Occupational Therapist Interview Questions

In interview scenarios, employers want to see that you can move from a referral to an occupation-led assessment that produces decisions, not just data. A strong approach is to start by agreeing the client’s priorities and then using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) to capture baseline performance and satisfaction in the occupations that matter to them. You should explain how you observe real daily tasks—washing, dressing, meal preparation, toilet routines—and how you analyse task components such as sequencing, motor control, sensation, and endurance. Where your setting uses standardised measures, mention how you select and interpret tools like the Barthel Index or Functional Independence Measure (FIM) to evidence functional change that the wider MDT can trust. Finally, describe how you convert assessment findings into SMART goals with review dates and measurable indicators, including when you will re-score COPM to quantify improvement.

Your answers will score highly when you show you can explain what you would do differently depending on the clinical context, not just list instruments. For example, you might describe how COPM guides you towards the specific performance issues that block a client’s participation, while the Barthel Index helps demonstrate changes in ADL independence. You can also mention how you document baseline evidence from observation and practice—so outcomes are defensible during supervision, audits, or commissioning reviews. If you’re applying to services that track wider functional outcomes, reference how FIM-style reporting supports continuity across hospital, rehabilitation, and community settings. This makes your assessment narrative measurable, repeatable, and ready for clinical governance expectations in both the UK and ANZ.

Recruiters often test whether you can conduct a high-quality home environment audit and link it to recommendations that work in real routines. In your interview, describe a step-by-step method that covers access routes, thresholds and stairs, bathroom layout and transfer space, kitchen reach, and bedroom set-up, including night-time movement to the bathroom. Use the occupational lens: explain what the client struggles with during specific tasks and what environmental demands trigger risk or dependence. Then show your decision logic by selecting adaptations such as grab rails, shower chairs, raised toilet seats, ramps or threshold modifications, and task-specific equipment like long-handled reachers or adapted utensils. Make it explicit that your aim is risk reduction with maintained dignity—so the client can do the occupation, not simply ‘be safe’.

Many candidates lose marks when the recommendations aren’t documented clearly enough for funding or housing panels, so address report quality directly. Explain how you write recommendations in a way that ties each equipment choice to functional goals, expected outcomes, and the specific mechanism of risk you observed. Mention how you include follow-up measures—such as repeating COPM after adaptation or agreeing functional indicators for review—to demonstrate impact. If the service uses structured funding criteria, say how you ensure the report is consistent with those requirements and uses clear language for non-OT decision-makers. This approach works across UK community services, Australian NDIS pathways and state-funded rehab pathways, and New Zealand community health and disability support processes.

OT interviews frequently assess whether you can collaborate constructively with the wider multidisciplinary team while keeping the client at the centre. In your answer, explain how you contribute to MDT discussions by bringing occupation-focused barriers, practical strategies, and measurable outcomes rather than discipline-based opinions. You can mention how you align OT goals with physiotherapy mobility plans and psychology adjustment or behavioural strategies, especially when pacing matters for safety and progress. Where disagreements occur, show your conflict resolution method: use functional evidence (how changes affect daily tasks, participation, and risk) and propose time-limited joint experiments with review dates. This demonstrates maturity, protects professional relationships, and keeps the plan coherent for the client and carers.

Safeguarding is also a common differentiator, so include how you manage risk without undermining trust. Describe how you document objective facts, follow your service safeguarding procedures, and escalate appropriately through the correct escalation pathways. Emphasise need-to-know communication so decisions are coordinated and the client doesn’t feel exposed or judged. Then explain how you continue therapy after escalation with a revised plan that supports safe participation—such as reviewing equipment suitability, safe supervision levels, and risk management in daily routines. This reassures employers that you can hold clinical safety responsibilities while maintaining a therapeutic, person-centred approach across regulated and complex care environments.