You can’t hire her, there’s something wrong with her! This was the overwhelming response from my entire team when we had a candidate in for a working interview a couple of years ago. Working interviews have been a longtime staple of the hiring process at my hospital, along with traditional interviews, reference checks and formal skills assessment sessions. Although it can be a surprise when candidates go awry in a working interview, we look for different aptitudes and characteristics at each stage of the interview process. So what did “Sarah” (not her real name) do?...well, let’s look at what they go through first.
Generally speaking, I look to the traditional interview to tell me if candidates can communicate well with me, and, presumably my clients, and if they can think on their feet. The evaluation starts with the very first phone call. Does their phone message sound professional? They know I may be calling. During the formal interview I’ll ask lots of follow-up questions such as –Can you tell me a little more about that? How did you feel about that? or Can you be more specific? This helps to unwrap their prefabricated answers. Overall, I’ll ask myself if I’m happier after talking to that person, and could I talk to them about a private pet health concern? That’s what I’m looking for at this stage.
Reference checks with previous employers help show a person’s ability to maintain positive relations in a less than desirable situation with their past supervisor, such as when they are quitting… It’s what I call their diplomacy quotient. You have to read between the lines sometimes as past employers of difficult candidates may not want to go on record. Try to evaluate how your candidate may handle ongoing relations with difficult clients knowing they may need to speak to them in the months to come.
The last number of years we’ve developed skills assessment interviews for our technician and reception staff. Essentially this is a collection of questions and activities that test their skills and knowledge. They really help me to pinpoint where they’ll fit into on our healthcare team. Some of our VHMA members have added great examples of skills assessment questions to our Sample Document Library in the MemberConnect community.
This leaves working interviews…an activity that historically has rarely produced surprises, but when it does, they are often dramatic. You see, by the time someone arrives at a working interview, we have already narrowed our selection pool to what we feel are the very best, so you don’t expect big surprises.
So what did Sarah do? Well, she was a registered veterinary technician who spoke very highly of her strong interest in dental care. After some coaching on her workday by our Veterinarian, she said she had completed half of a dental prophy, but a plaque disclosing light stated otherwise. Disgruntled and probably embarrassed, she threw up her arms and said Well I’m done then! I did not disagree. This was not the outcome I expected or was looking for, but it’s also why we do different types of interviews, looking for different things.