Visiting a hospital is a stressful experience for almost everyone. Where should I go? What will they do to me? What diagnosis will they make? Won’t I have to stay here? Patients worry about a lot of things when entering the hospital. And you will often be the first person they meet

Working as a hospital registrar, you will ask questions to obtain important information about the patients, their state of health, insurance, and other things. But your role does not end here–at least if you want to make some positive difference in your everyday job.

Your smile can help them calm down, and the same is true about an honest word of encouragement, or perhaps a short chat–if there’s not s queue in front of your window. That’s the difference you can make, and also something that can set you apart from other applicants in the interview.

Let’s have a look at the questions you will typically get from the hiring managers in the hospital.

 

Why do you want to work as a hospital registrar?

You have several options for a good answer. First one is referring to a meaningful purpose you see in the job. No hospital can function without registrars. And though you do not diagnose or treat patients, you also play a vital role in a complex ecosystem of a hospital, or even the entire healthcare. You weren’t lucky enough to become a Doctor or a nurse, but you still feel the need to help people, and this is your way of doing so.

You can also refer to other purpose, the one I mentioned in introduction. People are stressed when entering the hospital. And you do not plan to stress them out more, shouting on them when they cannot remember their insurance provider… On the contrary, you plan to approach them with patience and smile, trying to make their experience as pleasant as possible, given the circumstances of their visit…

Another option is referring to your skills and abilities. You are an excellent listener, and rarely make mistakes in work. Organization skills and attention to detail also belong to your strengths. Basically you have what it takes to become a good registrar–at least you think so, and you like the hospital environment (from a position of an employee, of course). Hence you decided to apply.

This is a repetitive job. What will motivate you to try your best, day in day out?

You have a few good options again. One is referring to the meaningful purpose–things will repeat for you, but not for the patients. You know how stressful it can be visiting the hospital, and how you can help them alleviate the stress. This will drive you forward, and you will try your best for everyone, because you are not selfish, and do not go to job only to earn money.

Another option is referring to people. Sure, you will do the same thing with all patients–but they will be all different. Each will have their own story, worries, their own face and attitude. And since you like dealing with people and enjoy the diversity, you actually do not think that you will find the job repetitive.

Last option is talking about money, and expectations. You know that you may find the job boring at times, or experience a low day. But you also understand that certain quality will be expected from you in work, from both your superiors and the patients.

You cannot afford to let the quality of your work drop too much, at least not in a long run, because you know you will lose your job in such a case. And that’s the last thing you want to happen.

* May also interest you: Patient Access Representative interview questions.

 

A long queue of people forms in front of your window. You can hear that some people are nervous and complain that you work slowly. How will you react?

Ensure the hiring managers that any bad words won’t distract you in your work. You know what kind of information you have to obtain from each patient, and what forms they have to sign. You won’t neglect your duties or skip something just because there are many people waiting to be registered. Nor will you put additional pressure on the person standing in front of you right now, telling them to hurry up or anything similar.

You will simply try your best, and certainly won’t go to smoke a cigarette if many people are waiting, but you won’t press anyone or neglect anything. That’s the attitude they seek in a good job applicant.

 

You will work with confidential information in this job. How do you ensure to keep them private?

They probably have their processes in place, and you will get a training. They will tell you how to store the data, where to lock the forms, and everything else. However, you should ensure them that you won’t take any information out of the hospital, or chat about some patients over lunch, regardless of how interesting their diagnosis or situation is.

What’s more, you will also make sure that nobody without a permission has access to the information. You will always lock everything properly when leaving your office/chair. Understanding that you work with sensitive information, you will try your best to protect them, and will invariably stick to all rules and regulations the hospital has in place.

 

What do you do to ensure you do not make any mistake while registering the patients?

First of all, ensure them that you eliminate all distractions in work. You won’t message on your smartphone, or check your Facebook feed while people are waiting in front of your window. Nor will you listen to a radio, or let your thoughts wander wherever they want to go–perhaps to a nice evening with your boyfriend waiting for you, once you are done with the shift. On the contrary, you will be 100% focused on the task at hand, and the person standing in front of you.

What’s more, you will not take any guesses. If you aren’t sure about what they said or wrote, for example because you didn’t hear them properly, you will ask them to repeat it. You may also suggest double-checking everything important with the patient, especially when there aren’t ten other people standing in the queue.

 

5 other questions you may get in your hospital registrar job interview

  • How do you feel about working on Sunday, or doing a night shift?
  • One of the patients is extremely nervous. They keep blabbering instead of answering your questions. What will you do in this situation?
  • Rate your computer skills (Office skills) on a scale from 1 to 10, ten is the best.
  • How long do you want to have this job, and what do you want to do once you quit?
  • What do you consider your greatest weakness when we talk about a position of a hospital registrar?

 

Conclusion, next steps

Interview for a job of a hospital registrar belongs to interviews with easy difficulty. This isn’t a fancy job title, and it can happen that you are the only job candidate.

What’s more, there are no special requirements on education or previous working experience. As long as you do not remain silent when they ask you their questions, and show some enthusiasm for the job, and manage to explain why you want to have it, they will typically give you a chance to prove your skills in work.

I suggest you to prepare at least a short answer to each question from our list, and to check also other sources. Practice your interview answers with a friend, and do not forget that your non-verbal communication also matters…

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Matthew Chulaw
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