The 10 Most Important Questions to Ask When Interviewing

How do you distinguish one potential employee from another? How can you style your interview so that you can maximize your understanding of the candidate?

You might have to spend hours sifting through a daunting pile of resumes, and requests for outlandish compensation and benefits accompanied by a lack of relevant experience. It may take a long time to finally reach your goal of interviewing candidates that can become part of your team, so here’s:

The 10 Most Important Questions To Ask

1. When is the best time for ME to interview?
2. How’s the weather/day/drive? (seriously)
3. Why are you applying for this position?
4. Tell me about your work history: likes, dislikes?
5. What’s something exceptional you’ve done for a client/coworker?
6. How’d you handle a difficult situation with a client/coworker?
7. How can I help you succeed here?
8. What kind of medical equipment have you used before?
9. Can you give me a specific example of using this equipment?
10. What questions do you have about this practice?

…and why.

1. When is the best time for ME to interview?

The first question is for you—the interviewer.

In the desperate rush to fill a position, we tend to squeeze the interview in at a time when we are not truly ready to listen. Be sure to allow yourself plenty of time by scheduling the candidate 20-30 minutes after you realistically expect to be available. Avoid times of day when you know you may be tired, hungry, or thirsty, and take care of any other distractions prior to the interview. This will give your candidate a fair chance to have your full attention, and ensure your complete focus.

2. How is the weather/day/drive?

A “softball” question like this allows the potential hire to warm to you and become comfortable with the tone of the meeting. Establishing a safe environment helps reveal true character—both good and bad. Even these “easy” questions can often expose personality traits such as outlook on life or ability to make conversation with strangers (aka your clients).

Once you have created an amenable atmosphere, your interview style should rely heavily on open ended questions. Traditionally, many employers use very pointed questions to elicit whether a candidate can fulfill specific job requirements. However, you can learn so much more by backing off and creating space for the candidate to do most of the talking.

3. What interests you about this job opening at this particular practice? In other words, what specifications are you looking for in your next position?

Start with a discussion about why the candidate is applying for the position. This is a simple elimination question. There are some “bad” answers such as:

• “I need a job”
• “You’re close by”
• “I saw your ad”
• “I’m looking for full time with benefits”
• “I don’t want to work late”
• “I hated my last job”

These answers suggest desperation. They don’t show genuine interest in your practice.

Instead, look for positive responses that indicate that the candidate has researched your clinic. Perhaps they reviewed your website, or received a personal referral from a client. A desire for specific challenges or personal growth may reflect a self-motivated, intelligent individual.

Finally, this question provides an opportunity to learn about a candidate’s connection to your hospital’s location in order to decrease the risk of turnover. You may discover that the potential hire’s family has lived in the area for generations or that the candidate moves every three months and has never actually been to your state.

4. Tell me about your work history and things you have especially liked and disliked in those situations?

Now you can start easing into questions that reveal the applicant’s professionalism. It’s not unusual or a bad sign for a potential employee to have some history of an adverse employment situation, but listen closely to how the candidate relays that story.

A less polished candidate:

• may take the opportunity to air grievances
• or even slander their previous employer.

A more composed candidate:

• will emphasize what they learned from that situation rather than trying to assign blame.

The ability to gracefully discuss a challenging situation is an important quality. It often reflects how an employee may represent you on the phone or in the exam room with a client. If it hasn’t surfaced in conversation yet, this is a good time to follow up with any questions about gaps in the applicant’s resume.

5. I would love to hear about a time that you did something exceptional for a client/coworker.

Move into more challenging questions. Although you will be putting the interviewee on the spot, you will get an understanding of what they value. The response may show their penchant for customer service, building relationships, financial savvy, or that they are completely oblivious to the importance of going above and beyond in the work place.

6. Tell me about a difficult experience you had with a client/coworker and how you approached it.

Assess the candidate’s honesty. You may get an insight into how forthcoming the candidate is and how they handle relationships. You also may expose a candidate’s victim mentality, aggressive personality, or hopefully the ability to problem solve on their own.

7. How can I help you succeed here?

If the interview’s going well, learn how you can help this candidate succeed. Ask variations of the following: What motivates you? How do you like to communicate? How do you like to be coached?

A seemingly ideal candidate will not be a good fit if you only do a review on paper and he or she is adept at verbal conversations. Learn if you are a good leader for their personality type, by understanding if they thrive on financial reward, more individual responsibility, inclusion on the leadership team, etc.

8. What kind of medical equipment have you used?

It is essential to also pose specific questions that ensure the candidate is not exaggerating or inflating their credentials. These questions should not be yes or no questions, but questions that reflect professional knowledge. For example, when interviewing for a technician position, don’t ask “Have you used a blood pressure monitor before?” Rather, ask “What type of monitoring equipment have you used?” (A real life “wrong” response was “A box with a bunch of numbers,”).

9. Can you give me a specific example of using this equipment?

Follow up with a question like “At what high and low blood pressure might you alert the doctor? How would you address hyper or hypotension?”

10. What questions do you have about this practice?
Finally, be sure to give the candidate an opportunity to satisfy any of their own lingering curiosity. Again, you are hoping for questions that reveal intelligence and an interest in team, rather than self-serving questions. If it is appropriate, this may be an opportunity to discuss salary expectations.

Congratulations!

If the candidate’s made it this far, he or she could be a great fit. Consider a working interview to see if this potential employee will connect with the rest of the practice, and hope it goes well.

For related articles, please see the following:
Hire Right: A How-To Guide
Is Your Potential Hire the Right Fit?