Interview Questions to Hire Rehabilitation Counselors

A rehabilitation counselor has many responsibilities, depending on the patient's age and type of disability. The counselor takes into account patients' interests, education level, and general health. After getting all the information, they create plans to improve patients' quality of life. Basically, a rehabilitation counselor's goal is to assist those in need to learn to adjust to their disability–both physically and emotionally.

It's important that the counselor can create connections with community support. They also must educate the people with disabilities about the available services and how to access and use them. Hence, candidates for this position must have extensive knowledge about community services like medical, employment, educational, learning, recreational, and leisure needs.

With that said, the rehabilitation counselor works with those who can live by themselves, be active, and can contribute to society. Their usual clients are adult learners and young adults who are exploring options for education and a career.

The rehabilitation counselor also provides mental health counseling as they work with other professionals. They are physicians, psychologists, therapists, and others.

Therefore, candidates with vocational rehabilitation counseling experience should be the ones you should look for. Watch out for candidates that can't adapt to situations when creating Individual Plans for Employment (IPEs). Also, avoid candidates who lack familiarity with systems for managing electronic health records.

Experience and Background Interview Questions

• How do you begin the first session with a new client?
• What information do you take during an interview with a client?
• What's your strategy when a client has lost their motivation?
• How do you decide that a placement is a success?
• What would you do when you have to make big adjustments while treating a client?
• What does teamwork mean to you?
• Was there a client that you thought you could've done better? What happened, and how would you have done it?
• Walk me through a success that you have with a client that you assisted?
• How do you handle when a client is recovering slower than you expected?
• Tell me about a challenging treatment strategy you came up with in conjunction with medical professionals and other rehabilitation counselors.

Related article: Rehabilitation Counselor job description

Conclusion

Rehabilitation counselors help people with developmental, emotional, physical, and mental challenges live more independent, satisfying lives by providing guidance, direction, and support. These professionals work with anyone of diverse ages and from different conditions.

Use the interview questions above to evaluate your candidates so that you can hire the right rehabilitation counselors.

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