Quick, schedule the interview; Not so fast!
Interviews can be big investments of time, effort, and expense for both the candidate and the practice. Because of this, it is crucial to learn as much as possible about candidates before inviting them to interview. A thorough pre-interview assessment should teach you a great deal about the candidate. You should gauge the likelihood of the practice accepting the candidate, and vice versa. In assessing your candidate, it is important to look at both work-related and personal factors.
When conducting a pre-interview assessment, here are some specific candidate characteristics/skills to evaluate:
- Training and clinical skills
Will the candidates’ training and clinical expertise allow them to successfully meet the clinical demands of the practice? Employers should contact all their references, universities, and training programs to verify accuracy.
- Prior work experience
A candidates’ CV should provide a chronological look at their work experience. Causes for further investigation include periods of unemployment and only staying at one job for a brief time (less than two or three years).
- Communication skills
Hospitalists must be able to communicate effectively with patients, nurses, hospital staff members, and other physicians and specialists. During phone interviews, pay attention to the content of the candidate’s answers, and the ease at which the answers come forth.
- Work ethic and workplace attitude
Practices in which the physicians are mismatched in work and workplace attitude are at the greatest risk of turnover. Hospitalists who embrace a service mentality are often the most successful.
In today’s challenging recruiting environment, it is often tempting to take short cuts on the pre-interview candidate assessment. My advice is DON’T!
Investing this time on the front end will pay huge dividends. Take the time to talk with the candidate on the phone as much as possible before the interview is scheduled. Then, during the interview, you can focus on the candidates’ needs rather than trying to size them up and screen them out!
About the Author: Kirk Mathews is the CEO, principal, and founder of Inpatient Management, Inc., a national hospitalist management company in St. Louis. Prior to cofounding Inpatient Management in 1997, he was senior vice president of Cejka & Company, responsible for managing one of the nation's largest physician recruiting enterprises with a search portfolio of over 300 clients. His experience includes management, sales, operations, recruiting strategy, physician compensation and benefits planning and design, and employment contract design and negotiations. In 1989, he served as vice president of Clayton Medical Associates after serving as senior recruiting consultant with Jackson & Coker, the nation's largest physician recruiting firm at the time. Mathews received his B.S. in accounting and MBA from Northwest Missouri State University. Mathews is a member of the the Society of Hospital Medicine.
