occurs following the principle of diffusion of neuro-transmitter in which the message is transmitted from one neuron to another following the junction, commonly known as a synapse. It connects one neuron with another and gives effect to the transmission procedure.

7. Prepare A Psychomtric Test For Students (You Might Be Given A Paper or A Tablet), Which Checks and Analyzes Their Mental Health.

This question tests your practical working knowledge and also puts on display your ability to create psychological tests.

Sample Answer

Sure sir, To assess the mental health of the students, I will prepare the following questionnaire for them:

Probing Questions	Never	Sometimes	Always
I am an anxious person, and feel that the situations in my life are out of my control.
I have trouble sleeping at night that makes me restless and I feel alone and depressed.
I faced a tough situation, and my heart was racing very fast, besides, I experienced constant sweating.
In the last 6 months, you felt that you are going crazy, maniac, and possibly need some external help.
You frequently experience panic attacks, and even in the milder ones, you seem to have self pain-inflicting thoughts.

8. Decsribe About A Time When You Showed Dedication At Your Workplace.

This is a situation-based interview question, wherein you are required to explain using a real-time workplace experience.

Sample Answer

Sir, school jobs are challenging. I remember, how during my previous tenure, I worked overtime and spent a lot of effort upon transforming the lives of three young kids, who were just not interested in studies at all. All of them had their own issues, and problem sets. I worked almost 10-11 hours a day for almost 15-20 days, by organizing interactive sessions with all there of them. I could have remained negligent, but instead, I showed dedication to resolve their issues, without considering the track of time.

9. How Will You Counsel A Student Facing Inferiority Complex As He or She Is Simply Not Able To Score Good Grades?

This is a common situation and is faced by a fairly large number of students. As a psychologist, you got to develop strategies to counter the negative impact of inferiority complex.

Sample Answer

Sir, it is a mess. Inferiority complex not only robs the peace of mind but also leads to a state of depression. I always counsel the students by telling them that every one of you is special and has some distinct qualities hidden in you. Maybe you are not scoring heavily, but this does not make you inferior to others. Rather, you must strive to work hard and constantly search for your weaknesses. Prepare some good plans to negate the weaknesses, and share your issues with me. We will together overcome this, and in this quest to become better, both of us will win and support each other.

10. Decribe Yourself In No More Than Thirty Words.

First of all, no one is counting your words, so don’t interpret it literally. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know how much you know about yourself. You must share an answer, which is brief, short, and does not exceed more than 2 to 3 minutes in length. For this, you must always conduct deep scrutiny of your own personality and write down your major strengths as well as weaknesses (at least three each). Compile them together, and you are ready to deliver a perfect reply.

11. Dreams Are Indispensable Part Of Human Lives That Keep All Of Us Hooked. What Is Your Dream Job?

You might dream to work alongside your idol celebrity, or maybe manage your favorite sports franchise, but, save them for another day. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know about your expectations and desires that you might be having from your employer. For example, you might dream to work in a company, which offers 6 hours working, instead of the usual 9 hours. Be professional, specific, and never share anything which is offending to anyone.

12. You Are Pretty Experienced and Must Have Faced Several Bosses. How Do You Describe Your Best Boss and Worst Boss?

Through this question, an interviewer wants to know, what is the basis or the reason that prompts you to segregate your bosses and categorize them into good and bad. While sharing your answer, make sure that you are able to present logical arguments alongside maintaining your flow of communication. As a tip of caution, do not get carried away.

13. Failure Strikes Everybody, Like Sunshine Strikes In Every Part Of The World At Different Points Of Time. How Do You Manage Your Workplace Failure?

It is true that no one escapes from destiny as well as failure. Yet, humans are unable to cope with their failures, which leaves a devastating impact upon human minds. A failed employee possesses a crushed confidence level and delivers performances that are sub-standard and abysmal. Thus, an interviewer is always interested in knowing the various strategies following which you are able to manage your workplace failures.

14. There Are Several Schools and Similar Job Openings. But, Why You Chose To Work With Us?

This is a common interview question, through which an interviewer wants to assess your level of commitment and seriousness towards their own establishment. The best way to prepare an answer for this question is by browsing the official website of the company and noting down all the achievements and historical facts. Add your personal interests to your answer, and compile all the information so as to translate it into a well-structured response.

15. Being A Psychologist Is Challenging and Requires A Greater Application Of Mind As Well As Patience. How Do You Manage Your Stress Levels?

It’s sarcasm and might even seem mockery, but it is an establsihed fact that psychologists too feel the heat and remain stressed, due to a variety of reasons. No stressed employee works to the best of his ability, and usually, fails to achieve his targets. Thus, an interviewer is interested in knowing the techniques that you follow to manage your stress levels. Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and even positive pep talk are some famous techniques to manage and alleviate stress.

16.We Know You Will Not Work Without A Salary. What Are Your Salary Expectations?

It is common for the interviewers, to ask about your salary expectations during an interview session itself. It is recommended that you always share a salary figure, which is based on the mean salary computed after comprehensively researching the industry to which you belong. Further, you can always indulge in deviations and quote salary, which is higher than the mean, provided you have enough work experience and valuable educational qualifications.

17. Being A Psychologist, You Will Be Required To Perform Several Tasks In A Single Working Day. How Do You Prioritize and Ensure A Timely Delivery?

This question requires you to state a prioritization technique using which you are able to arrange your tasks on the basis of pre-determined criteria or methods. Most employees prefer to order their tasks for the day on the basis of:

• The difficulty level of the tasks, with the toughest, ranked first
• The time consumed in executing each task, with most time-consuming task,s ranked first
• The urgency level of the tasks, with most urgent tasks, ranked first and
• The yields obtained from each task, with highest yielding tasks, ranked first

You can choose any of these developed techniques, or even opt for any of your own strategies, but make sure you are able to justify your selection using relevant workplace experiences, in both the cases.

18. We All Need Something That Clicks Us and Pushes Us. What Are Your Motivational Factors?

It is true that every human being needs the motivation to perform exceptionally well and give his or her best. This holds much relevance in a corporate setup, wherein repetitive tasks and schedules crush employees in their monotony. Thus, an interviewer is interested in knowing the motivational factors, which are largely influenced by your financial conditions, living situations, and circumstances. Hence, always give an original reply, and avoid all the generic ones.

19. What Is Your Preferred Mode Of Working – In A Team or Individually?

Psychologists largely work in association with school counselors and fellow junior psychologists, who are either trainees or interns. However, still, an interviewer is interested in knowing how do you prefer to operate. It is recommended that you opt for “team” as this not only reflects your ability to develop excellent rapport with your peers but also satisfies the expectations of the employer. In case you feel that you are more productive “individually” feel free to share it, but make sure, you are able to justify your selection.

20. When Can You Start Working For Us?

This is a common interview question through which an interviewer wants to know about your expected date of start, on or after which you can begin working for the company. It is true that immediate starters are always preferred, but we recommend sharing only a genuine date. Further, this question does not guarantee your selection, and hence you must refrain from interpreting it that way.

21. Do You Have Any Questions For Us?

This question marks the end of your interview session and also your big day. No more firing of the questions, and after this, you can certainly go home. It is always recommended that you capitalize and pounce upon the last opportunity to impress your interviewer by asking a few relevant counter questions that express your doubts and apprehensions in regard to the business organization. Further, you can always ask a few questions based on the model questions mentioned below for a better understanding:

Model Questions

• What are the various incentives and allowances that are offered by the company to its employees?
• How are the prospects of promotions and pay hikes that are offered by the company to its regular employees?
• How is your own personal experience in this company? Please share a few pros and cons.

Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (For School Psychologist interview):

References

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gtRJEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Top+21+School+Psychologist+Interview+Questions+in+2021+%5Bwith+Answers%5D&ots=EebSaPSdnU&sig=apx4kq5xULecUgdckiRUwTM3djw
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876285920305593