Questions to Ask at the End of an RA Interview
When a residence life panel hands the last few minutes over to you, the questions to ask during an RA interview are the ones whose answers the posting leaves out. These 57 questions about being an RA follow the order the decision does: the floor you would be given, duty nights and crises, training and the staff behind you, time around classes, pay and housing, and what to settle before you leave the room. The terms of the job differ a great deal from one school to the next, so pick the handful whose answers could change your mind.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The floor
How many residents would I be responsible for, and across how many floors?
Why ask it
The count sets the scale of everything else you are asked to do. Thirty residents on one corridor is a different post from eighty across three floors with separate entrances, where simply learning every name takes weeks.
What does an ordinary week look like for an RA in this building?
Why ask it
Ask for the fixed pieces: the staff meeting, the one-to-one with a supervisor, duty nights, rounds and any desk hours. Once those sit on a timetable next to your classes, you can see what is left.
Which building would I be placed in, and do I have any say in it?
Why ask it
First-year halls, upper-year apartments and themed housing make for very different years, and first-year halls are often described as the busiest. If placement is decided after selection with no input from you, you would be saying yes to a job you cannot yet picture.
What do residents here most often bring to their RA?
Why ask it
Lockouts, noise and roommate friction make for a different year than homesickness and students in academic trouble. The interviewer's list is a fair preview of your evenings.
What would you want me to have done by the end of the first month?
Why ask it
A concrete reply, such as every name learned and one floor meeting held, gives you something to aim at in September. A loose one about building community means you would be setting your own targets, so ask how new RAs find out whether they are on track.
How far am I meant to take a roommate conflict before it passes to professional staff?
Why ask it
Mediating between two people you will see at breakfast is skilled work, and a new RA has usually had only a little practice at it. A stated handover point, such as a mediated agreement that has failed once, protects you and the roommates alike.
How many RAs are on the building's staff, and would I share a floor with another one?
Why ask it
Staff size sets how often your duty night comes round and whether anyone is close enough to trade with. A co-RA on the same corridor also means the floor is not left uncovered every time you go to class or go home.
How many programmes or events am I expected to run each term, and is there a budget?
Why ask it
Requirements are often specific: a set number per term, with categories to cover. Get the budget per event and how you claim it, because a requirement with no money behind it tends to be met out of the RA's own pocket.
Am I expected to hold one-to-one conversations with every resident, and how are they logged?
Why ask it
Where a programme sets a number of conversations per resident each term and wants a written entry after each, the arithmetic matters. Multiply by the size of the floor before deciding it sounds light.
Would I work shifts at the front desk or in the mail room, and are those hours part of the role or paid on top?
Why ask it
Desk hours are folded into the appointment at some schools and paid hourly at others. Four hours behind a desk each week is a real line in your timetable under both arrangements, so pin down which one applies here.
How much say do RAs have in how they run their floor?
Why ask it
Bulletin boards, meeting formats and event types can be laid down centrally or left to each RA. Neither is wrong, but the answer shows whether the role rewards initiative or carrying out a plan well.
Duty and crises
How does the duty rotation work: how many nights, and what does being on duty involve?
Why ask it
The details to get are whether you must stay in the building, what times rounds happen, and how weekends and holidays are shared out. If the frequency comes back as a vague 'it varies', ask how many nights a current RA had last month.
How do duty swaps work when I have an exam the next morning or I am ill?
Why ask it
A rota only holds up if trades are easy. Listen for whether a swap is a message in the staff chat or something a supervisor must approve days ahead, and for what happens when nobody can take the night.
Which nights of the year are hardest to be on duty here?
Why ask it
Every campus has its own: the first weekend, a big game, the night after the last exam. A panel that names them straight away, and says extra staff are put on, has planned for them.
Who do I call at two in the morning, and how quickly do they answer?
Why ask it
A professional staff member on call who picks up and is expected to come in is the support the rest of the job leans on. Listen for a title and a rough response time; a duty phone with no clear person behind it means improvising alone.
On a typical duty night, how many calls come in and what are they about?
Why ask it
A typical night gets you numbers that a position description never carries. Three lockouts and a noise complaint is one job; a hospital transport most weekends is another.
Would I ever be expected to break up a party or enter a room alone?
Why ask it
Walking into a crowded room at one in the morning is the most exposed moment in the role. The answer you want is a rule that RAs go in pairs or phone the staff member on call first, plus what to do when no second person is free.
What is an RA expected to do when a fire alarm goes off or a pipe bursts in the middle of the night?
Why ask it
Alarms and leaks land on whoever is in the building, on duty or not. Find out whether your part is to knock on doors, take a count outside or simply call it in, and who decides when residents can go back to bed.
What am I expected to do if a policy violation involves someone I know?
Why ask it
Sooner or later the noise complaint is about a friend's room. You want to hear a stated expectation and a way to pass the situation to another RA or the staff member on call, since being told to use your judgement leaves you choosing between the job and the friendship on the spot.
When I document an incident, who follows up, and what is my part after that?
Why ask it
Whether you write a report and hand it off, or attend meetings and face the resident afterwards, changes the social weight of the job considerably. Find out how long a report takes to write, too, and whether that time counts toward your hours.
Am I expected to respond to mental health crises, and what training and backup come with that?
Why ask it
The role can stop at noticing and referring, or it can mean sitting with a student until professional staff arrive. Which one applies here, and what training comes before it, tells you the heaviest thing you could be asked to carry.
What am I required to report when a resident confides in me, and can I ever promise to keep something private?
Why ask it
At many schools an RA has to pass on certain disclosures and cannot offer secrecy, though the list comes from each school's own policy and local law. You will need it well enough to warn a resident before they go on, so ask exactly how it works there.
What happens if a resident harasses or threatens an RA?
Why ask it
Your name is on your door and you cannot go home when the shift ends. Press for the actual procedure, including who is moved if it comes to that: the resident or you.
After a serious incident, who checks on the RA who handled it?
Why ask it
Being first through the door at a medical emergency can stay with a student for weeks. A debrief the next day and a night off the rota show a programme that looks after its staff, and hearing nothing until the report is due shows the reverse.
Training and staff
What is the training schedule before term starts, and is that time paid?
Why ask it
Training usually starts before other students arrive, sometimes by a couple of weeks, and it can cut into summer work or travel. Get the dates now, and whether those days come with pay, meals and a room.
Which situations does training rehearse, and which do RAs mostly learn on the job?
Why ask it
Acting out a confrontation or a crisis call teaches more than a slideshow about one. The second half of the question invites the panel to admit the gaps, and whatever they name is where to seek extra practice.
Would my supervisor be a full-time hall director or a graduate student, and do they live in the building?
Why ask it
A live-in director is someone whose door you can knock on at midnight. A graduate supervisor may be every bit as good but carries coursework of their own, so check how reachable they are in exam season.
How often would I meet one-to-one with my supervisor, and what are those meetings used for?
Why ask it
A regular meeting is where a new RA can admit that a floor is not going well before it shows up in an evaluation. If it tends to be cancelled in busy weeks, or is mostly a checklist of paperwork, you would be finding your own way more than the title suggests.
Are new RAs paired with a returning one?
Why ask it
The questions that come up in September are too small for a supervisor and too urgent to hold for the weekly meeting. A named returner you can text about a lockout form or a bulletin board saves a lot of guessing.
How are RAs evaluated, and what puts someone on probation?
Why ask it
Since the job comes with your room, the grounds for losing it deserve the same attention as the pay. Good answers include a warning stage and the usual causes, such as grades or missed duty.
What happens when an RA is having a hard term, in classes or personally?
Why ask it
Probation covers the RA who breaks a rule; this is about the one who is simply worn down. Hear whether there is a way to lighten the rotation or step back for a few weeks, and whether asking for that counts against you.
Are RAs held to rules that other students are not, such as on guests, alcohol or what we post online?
Why ask it
Staff agreements often ask more of an RA than the student code asks of everyone else, and the gap differs by school. Better to learn now whether a photo from an off-campus party or an overnight guest in your own room could cost you the position.
Time and classes
How many hours a week does the job realistically take, including duty nights?
Why ask it
The figure in the posting tends to leave out the time you spend being interruptible in your own room. Follow up with what opening week and the run-up to exams look like, and put the same question to a current RA if you get the chance.
When are staff meetings held, and is there a course RAs are required to take?
Why ask it
A weekly meeting at a fixed hour quietly removes every class section in that slot, and some schools add a credit-bearing RA course in the first term. Get the day and the time before you register.
Do RAs here usually keep a full course load, and how do the ones in demanding majors manage?
Why ask it
A policy answer will only say whether credits are capped. What you are after is what the staff have seen: whether RAs in lab-heavy or placement-heavy courses tend to drop a class, and in which term.
Is there a minimum GPA or credit load to keep the position, and what happens if I fall below it?
Why ask it
Postings usually state a grade floor, but the consequence is the part you need: a term to recover, or the room gone at the break. One bad term is easier to face when you know which.
Can I hold another job or a leadership role at the same time?
Why ask it
Many programmes cap outside employment hours, and some prohibit it outright. If you rely on other income or hold an officer position, this single answer may decide whether the role is possible for you at all.
How many nights or weekends each month can I be away from the building?
Why ask it
A cap on nights away can apply even when you are off duty, which matters if family, a partner or a team takes you off campus regularly. Bring your real pattern of travel and see whether it fits.
How early do I come back after each break, and how long must I stay once the halls close?
Why ask it
Opening and closing duties can take days off both ends of every break. Book no travel for the end of term until you have the dates, and check whether room inspections at closing fall to RAs.
Do RAs stay on duty through the shorter breaks, or when the building stays open over winter?
Why ask it
Break duty is voluntary and paid extra in some places and assigned in turn in others. If your trip home is long or costly, an assigned week in an empty building is a real price.
Could I study abroad, take a co-op term or do student teaching and still hold the role?
Why ask it
A term away often means giving the position up, so ask whether returning RAs are held a place or apply again from scratch. Student teaching and clinical placements cause trouble from inside the timetable, because their hours cannot bend around a duty night.
Pay and housing
What does the compensation actually consist of: room, meal plan, a stipend?
Why ask it
Packages differ a great deal between schools, and the same word can hide a large gap in cash terms. Pin down whether the room is a single, whether the meal plan runs every term, and whether the stipend arrives as pay or as a credit against your bill.
Where is the RA room, and would I share a bathroom or suite with my residents?
Why ask it
A single at the end of the corridor with a door to shut is the nearest thing to privacy the job offers. Sharing a suite with people you may have to write up is workable, but it should be something you chose knowingly.
Would taking this position affect my financial aid or any scholarships?
Why ask it
A housing waiver or stipend can be counted in a way that reduces another award, and how that works depends on the school and on your own aid package. Residence life staff may not know, so ask who in the financial aid office can run your numbers before you accept.
Is the appointment for the whole academic year, and what happens to my housing if I leave it part way through?
Why ask it
Stepping down in February can mean changing rooms within days and a bill for the rest of the term. Have that spelled out now, while it is still hypothetical.
Do the room and the meal plan carry through the breaks when dining halls close?
Why ask it
An RA kept on campus for closing or break duty may find the meal plan stopped on the last day of exams. Buying your own food for a week each break adds up, so ask whether meals are covered for staff who are required to stay.
Is there a written agreement or position description I can read before accepting?
Why ask it
The limits on nights away, outside work and grades live in that document, along with the grounds for dismissal. Where RAs have a union contract or a staff handbook, that is the text to request, and it is what you will be held to, whatever is said across the table today.
Do returning RAs get a higher stipend or an earlier say in where they are placed?
Why ask it
Anyone picturing two or three years in the role should count the second-year terms as part of the offer. The reply also shows whether the programme does anything to keep experienced staff.
Are there summer RA positions or summer housing, and is that a separate application?
Why ask it
Students who cannot go home for the summer sometimes take the job partly for the room, then discover the appointment ends with the spring term. Summer posts tend to be fewer and hired on their own timetable.
Closing
What do the RAs who do well here have in common?
Why ask it
You are asking for the selection criteria in plain words. Whatever comes back, whether it is organisation, calm or simply being around, you still have time to speak to it before the interview ends.
What do new RAs tell you surprised them most about the job?
Why ask it
The panel hears this from each new staff, so the reply should come quickly and unpolished. If it is something small and constant, like knocks on the door at dinner time, picture a year of it before you answer an offer.
What is the most common reason an RA does not return the following year?
Why ask it
Put this way, it asks about the job and not about anyone's failings, so a panel can answer it straight. Whether the reply is workload, clashes with study or the strain of writing up peers, you have just heard what the role costs the people who do it.
Could I talk to a current RA in the kind of building I would likely be placed in?
Why ask it
Staff describe the role as designed and a current RA describes it as lived, and the gap between the two accounts is the information. A programme confident in the job will hand you a name.
Is there anything in my application or my answers today that you would like me to expand on?
Why ask it
It takes some nerve, and it is the only chance to answer a doubt before it becomes a line in the panel's notes. Keep the reply short and specific if they take you up on it.
What are the next steps, and when are placements announced?
Why ask it
RA selection often has a group process stage and a placement round weeks after the offer, which matters because your housing for next year depends on it. Ask what happens to your housing application in the meantime.
If I am not placed this round, is there an alternate pool, and do openings come up mid-year?
Why ask it
RAs do leave part way through the year, and some schools fill those rooms from a list of alternates. Knowing whether this one does changes what you do about next year's housing while you wait.
How long would I have to accept an offer, and can I withdraw later without a penalty?
Why ask it
The acceptance date can fall before room selection, or before a competing job has answered. Find out what withdrawing over the summer would cost you, in fees or in your place in the housing queue.
Using these questions well
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Which questions to ask, and when
In the interview itself
A panel usually leaves room for two or three questions, so arrive with five written down and expect to use fewer. Take one from Duty and crises and one from Training and staff: both show that you know what the job involves, and neither answer is printed in the posting. One question about the package is normal, since the room is the pay.
In a group process or an information session
Questions about the floor, events and how much say RAs have suit a room where other candidates are listening. Leave your own aid, your course load and your travel home for a conversation where the answer can be about you.
After the offer
The fine print belongs here: break meals, nights away, the grade floor, what happens to your room if you step down. Send those to the residence life office in writing and ask for the agreement itself, so that what you were told and what you sign can be compared.
If your school uses other names
The role may be called resident advisor, community advisor or community assistant, and the process a residence life interview or a group process day. Whatever the invitation calls it, the questions to ask during a residence life interview are the ones on this page. Use the school's own titles when you ask them, which tells the panel you read its posting and not a general one.
Work out what the role really costs you
The compensation is easy to compare and the costs are not. Before you accept, add up the pre-term training weeks you would give up, the duty nights across a term, the hours of report writing, and the effect on any other job you hold. Then check with the financial aid office whether the housing benefit or stipend changes another award. Those four items are easy to miss while you are comparing rooms and stipends, and none of them is printed in the posting.
The part of the job nobody prepares for
Documenting people you live with
You will at some point have to write up someone you eat dinner with. Ask in the interview how the programme handles conflicts of interest and whether you can hand a situation to another staff member. A programme with a clear answer has thought about it; one that tells you to use your judgement is leaving you exposed.
Being permanently reachable
Living where you work means residents knock whenever they see your light on. Ask how RAs here set boundaries and whether anything is formally protected, such as quiet hours or a study space away from the floor.
Crises you are not qualified for
Self-harm, alcohol emergencies and mental health crises do come up. The questions to press on are what training is provided, who is on call, and how fast they arrive. Calm, specific answers here matter more than anything about community building.
Questions worth saving for a current RA
- How many hours a week does it really take, and which weeks are worst?
- How many duty nights did you have last term, and how many involved something serious?
- Did your grades change after you started?
- What happened the last time you called the on-call staff member?
- Would you do it again, and what would you want to know beforehand?
Common mistakes in an RA interview
Talking only about community building
Selection panels hear that from everyone. Asking about duty rotations, documentation and crisis backup reads as someone who understands the job, and it is more likely to be remembered than enthusiasm about events.
Not asking about money in detail
Room, meal plan, stipend and aid interaction are four separate things and the total varies enormously. Asking about them is normal and expected, and vagueness on any of them is a reason to check with the financial aid office yourself.
Assuming placement is negotiable later
Which building you get shapes the workload as much as anything in the agreement, and it is often decided centrally after selection. Ask when and how it is decided while you still have the chance to state a preference.
Skipping the question about why RAs leave
It feels like a negative question, and it is one of the most informative on the list. Asked plainly, it tends to get a straight answer, because the reasons usually lie in the job and not in the person.