Landing That First Job as an Ultrasound Tech

You graduated with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in ultrasound technology and now you’re ready to hit the pavement looking for a job. While med-tech jobs are growing, you’ll be competing with job seekers who are as qualified or more so than you. What to do?

Know Your Potential Employer

Before your interview, go online, call any working nurses or medical techs you know and find out as much as you can about the employer. “Whether you are interviewing in a hospital or a private practice, it is important to find out as much as possible about your prospective employer before you walk in for the interview,” notes The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS). If you’re interviewing at a medical center, learn as much as you can about the sonography services the center provides, what types of patients they see and how their department is structured. Visit the medical center before the interview, get as many informational pamphlets as you can and pore over them. Find out where you’d fit in this organization. Learn who the key players are and their titles. This information can be particularly useful during your job interview.

The Big Q&A

The day of the interview will be stressful enough, so you’ll want to do everything you can to look and sound professional. That means prepping for a gauntlet of interview questions. Typical questions asked of ultrasound tech candidates include:

• Tell us a little bit about yourself. (Confine your answer to your schooling and any work experience that relates to the practice of medicine.)
• What made you interested in pursuing a career in Ultrasound Imaging? (You have a desire to help people and you enjoy applying ultrasound technologies in doing so.)
• Why are you interested in this position? (Confine your answer to what your research has revealed about the department, its technologies, its professional staff, and that you want to learn as much as possible from them.)
• What are your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to this position? (This is a tricky question. Go into your academic strengths and any applicable work experience. If pressed for a weakness, indicate your lack of experience with a quick follow-up that you’re willing to learn from their professional staff.)

If you need more help with answers to tough interview questions, check out “201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions” by Certified Interview Coach (CIC), Job & Career Transition Coach (JCTC), and Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW), Linda Matias.

What to Ask the Interviewer

At the end of the interview, you may be asked if you have any questions for the employer. Ford R. Myers, career coach, speaker and author of Get The Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring, says, "Asking smart questions will help the job seeker sound articulate, well-prepared and genuinely interested in working for the organization." Here, you’ll want to be prepared with questions like:

• What would my duties be at the start?
• What qualities are you looking for in an ultrasound technician?
• What kind of on-the-job training do you offer to new employees?

If all goes well, you’ll get that all-important phone call to join their team. If you really prepared for the interview, it may not come as such a surprise.

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