Questions to Ask in an Athletic Training Interview
For certified athletic trainers and new graduates interviewing at a high school, college, clinic or team, for the moment the athletic director, head athletic trainer or panel says it is your turn. The questions follow the order the decision usually takes: the sports and the coverage, hours and travel, the physician and who makes return-to-play calls, the room and its budget, pay and terms, and why the job is open. The notes say what a reassuring or a worrying answer sounds like, which questions matter most if you would be the only athletic trainer on site, and where the rule depends on your state.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The job
Which sports would I cover, and roughly how many athletes is that?
Why ask it
Write the number down, because every later answer about hours and staffing gets measured against it. A good answer lists the teams by season and gives an honest head count. 'All of them' from a school with one athletic trainer is an answer too, and the follow-up is what goes uncovered.
How many athletic trainers are on staff, and how are the teams divided among them?
Why ask it
Being one of four and being the only one are different jobs with the same title. On a larger staff, ask who decided the assignments and whether they rotate, since the newest hire often inherits the sports nobody else wanted. If you would be alone, the coverage questions below matter twice as much.
Who would employ me, the school or an outside clinic or hospital, and who would I report to day to day?
Why ask it
Some school athletic trainers are employed by an outside clinic or health system and placed at the school. Then there are two bosses, and the one who signs the paycheck may never see you work. Find out which of them writes your review and where you go when the two want different things.
What does a day in season look like, from the first treatment to the last team off the field?
Why ask it
Listen for where rehab and paperwork fit. A day that is all taping and practice coverage leaves no time for the athletes who are already hurt, and the notes get written at home. If the person answering has never done the job, ask to hear it from someone who has.
Which practices and games must have an athletic trainer present, and which are covered only when someone is free?
Why ask it
Most places cannot staff everything, so there is a ranking, written or not. A thought-out answer puts the higher-risk sports first and says what the others get in its place, such as a coach with first aid training and a way to reach you. With no ranking at all, you will be inventing one on a Tuesday with three teams asking.
What happens when two home events are scheduled at the same time?
Why ask it
This is the everyday version of the coverage question, and it shows whether anyone has planned for it. A department that has thought it through can name a second person, money for a per diem athletic trainer or a rule about which event you stay at. 'You will figure it out' leaves you with both the choice and the blame.
Would I have duties besides athletic training, such as teaching, clinic shifts or looking after equipment?
Why ask it
Extra duties are common and not a bad sign in themselves. What matters is whether they come off your hours or sit on top of them, so ask what a teaching day does to afternoon coverage. Laundry, water and field setup are worth naming out loud before they become yours by default.
Who deals with insurance claims and medical bills when an athlete is hurt?
Why ask it
At some colleges the athletic trainer files the secondary insurance claims and takes the calls from billing offices, and the posting rarely says how many hours a week that is. At a high school it is more often a matter of what you may tell a family about the school's coverage, if it has any. Whoever did this last year can tell you how long it took.
If the job is split between a clinic and a school, how is the week divided, and which one wins when they collide?
Why ask it
Skip this for a job that sits wholly at one site. For a split role, ask to see a sample week on paper, because 'mornings in the clinic' can stretch when the clinic is short of staff. What you want to hear is a plain rule for a game that gets rescheduled onto a clinic day.
How much contact with parents does this job involve, and who backs me up when one pushes back?
Why ask it
At a high school expect a great deal, and at a college it may be very little, so ask what you are allowed to share there and with whom. An example of the last difficult phone call is more useful than a promise of support. You are listening for an athletic director who stood behind the decision once it was made.
Hours and travel
How many hours a week does this job really run in season, and how many out of season?
Why ask it
Ask the person who has done it if you can, and ask for last fall's actual weeks, not the figure in the contract. Sixty hours in season balanced by a light spring is one kind of job. Sixty all year is another, and it is better to decide before an offer whether you could keep that up.
Which away games would I travel to, and how do I get there?
Why ask it
Some programs send the athletic trainer with one team, some with every varsity team, some with nobody. If you drive yourself, ask who pays the mileage and the meals, because a season of unpaid trips is a quiet pay cut. Ask too how it works with the host school's athletic trainer on the days you stay home.
Who covers home events while I am on the road, or when I am sick?
Why ask it
A named person or a per diem list means you can take a sick day without guilt. If the honest answer is nobody, ask what coaches are told to do on those days and whether an event has ever been moved because of it.
How far ahead do I get practice schedules, and how often do they change on the day?
Why ask it
A coach who moves practice at noon without telling anyone can undo a whole afternoon's plan. A shared calendar that coaches are required to keep current is a good sign. The follow-up is who you would go to when one coach keeps doing it anyway.
What happens to my schedule when a team makes the playoffs or adds a tournament?
Why ask it
A deep playoff run is good news that nobody staffs for. If you travel with that team, someone has to cover the next season's sport that has already started practicing, so ask who did it last time. The overlap comes around whether anyone wins or not, so find out which weeks of the year have two seasons running at once.
What is expected of me in the summer and over school breaks?
Why ask it
Camps, conditioning sessions, a physicals day and preseason can turn a ten-month job into something closer to twelve. Ask for the date you would be expected back and whether anything before it is paid. Holiday tournaments are easy to forget until you are standing at one.
Is there comp time, or any other way to get hours back after a heavy week?
Why ask it
Some departments give a late start after a night game or a day off after a weekend tournament, and some have never thought about it. An informal 'we look after each other' depends on who the boss is that year. What settles it is whether the last athletic trainer ever actually took the time.
When in the year can I take a full week of vacation?
Why ask it
Paid time off that can only be used in three weeks of July is worth less than the number suggests. Ask when the last person in the job took a week away and who covered. If nobody can remember, you have your answer.
Medical calls
Who is the team physician, and how often is that person on site or reachable by phone?
Why ask it
How the arrangement is defined on paper depends on your state, but in practice this is the person you call when a case is beyond you, so their availability sets a limit on what you can do well. One who runs a weekly clinic and picks up on game nights is a strong setup. A name on a form who has not visited in years means you would be carrying more alone than the paperwork admits.
Are there written standing orders or protocols, and when were they last reviewed and signed?
Why ask it
What an athletic trainer needs in writing depends on the state, so read your practice act yourself and ask how this employer meets it. A current, signed set that someone can pull out of a drawer is what you hope to see. If none exists, ask whether you would get the time and the physician's attention to write them before the season starts.
Can I refer an athlete straight to a physician or for imaging, and how quickly are they seen?
Why ask it
A clinic or hospital partner that sees your athletes within a day or two makes the whole job easier. Slow or tangled referrals send families wherever they can get in, and you lose track of the plan. The harder case is the athlete whose family has no insurance, so ask what has been done for one before.
Who makes the final return-to-play decision, and where is that written down?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is the medical staff, in a policy the coaches have seen. Hesitation, or 'we work it out with the coach', means the pressure will land on you in the middle of a game. Ask for the policy by name so you can read it before you accept.
Can you tell me about the last time a coach disagreed with holding an athlete out, and what happened?
Why ask it
A story is harder to polish than a policy. Listen for whose side the athletic director took and how the coach is spoken about now. If nobody can recall a single disagreement, either the coaches are unusually easy or the last athletic trainer stopped saying no.
If a coach or a parent goes over my head to the athletic director, what does the athletic director do?
Why ask it
Best put to the athletic director in person, and the first few words matter most. 'I send them back to you' is the reply you want. 'It depends on the situation' deserves one follow-up about which situations.
What is the concussion protocol here, and who clears an athlete at the end of it?
Why ask it
Laws and league rules on this differ by state and level, so ask which apply and who wrote the local version. You are checking that the steps are on paper and that one named person signs the athlete back in. Then ask what happens when a family arrives with a clearance note from a provider outside the school.
Do I have a say in practice and conditioning plans for an athlete who is coming back?
Why ask it
A limited return only works if the coach and the strength staff keep to the limits. Ask how those limits are passed on: in writing, or in a hallway conversation. A strength coach you would meet every week is a better sign than one you would have to chase.
Is there a written emergency action plan for each venue, and when was it last rehearsed?
Why ask it
A plan in a binder that no coach has walked through will not help at the pool or the far field. A real rehearsal comes with a date, the names of the coaches who took part and whether the local ambulance service joined in. If it has never been rehearsed, ask whether you would have the authority to schedule one.
Where are the AEDs, and who checks that they work?
Why ask it
Ask to be shown one on the tour and look at the status indicator and the date on the pads yourself. One locked in an office after hours is no use to the team practicing on the far field, so find out which is nearest to each venue you would cover and who can get to it at night.
Is an ambulance on site for any home events, and how long does one take to arrive when it is not?
Why ask it
Whether a crew stands by at collision sports is decided locally, by the league, the budget or what the ambulance service can spare, so ask who makes that choice here. For every other event, the figure to get is the response time to the farthest field, and whether the crews know which gate to come through.
Who makes the call on heat, lightning and air quality, and can I stop a practice?
Why ask it
Find out whether there is a written policy with numbers in it and a device to measure with, or a coach looking at the sky. The authority matters more than the equipment. If you could only advise, ask what happened the last time the advice was ignored.
Who do I turn to when an athlete's problem is mental health and not an injury?
Why ask it
The athletic training room is often where an athlete first says something. A named counselor or service, plus a plan for an urgent situation after hours, is a real answer. A general assurance that support exists is not one, so ask whether you would be walked through the plan in your first weeks.
Resources
Can I see the athletic training room and the venues I would cover?
Why ask it
Ask early enough that there is time to do it. Look at how far the room is from the fields, whether there is a private place to examine someone, where the ice comes from and whether there is a sink. Reluctance to show you is information too.
What is the annual supply budget, who controls it, and what happens when something breaks mid-year?
Why ask it
A number and a name are what you are after. If you would manage it yourself, ask to see last year's order and judge whether it lasts a full year or runs dry in March. A recent example of an unplanned purchase, such as a replaced ice machine, shows how the department treats the room when it costs money.
How are injuries and treatments documented here: an electronic system, paper, or whatever I set up?
Why ask it
Good records protect the athlete and they protect you. If there is a system, ask whether coaches get status reports from it and whether it works from a phone on the sideline. If there is nothing, ask about money for one, because building records from scratch in August costs weeks you will not have.
How are preparticipation physicals collected, and who confirms an athlete is cleared before the first practice?
Why ask it
If the answer is you, ask what tracks it and how many athletes were still missing paperwork on the first day last year. A front office or an online platform that handles the forms frees you for the medical part. Find out who tells a coach that an uncleared athlete cannot take the field.
Who can see an athlete's injury record, and how do coaches and parents get updates?
Why ask it
Which privacy rules apply depends on the setting and the employer, so ask which ones this job works under and who trains the staff on them. Day to day, one agreed channel such as a daily status report saves you from answering the same question in six text threads.
Which equipment is on its last legs, and is anything already scheduled to be replaced?
Why ask it
Put this way, the question gets a more honest inventory than 'what do you have'. Treatment tables, a whirlpool, an ice machine and working modalities are the basics to ask after. What was bought last year counts for more than what is promised for next year.
Would I have help, such as athletic training students, interns or per diem staff?
Why ask it
Students are there to learn, and supervising them takes attention even as it gives you extra hands, so ask whether a university affiliation comes with duties of your own. Paid per diem cover for busy weekends is the more dependable kind of help, provided the money was actually spent last year and not just budgeted.
Pay and terms
What is the salary range, and what would put me at the top or the bottom of it?
Why ask it
If nobody has named a figure by the end of a final interview, it is reasonable to ask. Then divide it by the in-season hours you were told about, because a decent salary can work out to a modest hourly wage. Years certified, a master's degree and extra duties are common levers, so ask which count here.
Is this job salaried or hourly, and are the hours past the contract paid, banked or simply expected?
Why ask it
Whether a job like this earns overtime depends on how the employer classifies it and on the law where you work, so ask for the classification and check it yourself afterward. An hourly role with a cap can mean leaving a game early or working off the clock. Ask which of those happened last year.
Is there extra pay for postseason, camps or outside events held on campus?
Why ask it
Tournaments the school hosts and facility rentals often need an athletic trainer, and some come with a stipend. Ask whether that work is optional. Where it is expected and unpaid, add it to the hours before you compare offers.
Is this a ten-month or a twelve-month contract, and how is the pay spread across the year?
Why ask it
A ten-month salary can look low beside a twelve-month one until you compare them month for month. Ask for the start and end dates and whether preseason falls inside them. If it does not, you already have something to raise at the offer stage.
Which benefits come with the job, and do they come from the school or from the clinic that employs me?
Why ask it
In an outreach job the health insurance, retirement plan and paid time off are the clinic's or the hospital's, and they can be thinner or better than what the teachers down the hall get. Ask for the benefits summary in writing and for the date coverage begins. A contract that starts with preseason and insurance that starts two months later leaves a gap you would have to fill yourself.
Do you pay for continuing education, and do I get time away to attend?
Why ask it
You will need the credits to keep your certification whatever the employer does, so the question is who pays and when you could go. Money without release time is hard to spend during a season. What the last athletic trainer spent it on, and in which month, tells you whether the allowance is usable.
Who pays for my state license, certification fees, professional dues and liability insurance?
Why ask it
Each is small, and together they make a noticeable yearly bill. On liability, ask whether the employer's policy covers you by name and for everything the job includes, camps and outside events among them, and ask to see the wording. Whether to carry a policy of your own as well is a question for an insurer, not for the interview.
How do raises work here, and where have people gone from this job?
Why ask it
A school pay scale may give a step each year, while a clinic or college raise may hang on a review or a budget. In either case, ask what the last raise was. Where earlier holders of the job ended up shows whether it is treated as a career or as a two-year stop.
The decision
Is this a new position, or would I be replacing someone, and how long did that person stay?
Why ask it
A new position means someone fought for the money, and nobody yet knows what a normal week in it is. A replacement after eight years reads differently from the third hire in four. If turnover has been quick, ask calmly what the people who left said on the way out.
What do you want done differently from how it has been done?
Why ask it
A gentler way into why the job is open, and it tells you what the last person was faulted for. 'More communication with coaches' and 'more availability' are both worth unpacking. The second can mean the hours were already too long for one person.
What is the hardest part of this job that would not show up in the posting?
Why ask it
The honest replies tend to be a person or a gap: one coach who fights every hold-out, a physician who is hard to reach, a room shared with a team. An interviewer who names it is treating you as a colleague already. If all you get is 'the hours', ask what the last athletic trainer would have said.
What do the coaches here want most from an athletic trainer?
Why ask it
If a coach is on the panel, ask the coach. The replies that bode well are about trust, straight talk and getting athletes back safely. A reply that is only about being at every practice tells you presence is valued over judgment.
Who would I learn from in the first year, and who do I call for a second opinion on a hard case?
Why ask it
New graduates should weigh this as heavily as the salary. A head athletic trainer who goes over cases with you, or a team physician who takes your calls, is worth a great deal in a first job. For a solo post, ask whether the previous person had anyone at all.
What would you want to be able to say about the athletic training program after my first year?
Why ask it
It turns the job description into a short list of what they will judge. Fewer complaints from coaches, a rehearsed emergency plan and records that are up to date are things you can deliver. 'Just keep everyone healthy' is kind and cannot be measured, so ask what the last review looked at.
Could I talk with the outgoing athletic trainer or one of the coaches before I decide?
Why ask it
The person who did the job knows the real hours and which coach needs careful handling. Many employers will agree once an offer is out. A flat no, with no reason such as the person having already left, is worth weighing.
What concerns do you have about me for this setting that I could speak to now?
Why ask it
New graduates and people changing settings, say from a clinic to a college, usually have one obvious gap. Hearing it named gives you a chance to answer while you are still in the room. Keep the reply short and specific, such as the collision sport you covered on a clinical rotation.
When do you need someone in place, and what happens between now and an offer?
Why ask it
A start date just before preseason tells you how fast this will move and whether there would be any handover. Ask whether a practical component, a second visit or reference calls are still to come. Then you know when a follow-up message is reasonable and when it is early.
How to use your turn in an athletic training interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Work out which kind of job it is
The same title covers very different jobs. A school that employs you directly, a clinic or hospital that places you at a school, a college staff and a professional or club team each split the hours, the money and the authority differently. Find out which this is from the posting or the person who arranged the interview, then lean on the questions that fit: employer and split weeks for an outreach role, staffing and travel for a college, coverage and parents for a high school.
Read your state's rules first
Licensing, physician direction and what has to be in writing differ from state to state, and concussion and heat rules differ by state and league as well. Read the practice act and the governing body's policies before you go. Then you can ask how this employer meets them, which is a better question than asking what they are, and you will notice if the answer does not fit what you read.
Know who is across the table
An athletic director knows the budget, the coaches and who has the last word. A head athletic trainer knows the real hours, the physician and the state of the room. A clinic manager or someone from human resources knows pay, classification and benefits. Put each question to the person who can answer it, and if a coach sits on the panel, use the chance to ask what coaches want from the role.
Plan for the format you will get
A high school interview may be forty minutes with a panel and time for three or four of your questions. A college visit can fill most of a day, with separate conversations with the staff, a coach or two and sometimes the team physician, which lets you spread the list across the people best placed to answer. Ask whoever arranged it which kind to expect. For the short kind, bring the hours question, the return-to-play question and one about why the job is open, and keep the rest for the call that comes with an offer.
In the room
Ask for last fall, not the handbook
A policy describes what should happen, and an athletic department runs on what did. Tie the coverage and return-to-play questions to an occasion: the week two home games overlapped, the last athlete held out of a playoff game, the last practice stopped for lightning. An interviewer who can say how it went was there for it. One who recites the handbook may be telling you it has not been tested.
Ask for the tour
Ten minutes in the athletic training room answers a dozen questions without a word: the distance to the fields, the age of the tables, whether records are in a system or a filing cabinet, whether there is anywhere private to examine an athlete. If the interview is by video, ask for photos or a visit before you accept.
Know when the pay questions fit
Some school salaries sit on a published scale. If this one does, look it up beforehand and ask only where you would be placed on it. Otherwise hold Pay and terms until the interviewer brings up money or offers a second conversation, and spend the first one on coverage, the physician and return to play. Those answers show what the salary would be buying.
Put the coach questions as wanting coaches on your side
Asking who overrules whom can sound as if you expect a fight. Say what you are after first: 'I want coaches to trust my calls, so I like to know how a hold-out gets communicated and who stands behind it.' An athletic director who has had to referee one of those disputes knows why a candidate would ask.
Reading the answers
Do the arithmetic
On the way home, write down the athlete count, the number of athletic trainers, the in-season hours and the salary. Divide the salary by the hours across a year, and the athletes by the staff. Two offers that looked alike in the room often look different on paper.
Weigh authority above equipment
A modest room with a reachable physician, written protocols and an athletic director who backs the medical decision is a workable job. A new facility where the coach has the last word on who plays is not improved by the facility. If you can fix only one thing by asking, make it who decides.
Check with someone who has done it
The outgoing athletic trainer, a colleague on staff or an athletic trainer at a neighboring school can tell you whether the hours and the coaches are as described. If their version of a typical week or of one particular coach does not match the interview, take the difference back to the athletic director before you accept, not after.
Get the terms in writing
Contract dates, stipends, continuing education money, comp time and who pays your fees are easy to promise in a hallway and easy to forget after a change of athletic director. Ask for the ones that matter to you to appear in the offer letter or contract, and read it before you resign from anywhere else.
Mistakes to avoid
Asking only about hours
Hours matter, and five questions in a row about them can sound as if you are looking for the door. Mix them with questions about the athletes, the physician and the emergency plan, which show the interviewers what kind of clinician they would be getting.
Settling for 'it depends' on return to play
This is the one answer that should be plain. If it is vague in the interview, it will be vague on a Friday night with a starter on the bench and a coach beside you. Ask once more, politely, and take note if it stays vague.
Taking a solo first job without asking who is behind you
A new graduate alone at a school can do good work with a responsive physician and someone to call. Without either, every hard case is yours to decide with nobody to check your thinking. Ask the question under The decision about who you would learn from before you say yes.
Leaving without hearing their doubts
If you never ask what gives them pause, the reservation is discussed after you have gone. Ask the question about their concerns near the end of The decision every time, even when the interview seems to have gone well.