Knowledge Article

Interviewing: Tips for Recruiting the Right Healthcare Professional

What’s the most difficult part of your job? If you answered, “Hiring the right person for staff vacancies,” you’re not alone. In a survey of over 1000 managers in a variety of work settings, over 40% rated this as their bone of contention.

In addition to finding the time to post the position, screen the applications, conduct the background checks, and make the hiring decision, most managers feel they lack the skills necessary to conduct a successful interview. It would be wonderful if Interviewing 101 was offered during nursing school, but unfortunately, we’re expected to know how to interview the first time that we step into the shoes of a management position.

In the fast paced arena of temporary staffing, prompt interviewing is crucial to securing the top candidates. In discussions with nurses who have selected one assignment over another, the overwhelming reason was - lack of interview. The job of the staffing company is to locate, screen, and “sell” the candidate on the virtues of a particular hospital.

Once the nurse has agreed to have their resume and file sent to the facility, they anxiously await the call from a manager or clinical coordinator. When days (or worse, weeks) pass without a call, the candidate is forced to look elsewhere. Prompt interviewing can dramatically increase the chances of hiring the right nurse for your open position.

The following are some helpful suggestions to assist you in conducting interviews.

1. Prepare for the interview by analyzing the skills that will be necessary for the candidate to possess in order to meet the needs of the position. Include personality traits that will enhance the individual’s ability to function with others.
   
2. Create a set of written questions that will assist you in conducting your interview. Use the questions over and over with multiple candidates and develop your own “desired response” criteria.
   
3. When the interview begins, take the first several minutes to create some rapport with the candidate. This will put both of you at ease and develop a good flow of conversation. Be careful not to let it go on too long.
   
4. Start your probing with open ended questions that require the candidate to give you more than just a simple YES - NO type of answer. Focus on questioning that encourages the respondent to think about past performance, not necessarily on future situations. Example: Describe how you spend a typical day in your current position. Or, How do you think your current supervisor would describe you?
   
5. Utilize some questions that present situations from the past that will enable you to get a feel for a person’s behavior and problem solving ability. Example: Tell me about a time when you had to make an important decision when there was no policy to cover the situation.
   
6. Ask questions that will provide “contrary evidence” to a previous line of thinking. Example: Now that you’ve described a situation that you successfully resolved, tell me about a problem that arose that did not go well, and how would you have handled it differently?
   
7. Always ask the candidate if he/she has any questions they would like to ask of you. Unless you’ve done an exceptional job of explaining the position and conducting the interview, a good prospect will always want some additional information about the prospective position.

With a little practice and a lot of preparation, interviewing can be a very productive part of your job. Who knows, you might even get to like it! However, if you’re like some of our clients who wear many hats and have hundreds of responsibilities, Cross Country Staffing can provide you with our Interview Servicing program which we offer our clients at no cost. For more information on our Interviewing Servicing program, click here.

© 2003 Cross Country Staffing