Part 2 Hiring Your Perfect Team Member

Welcome back to my three-part series guiding you through the integral process of interviewing, hiring and training your all-star staff! In part one of our three-part Interview, Hire and Train Series, we got you prepared from the standpoint of your office procedures and job opening advertisement.  As we move to the second step of this process, it is time to get to know your prospective new team members while being concise and mindful of the expense and time the hiring and interviewing process requires.

The applications/resumes are rolling in and you’ve found a few that seem to be good prospects.  Before you begin setting up interviews, it is time to do your due diligence and check references, education and work history.  When checking references state laws vary concerning the information you can gather, but you can always ask former employers if the person indeed worked at that location and “would you rehire this person?” Once you have ensured a positive response from your outreach, you can begin the interview process.

The first step of the interview process is a telephone interview.  This short exchange is necessary to narrow the field of recruits and ensure that your face-to-face interview time is well-spent. You want to gather general information, including:

• Are you looking for full or part-time work?
• What are your hours of availability?
• When are you available to start?
• What are your salary expectations?
• What experience/training do you have in the field?

Your time is valuable, so it is extremely important to make the most of your face-to-face interviews.  Of course, you want to ask basic questions such as: “What would your previous employer say about you?” and “Why are you the right candidate for this position?”, but you also want to dive deeper to really get to know the interviewee.  Some deeper questions are “What does success mean to you? How do you measure it?”, “What have you done to improve yourself in the past year?”, and “How do you pull a team together when it seems to be directionless?”.  Put critical thought into these questions and craft an interview that gets to the meat of the qualifications and personality you are looking for in a team member.

Almost as important as the questions you ask during an interview, are the questions that will be asked of you by the interviewee.  A candidate that asks thoughtful questions shows interest and initiative. Prepare yourself for the interview and be ready to answer questions such as: “What qualities do you appreciate most in employees/those who report directly to you?”, “What are the traits and skills of people who are most successful within your practice?”, and “What responsibilities have the highest priorities?”.

As you craft these interview questions remember to focus on the specific criteria you are looking for critical to the position you are filling.  Some examples of this criteria are:

• Appearance: Dress, grooming, body language and eye contact
• Personality: Traits you feel best match the culture of your practice
• Career Goals/Aspirations: Are they realistic? Can they be achieved in your practice?
• Qualifications/Skills: Education/training, accomplishments, experience

Choose your perfect candidate by creating a list of criteria that matches the specific needs of your practice. Use this information as guidance, ideas and assistance only. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources, to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your location.

You’ve hired the perfect candidate, now what?

Training…training…TRAINING! Never stop training!  The biggest mistake employers can make is to have a single, week-long (I’ve seen even shorter!) training session and then throwing the new hire to the proverbial wolves.  Training should be an ongoing exercise for every single position in your practice.

In the final article of the All-Star Staff series we will discuss the aspects of training that are essential to building your dream team.