Management Tools

HealthPower Associates provides a wide range of practice management tools and techniques to assist physicians and practice staff. To see a sample skills assessment tool, click here. Below are twelve TIPS FOR INTERVIEWING.

TIPS FOR INTERVIEWING

1.      Read the application before beginning the interview so that you can refer to previous experiences and formulate questions based on the facts.

2.      Before beginning the interview, ask the applicant if s/he would like some coffee or a cold drink. Try to make him/her comfortable. Being interviewed is stressful.

3.      The interview is basically a time for you to get to know the applicant and the way s/he presents herself/himself. Therefore, the applicant should do most of the talking. If you find yourself doing most of the talking, ask one of the more general questions (for example, "Tell me about..."), then sit back (literally) and bite your tongue. Silence is okay while the applicant is thinking about his/her answer to a question. Remember, s/he has probably never heard the question before!.

4.      A reasonable interview length is 30 minutes. A shorter amount of time may not give you as complete a picture as you need of an applicant's response to various kinds of questions. If you are sure that you are not interested, it is fine to cut the time short. If you think the applicant is super-terrific, don't give in to the temptation to hire him/her after the first 5 minutes. Slow down and finish asking the questions.

5.      ALWAYS check references before making a job offer. If an applicant is hesitant to provide current work references because his/her employer doesn't know s/he is looking, ask for a prior job reference and make your offer contingent on checking with the current employer. If an employee is having a legitimate problem at work, you can always check later with a coworker instead of the supervisor. Hiring should always be contingent upon verifying employment.

6.      If a prospective employee will be working closely with someone else in the office it is a good idea to introduce them for a brief chat and watch the interaction. You can learn a lot about someone by listening and watching her conversation with another person.

7.      Always leave time for the applicant to ask you any questions about the position. Listening to the kinds of questions people have and the way they ask them is very informative. For example, if someone cannot ask you about salary, it is unlikely that s/he will be comfortable asking patients for money.

8.      Be sure you understand Equal Employment Opportunity and other state and federal employment regulations. You may not ask a candidate about marital status, number of dependents, child care arrangement, or age. Some of this data may be available on the resume. Be creative in thinking of legal questions which give you information you need.

9.      Successful interviews, require private, uninterrupted time. If you cannot arrange this in your office, consider another location, such as a conference room or a nearby coffee shop.

10.  Be fully informed about salary and benefits, before the interview begins. These are important to the applicant in evaluating any position, and will tell the candidate something about your knowledge level.

11.  Consider checking education and employment history in addition to calling references.

12.  Check with the applicant about any periods of time which are unaccounted for in the resume. Watch the response as well as listening to the answers.

Contact us if you would like more information about our tools for interviewing and personnel management or additional ideas for managing your practice.