Common Interview Questions
Candidates are not allowed to discuss the questions they were asked at the interview, so beware of places stating that they know the exact questions that come up. However, there are some common questions that you should be aware of and should be preparing answers for. Some of these are generic questions about your personal skills, others are more radiology specific. Most of these can be found as part of the person specification, but they’re outlined below for you to work through. The most common questions and ones you should have an answer rolling off the tongue for are highlighted in bold.
Understanding of Clinical Radiology
- Why do you want to do radiology?
- What makes you suited to a career in radiology? (could also be asked as what are your strengths)
- How have you demonstrated commitment to a career in radiology?
- What are the qualities of a good radiologist?
- What is the role of a radiologist?
- What do you hope to achieve in your training? (could also be asked as: where do you see yourself in x years)
- What is the biggest issue facing radiology?
- Tell us about your taster week
- What is the training structure/work schedule of a trainee radiologist?
- What is life like as a consultant radiologist?
- What exams does a clinical radiology trainee undertake?
- What do you like least about clinical radiology?
- What is the future of radiology?
- What do you think about the way radiology is taught in medical school?
- Who works in the radiology department?
- Take us through your CV / tell us about yourself (unlikely in such a short interview)
- How has covid impacted training?
- What do you think of burnout in clinical radiology?
- What do you think of hybrid working / working from home in radiology?
- What is the role of the radiologist in the MDT?
- What do you think of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in radiology?
- What is a clinical radiology academy? How does it compare to traditional training?
- What is ‘skill’s mix’?
- What do you think of teleradiology?
- Tell us about a memorable interaction you've had with a radiologist
- What is your understanding of the Radiology Events and Learning Meeting (REALM)?
- Do you know of any regulations in radiology?
Personal Skills and Experiences
- Tell us about a time when you've:
- Demonstrated good leadership/teamwork / communication
- Shown bad leadership/teamwork/communication
- Prioritised resources
- Made a mistake
- Dealt with a stressful situation
- Prioritised based on clinical need
- Felt out of your depth
- Dealt with a difficult patient
- Negotiated with a colleague
- Dealt with a difficult colleague / had a conflict with a colleague
- Dealt with negative feedback
- Coped with changing circumstances
- Worked as part of an MDT
- Solved a problem
- Made a difference to your department
- Demonstrated good IT skills
- Demonstrated professional integrity/probity
- Made an important decision
- Helped a colleague
- What is your biggest achievement?
- What makes you a good leader / why is leadership important in radiology?
- What makes you a good communicator / why is communication important in radiology?
- What makes you a team player / why is teamwork important in radiology?
- How do you organise yourself at work or home?
- What skills do you need to improve?
- How do you handle a stressful situation at home or work?
- What is your main weakness?
Teaching, Audit and Research
- Tell us about a recent study you have read in radiology / how it changed your practice
- What is the difference between an audit, quality improvement project and research?
- Who do radiologists teach?
- What is a clinical audit? Do you think audit is important in radiology?
- What is your experience of clinical governance?
- Tell us about your audit/quality improvement experience
- Tell us about your research experience
- Tell us about a good or bad teaching session
- What is the difference between leadership and management?
- Do you think research is important in radiology?
- What are the qualities of a good teacher?
- Tell us about your teaching experience
Challenging Scenarios
What would you do if...
- Your consultant comes in drunk
- Your colleague confides in you that they are having health issues
- You detect a cancer on routine outpatient ultrasound
- Your colleague repeatedly comes into work late
- Your colleague is making numerous mistakes
- You're on-call and you can't get hold of your consultant
- A patient has an unnecessary radiation exposure
- A colleague asks to discuss their relative's scan results
- Your colleague makes a serious reporting error
- A patient complains about a colleague
- A clinician asks for an inappropriate investigation
- Your consultant is not providing you with teaching
- Your consultant is under-performing or not following guidelines
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