Top CNA Work Experience Interview Questions and Sample Answers

Most interviewers ask a few questions about how you might handle a real-life CNA workload. This might make you a little nervous if you don’t have much caregiving experience. However, practicing these questions below will help you think about how to use your past work experience in any job and your clinical rotation to give a well-thought-out answer.

Question 1: Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult resident or customer and how you handled it.

Example answer: During my clinical experience, I was given the task of walking a resident. The CNA I worked with told me that the resident often refuses to walk. When I went into his room, I didn’t tell him right away why I was there. Instead, I spent a few minutes just chatting and connecting with him. Then, I told him that the nurse wanted him to take a walk down the hall and asked him when he would like to do it. He said he would prefer to do it after lunch. So, I went back after he ate, and while he didn’t feel like walking, he did it. Letting him choose when we took a walk helped him feel control over his care.

Question 2: How do you prioritize tasks when they are all important?

Example Answer: I ran into this a lot while working as a store clerk. I would write down all of the tasks I needed to do for the day and then rank them based on importance. Then, if a new task popped up while I was working, I could easily reprioritize the list to know exactly where to add it. If something came up that I didn’t know how to prioritize, I would check in with my supervisor. This system worked very well for me, so I plan to use it in my new role. 

Question 3: Tell me what you would do if you saw a coworker yell at a resident.

Example Answer: I would immediately report any behaviors that appear abusive towards residents. I believe that erroring on the side of caution is always best and allowing a supervisor to investigate what I saw is the best way to handle these situations. 

Using Your Experience

It’s important to remember there are no right or wrong answers to situational questions. The interviewer wants you to tell them stories about how you perform, organize, and prioritize your work. Think about how you can use your professional, personal, and training experience to really shine when asked situational questions. 

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