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Health Physics Technician III/Sr.
Posted Sep 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
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Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a time you found something wrong on your own, without a supervisor, and had to decide what to do next.
What they are checking: The posting asks for work without extensive supervision, so they need sound independent judgment and escalation instincts.
DOE radiological training here has to be passed within two weeks. How do you approach learning a large body of regulations quickly?
What they are checking: Whether they have a realistic study approach and take the qualification deadline seriously.
Describe a time a researcher was frustrated with a radiological requirement. How did you keep the relationship good while still getting compliance?
What they are checking: The interpersonal skill to support scientists as partners rather than acting only as an enforcer.
What would you do
A senior scientist wants to start work before you've finished posting an area and says it's low risk. What do you do?
What they are checking: Whether they hold the line on radiological controls politely, even with someone far more senior.
Your instrument fails its daily source check in the middle of a job coverage. What happens next?
What they are checking: Whether they stop using suspect data immediately and know how to recover without stalling the work.
About the work
Walk me through how you'd survey a glove box area after a researcher reports a possible contamination event.
What they are checking: Whether they follow a sound, ordered survey method under pressure and know which instruments fit which radiation types.
How do you choose between a GM pancake probe, an alpha scintillator and an ion chamber for a job? Give me an example where picking the wrong one would mislead you.
What they are checking: Real working knowledge of instrument limits, which decides whether the measurements they record can be trusted.
What are the radiological hazards specific to accelerator facilities that you wouldn't see in a typical hood or bench top lab?
What they are checking: Awareness of activation, prompt radiation and interlock issues that come with Argonne's accelerator work.
How do you document radiological conditions so someone reading your survey a year later knows exactly what you found?
What they are checking: Whether their records are complete and defensible, since survey documentation is reviewed by DOE and auditors.
How do you apply ALARA when you're the one doing the survey, not just advising others?
What they are checking: Whether they practice dose reduction in their own work, not just recite the principle.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Argonne National Laboratory.