An audiogram is a graphic demonstration of audiometric data. It represents a picture of your hearing ability. It is a graph that represents the softest sound a person can hear at different pitches or frequencies.
2. Tell me what is your favorite environment to work in?
An environment of staff that work together as a team.
3. Tell me what do you like about what you do?
I enjoy helping people stay connected to their friends and family through better hearing. I also like learning about the latest technologies available to assist those with hearing loss.
4. Tell me do you prefer working with children or senior citizens?
Children, however, I do enjoy working with adults.
5. Tell me what form of aural rehabilitation do you use in your current position?
Provision of amplification to meet their hearing needs, and auditory training.
6. Tell me if you could be in another career, what would you pick?
If I had to pick another career I would be a nurse. I enjoy helping people and improving others lives which I feel both fields do.
7. Tell me other than your audiogram, how do you assess a patients needs?
Questionnaires (such as the HHIE), Speech in Noise testing,
8. Tell me how do you make money/or how are you compensated?
I have a mix of private pay and insurance patients.
9. Explain what are the types of tinnitus?
Tinnitus are classified in two:
☛ Pulsatile: It is caused due to muscle movement near the ear, blood flow problem in neck or face, changes in the ear canal.
☛ Non-pulsatile: It is caused due to the nerves involved with hearing, you may hear the sound in both ears.
10. Explain how much money did/do you make starting out as an Audiologist?
Starting salaries are in the range of $42,000 per year and up. I made around $20 per hour when I started back in the 1980′s.
11. Explain what is your greatest benefit to helping others hear better?
My greatest benefit is knowing that I have improved their quality of life. It makes me feel good knowing that I have given them something back which they had lost.
12. What is "Otoacoustic emissions" (OAE)?
"Otoacoustic" emissions are low level, inaudible sounds produced by the outer hair cells of the inner ear. This sound occurs spontaneously or in response to clicks or tones. OAE is normally observed in the normal person but may be absent if the person has mild conductive or cochlear hearing loss.
13. Explain what is most challenging about what you do?
It's really important to stay up-to-date on the latest research and technology, since the field changes so fast. Also, with hearing aids I'm working against many erroneous beliefs that patients come in with ("hearing aids don't work", etc.) that I have to overcome before I can help them.
14. Explain what brand do you prefer working with?
I have worked with a variety of hearing aids including Siemens, Oticon, Starkey and phonack aids. I have most experience with siemens hearing aids but I prefer the software and the quality of Oticon aids.
15. Explain some of the use of OAE (Otoacoustic Emissions) testing?
☛ Screening tool for hearing loss in infants, children and newborns
☛ Determines non-organic or functional hearing loss
☛ Differential diagnosis between retro-cochlear and cochlear hearing loss
☛ Identifying cochlear function in patients with tinnitus
☛ Can give an early indication about cochlear dysfunction
☛ Can use to evaluate the toxicity of the medication used for ear
16. Tell me what education, schooling, or skills are needed to do this?
Audiology requires a bachelors degree and four-year doctoral program. One important necessary skill is communicating well with others, since it's a people-centered profession. You do need lots of patience as well since you often have to reinstruct patients several times on the same issue (how to put in batteries, etc.).
17. What is sensorineural hearing losses?
Hearing losses that are caused by a problem in the inner ear or along the auditory nerve are called sensorineural hearing losses. It happens due to the inability of the nerve to carry the signal to the brain.
18. Tell me what is most rewarding?
I love the look on the patient's face and their family's reaction when they realize what they can hear with properly fitted hearing aids. Most people tell me they wish they had gotten hearing aids sooner.
19. Tell me how did you get started?
I wanted to be in a profession where I could help people, and my undergraduate degree is in communicative disorders (speech pathology). I really enjoyed my audiology classes (audiology and speech pathology are related fields and we cross-train to some extent), so I changed to audiology for my graduate degree.
20. Tell me have you ever had a patient want to return a hearing aid?
Yes I have had a patient return a hearing aid through the lions club foundation. It was a pair of donated in the ear hearing aid. I was actually picking up this case after another audiologist and responsible for fitting the hearing aid. She was so unahppy with the aid that I knew it woulndt work. I want to be able to provide the patient with amplication he or she wil use not dispise. I tried to have her try it on and she was just not happy. I talked to her son and made some phone calls and had lions club donate a BTE hearinga id witha slim tube.
21. What is ASSR (Auditory Steady State Response)?
It is a testing method used to check the ability of hearing in children, who are too young for traditional audiometric testing.
22. Tell me what advice would you offer someone considering this career?
I recommend shadowing an audiologist to see if you will enjoy this field. There are many specialties in audiology now: pediatrics, hearing aids, cochlear implants, intraoperative monitoring, vestibular testing/rehabilitation, and diagnostics to name a few.
23. Explain what do you dislike?
I don't like dealing with insurance companies. It's difficult to get clear answers regarding how much they will cover for a specific patient or procedure, and they often take quite a while to pay us.
24. Tell me what was the most difficult patient you've had to test and outfit with a hearing device?
Sudden hearing loss, 40-year-old.
25. Tell me can we cure sensorineural hearing impairment? What causes such hearing impairment?
Such type of hearing impairment are incurable and can be remediated to a certain extent. Although new technology has shown immense potential to improve hearing ability, is still far to eliminate hearing impairment completely.
☛ Damage to the cochlear hair cells
☛ Tumor on the auditory nerve
26. Tell me what is a common misconception people have about what you do?
It's getting better now, but when I used to tell people I was an audiologist they didn't even know what that was.
One thing I hear is that many people think that all hearing aids are the same so they just select their hearing aid provider based on price, but in reality there is an art to fitting hearing aids. Experience matters!
27. Situational Audiology interview questions:
☛ How would you weigh a plane without scales?
☛ Tell me about your proudest achievement.
☛ What would make you happy in a job?
☛ Which subjects did you enjoy during your qualifying degree?
☛ What is the difference between a good position and an excellent one?
28. Video Based Audiology interview questions:
☛ Have you ever had difficulty working with a manager?
☛ How do you think you can make a contribution to this company?
☛ What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you deal with it?
☛ Describe a situation in which you had to collect information.
☛ What would you say are your strong points?
29. Phone Based Audiology interview questions:
☛ What was the most complex assignment you have had?
☛ How would you describe the experience of working here?
☛ How well did your college experience prepare you for this job?
☛ What do you feel is the best educational preparation for this career?
☛ What are three positive character traits you don't have?
30. Phone Based Audiologist Interview Questions:
☛ Why did you get in to the field of audiology?
☛ What do you think is the most interesting aspect of audiology?
☛ What personality traits do you possess that make you feel well suited for a private practice audiology clinic?
☛ Our practice sells hearing aids. On a scale of 1 to 10 rate yourself as a sales person.
☛ Why did you give your self that rating?
☛ With regard to the profession of audiology what do you think is your weakest attribute?
☛ If you could improve one aspect of your professional skills what would you improve?
☛ How do you feel about participating in marketing activities that create awareness about hearing loss and the practice?
☛ Do you ever want to own your own practice? (If yes, what is your timeframe and where would you want the practice to be located?)
☛ Why should I consider you for the position?
31. Competency Based Audiology interview questions:
☛ Tell me about an important issue you encountered recently.
☛ Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
☛ Tell me about an important goal that you set in the past.
☛ When given an important assignment, how do you approach it?
☛ Did you feel you progressed satisfactorily in your last job?
You may receive very helpful advice from an outsider who, like the interviewers, may tell if you answer properly or not.
Connect your ability to the company's requirements.
Answer as sincerely as possible. Don't lie as if you are discovered, it shall be very bad situation.
32. Basic Audiology interview questions:
☛ What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision?
☛ Describe a situation where you had to plan or organise something.
☛ How did you prepare for this work?
☛ Do you work well under pressure?
☛ Do you prefer to work independently or on a team?
33. Communication skills Based Audiology interview questions:
☛ Time when you made a suggestion to improve the work.
☛ What has been your most successful experience in speech making?
☛ What do you see yourself doing within the first days of this job?
☛ What major challenges and problems did you face?
☛ What's most important to you in a new position?
Never use any adjectives for these sort of Audiology interview questions. Make sure your eye contact with the interviewers during the interview. The best strategy for effectively answering these tough Audiology interview questions is to prepare for it.
34. Experience Based Audiologist Interview Questions:
☛ Tell me a little bit about yourself.
☛ Tell me about your current work setting.
☛ What social skills resources do you use for children with autism spectrum disorders?
☛ Tell me about the most difficult client you've ever had and how you worked through it.
☛ Tell me about the hardest therapy session you've ever had and how you made it work.
☛ What experience do you have with children with __(whatever disorder the site specializes in serving)__?
☛ What AAC/Assistive Technology experience do you have?
☛ How do you involve parents and teachers in treatment?
☛ How would you deal with a parent who questions your therapy practices?
35. Behavioral Audiology interview questions:
☛ What is more important to you: the money or the work?
☛ A team experience you found disappointing.
☛ What do you like and dislike about the job we are discussing?
☛ How do you keep track of things you need to do?
☛ How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?
