The healthcare sector has 22 million workers, and counting! It is one of the fastest-growing sectors.
Healthcare workers are invaluable. However, when you decide to hire healthcare workers, you need to do due diligence to make sure that you are hiring the best of the best.
The right interview questions are essential if you want to make sure that you hire competent professionals that are dedicated to the job at hand.
Here’s a look at the questions you should be asking when you want to hire high-quality professionals in the healthcare field.
Why Did You Become a Healthcare Professional?
Once you’ve gotten past the formalities of asking the candidate to tell you about themselves, one of the things you want to find out is why they became a healthcare professional. You need to understand the motivation behind their entrance into the field.
This will help you decide whether or not this is a person that is passionate about the job or if they are just in the profession to collect a paycheck. You must hire people who are passionate about their jobs as this will increase the chances that they will be dedicated workers.
To this end, you must find out why they have chosen the specialty that you are interviewing them for, and if they have role models in the field.
Are You Interested or Involved In Continuous Learning?
The field of healthcare is always changing and you want to make sure that whoever you hire is on top of these advances. Continuing education is a must for healthcare workers so that they can sharpen their skills.
Even if the person you are thinking of hiring does not take formal continuous educational courses, they should be keeping abreast of new developments.
They can do this by reading articles, magazines, and journals related to their field. This will ensure that they are always up to date with the latest information and advances.
How Would You Handle a Stressful Work Situation?
This is one of the top interview questions that you need to ask during a healthcare interview. Listen closely to the answer that any candidate gives to this question. Working in healthcare is naturally stressful and the way someone handles this is very important.
Ask them about a time they faced a stressful situation and how they dealt with it. You should let your candidate explain the situation and what led to it. You should have them walk you through how they handled it.
Working in healthcare can be stressful physically and mentally. You must select candidates who are emotionally grounded so they know how to cope with difficult situations that can affect their mental health.
What’s Your Strategy for Handling Difficult Patients and Clients?
When you work in a profession that sees you interacting with the public, there are bound to be times when you interface with clients or customers that are difficult to deal with. People with difficult behaviors can disrupt the normal functioning of a healthcare facility in various ways.
A healthcare professional must understand how to deal with these behaviors, especially if they are the ones that are in the line of fire.
Your hiring team should ask the candidate to provide a specific example where they were faced with a difficult patient and then discuss how they would respond to it.
What Is the Biggest Strength You Possess?
When you’re hiring a healthcare professional there’s no doubt that you need to hire someone with a lot of positive attributes. But even those with a myriad of positive attitudes must be able to pinpoint the one that stands out.
Listen carefully to the answer that you get to this question. In particular, you should look for candidates who think of themselves as being team players, good time managers, have a lot of empathy, and are great at solving problems. All this will come in handy when they are faced with varying patients or clients.
What Is the Biggest Weakness You Possess?
This question often makes a lot of candidates uncomfortable. However, it is something that you must ask to have a well-rounded perspective about anyone you are considering hiring.
Make sure that you listen carefully to the answer you receive to this question. This can help you pinpoint instances where the candidate’s weaknesses will make it impossible for them to fit into the work culture that you have created.
Bear in mind that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. It is just a question you need to ask so that you can assess a person’s suitability for your team and the culture of the work environment.
Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?
You should ask this question so that you examine the candidate’s goals and visions for their future. This can help you decide whether or not the candidate could be a long-serving member of your team.
This is especially important if you like to promote from within and are looking for people who want to stay in the field for a long time.
Hire Healthcare Workers the Right Way
When you need to hire healthcare workers, it can be challenging, because you need to find the right candidates for the job. Any healthcare worker that you hire must fit into the culture of your organization.
They must also be dedicated individuals who are interested in continuous learning and growth. You also want to make sure that you hire people who can handle a variety of situations in a highly professional manner.
Asking the right questions during an interview is critical to selecting the right candidate. If you would like help with hiring healthcare workers, please contact us.