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10 Interview Questions Every Hiring Manager Should Be Asking in Today’s Environment

As a healthcare hiring manager, you are confident that your interviewing and onboarding process is solid. But today’s hiring environment is very different. And working experiences candidates want to share with you represent new skills and potential setbacks. So, as you recruit for your healthcare business, it’s worth reworking your interview questions. These are the interview questions every healthcare hiring manager should be asking.

1. Why Do You Want to Work with Our Healthcare Organization?

In the healthcare industry, your candidates already present a roster of impressive credentials. And the industry as a whole is hiring, desperate for top-notch candidates to join their ranks. What you want to know is why this particular candidate has chosen to apply with your organization. The responses will be telling to you in that they should highlight the candidate’s motivation for a career change. You must be offering an opportunity they don’t currently have. And that will help you with future job opening posts, too.

2. What Do You Know About Our Company?

If you’re interviewing a candidate who’s open to any role with any healthcare entity, they probably haven’t done their homework. And if they aren’t willing to learn about what specialty care you offer or what credentials your organization has, it could be a sign of cutting corners, desperation, or lack of thorough attention to details.

3. Can You Name One Essential Skill You’ve Learned in Your Current Position?

This is a great interview question that will demonstrate a candidate’s ability to show a willingness to learn. An applicant with lots of improved skills to share will be an eager-to-learn professional on the job. Someone who struggles to answer this question might be of the mindset that there isn’t much else to learn. And you probably don’t want a know-it-all among the ranks.

4. If Hired, What Would You Expect to Accomplish within Your First 30 Days?

Expectation interview questions are essential. Managing role expectations can be hard, especially in today’s ever-changing healthcare landscape. However, take the time to address this during the interview so you can dispel myths or confirm an applicant’s viability as an addition to your staff.

5. What Do You Do When You’re Not Working?

You don’t want to pry into someone’s personal life, but the hobbies question is still essential. Today’s healthcare professionals are experiencing burnout at a much higher rate. Probing a candidate about off-time activities will tell you how well they’re handling the work-life balance. A workaholic might be only changing jobs to avoid burnout. A well-balanced individual demonstrates an ability to manage the stress of the job with healthy time off.

6. How Would You Address an Underperforming Colleague?

Asking someone about their ability to work within a team environment is no longer a precise enough interview question. Everyone will tell you they can work within a collaborative environment. But inquiring about how a candidate would handle an underperforming colleague can lead to a host of other questions, including:

How often should someone be applauded for great work?
How would you handle ABC situations?
What would be your first response to XYZ scenarios?

The candidate’s response to these hiring manager questions will reveal just how team-centric someone really is on the job.

7. What Skill Would You Like to Develop More?

Can an applicant be honest about areas of improvement? Everyone can stand to get better at something. And how a healthcare professional responds will tell you everything you need to know about strengths, weaknesses, and integrity.

8. Can You Describe a Recent Problem You Encountered and How You Solved It?

When someone solves a problem, like really solves it, they’ll be able to tell you exactly what they did to overcome the challenge. How your candidate responds will tell you if they’ve actually solved a problem or not. And it will also provide insights into the type of day-to-day challenges someone is accustomed to facing in past and current roles.

9. What Other Job Openings Are You Considering or Interested in Pursuing?

This question isn’t so much about discovering other healthcare organizations a candidate is applying for or niche segments. It can be insightful, however, if the applicant is open to considering both a management or leadership role AND a more entry-level role. If the responses suggest roles are similar across the board, it’s a good indication the person is well-versed and confident in fulfilling the duties of those roles.

10. Can You Define Personal and Professional Success for Yourself?

This interview question is similar to the expectations line of questioning. However, it can be helpful to learn more about a candidate’s motivation for success. Goal setting characteristics demonstrate ongoing betterment and performance. And you can inquire about small goals and larger, long-term goals to learn more about a candidate’s “magic wand” career path.

Consider incorporating some of these interview questions in your practice’s hiring process. And if you’re still struggling to find the best-fit healthcare candidates, let Insync Healthcare Recruiters help!

The Importance of Post-Interview Follow-Up

Whether you’re a recent healthcare grad out hunting for the first big career role, or a seasoned healthcare professional making a change, there are some reminders that warrant repeating. You know that landing the interview is only half the battle. Great candidates can improve their chances of hire by executing proper post-interview follow-up efforts. Today, we’ll share some of those gentle reminders, including the overall importance of the post-interview follow-ups, along with tips for making your best impression when you do.

What a Proper Post-Interview Follow-Up Can Do for You

There are some obvious benefits of executing a post-interview follow-up message, especially for candidates within the healthcare job space. You’re in a care-based industry. Follow-up demonstrates you care about the process, in turn demonstrating you have the outlook likely needed to perform the job. If done correctly, your post-interview follow-up message reminds the hiring manager that you’re a strong consideration for the role. Here are other important benefits of making the extra effort to reach out post-interview.

Appreciation and Soft Skills

Reaching out to connect after the interview also provides you an opportunity to thank the interviewer for their time and consideration. It shows you have manners, professionalism, and people skills. Your resume might be jam-packed with education, qualifications, and credentials. But if you lack the soft skills needed for some roles, your resume might be put in the do-not-hire pile. Following up allows you another chance to prove you have those must-have soft skills.

Enthusiasm for the Role

How you follow up after the interview can demonstrate to the hiring manager just how enthusiastic you are about the opportunity. Be lively but not overly excited. Be inquisitive without prying. And look for ways to express your anticipation in learning more or taking the next steps in the hiring process.

A reminder of Your Candidacy

Some healthcare hiring managers are bogged down with more than just filling the role you have in mind. A well-placed follow-up initiative can be a great reminder. Bring your name back up to the top of their minds with a brief check-in and offer to connect for another interview. It’s that top-of-mind awareness that can make the difference between you getting the callback first or tenth in the line.

Various Methods of Post-Interview Follow-Up Initiatives

How you follow up after your interview can also help set you apart from other candidates in the running. A generic email, for example, will certainly check the box. But it won’t likely make a huge impact in terms of great impressions. Here are some ways to execute the post-interview follow-up with unique differentiating byproducts in mind.

The Old-Fashioned Card

Don’t be afraid to polish up your handwriting skills to draft a brief thank you card to put in the mail. While considered to be an outdated form of communication, there is something more personal about getting a piece of mail, specifically addressed to you with a signature. And it’s that personalization that will set you apart from others applying for the healthcare job.

An Email That Stands Apart from the Rest

Email is probably the best way to connect with a healthcare hiring manager. But don’t end up in the spam folder, and don’t copy and paste a canned message read about online. Instead, think customization with simple and easy-to-consume statements. Make your subject line noticeable with short, concise statements, including the title of the position for which you’re applying. Avoid casual tones. This is the place for personality-infused professionalism. Read it aloud and verify it would make sense to say to the hiring manager directly before you hit send.

A Follow Up Phone Call

If you’re in healthcare, you’re in the people business. Conversation is king. So, it’s no surprise that a phone call post-interview is a pretty solid move. Where some healthcare job candidates slip up is with what happens next. Be prepared to have the conversation before you call. And know ahead of time what you plan to say should you get voicemail.

What Every Post-Interview Follow-Up Conversation Should Have

Regardless of which method you prefer to use when following up after your interview, make sure the message, written or verbal, contains the same few key points.

Emphasize your qualifications.
Promote yourself as the ideal candidate.
Fix anything that went wrong during the interview.
Say anything you forgot to mention in your interview.
Say thank you.
Restate your contact information.

After you’ve had the interview, don’t presume you’re done. Now it’s time to schedule your prompt post-interview follow-up initiatives. Every scenario is different. And the healthcare hiring manager may be able to outline a timeframe to which you should adhere. But be sure to include those follow-up efforts, especially if you’re keenly intent on landing the role.

As always, for more interviewing best practices, or if you need help with finding your dream healthcare role, let InSync Healthcare Recruiters be your guide!

6 Signs You’re Ready to Partner with a Healthcare Recruiter

You’ve realized in your role as a healthcare hiring professional, there comes a time when you need a little help. And while your efforts to fill critical openings with your practice or healthcare facility have been diligent, you’re just not getting the results you once did. It may be time to partner with a healthcare recruiter.

To really know if you’ve reached that point, there are a few signs and red flags to look out for as you go. The healthcare applicant landscape has changed, and so has the industry as a whole. Navigating these changes might require the help of a healthcare recruiter who knows precisely how to adapt and bridge those gaps between open roles and top-notch candidate professionals.

1. Not Enough Time to Follow-Through on All Healthcare Recruiting Steps

You’re not only tasked with filling critical healthcare openings. There is a broad range of behind-the-scenes work that goes into the process before extending an offer. You post job openings across a variety of listing sites. You respond to email inquiries and conduct pre-screening interviews. Then you might handle calling the candidates’ references and juggle scheduling secondary interviews, as well. All of these steps and necessary follow-ups require increased time and effort that you might not have available. If you’re crunched for time or, worse yet, feel like you’re cutting corners on some of these processes, it’s probably time to consider partnering with a healthcare recruiter.

2. Great Candidates Are Not Accepting Your Offers

Job offers may be rejected for a variety of reasons. For example, some healthcare candidates reject them due to the location, hours, or commute. Of course, it’s possible that all three apply. But the problem is that you may not know why quality professionals are turning down your offers. Healthcare recruitment firms can help shed light on these situations since they obtain information from both parties in order to match high-quality applicants in the right position. Partnering with a healthcare recruiter means better understanding the candidate side of the proposition. And recruiters can narrow down the candidate selection to those who are best-fit professionals.

3. You Have an ASAP Job Opening to Fill

Right now, it might feel as though every healthcare opening you have is mission-critical to fill. But there are just some positions that are more demanding than others. If there is a job opening that your office or facility considers to be a top priority, a healthcare recruiter can be a great solution. Healthcare recruiters will likely have candidate pools available that you traditionally wouldn’t have access to yourself. Professional recruiters with niches in healthcare can also be incredible resources to help with candidate vetting, sourcing, and scheduling.

4. Your Clinic or Healthcare Facility Needs Specialized Expertise

If you have a job opening that requires a niche-specific skill or specialized expertise, it might take you weeks or months to even source a single candidate. Niche skilled professionals in healthcare are also likely passive candidates, meaning they’re currently employed but open to new opportunities. Instead of trying to find that needle in the healthcare haystack on your own, turn to the healthcare recruiter for help. Chances are, a healthcare recruiting professional will have the network and resources to help you identify and connect with those passive candidates who possess the unique skills your facility needs right now.

5. Hiring Inconsistencies Are Prevalent

If you’re experiencing hiring inconsistencies in your physician’s office or healthcare facility, it may be a sign you’re ready to partner with a healthcare recruiter. Inconsistencies might include some pre-screening steps for certain roles, but not all roles. They can present in the form of gaps in onboarding or job listing marketing efforts, too. These types of inconsistencies can negatively impact your organization’s brand based on hit-and-miss discrepancies or infrequent online visibility. Having a recruiting partner means having a constant presence in the hiring environment, online and among candidate professionals, whether you need them or not. And this consistency, especially over time, can make finding and hiring the professionals you need much quicker.

6. You Are Struggling to Attract Candidates Beyond Your Backyard

Sometimes, regionally-based facilities that do great with attracting new talent locally will struggle to recruit abroad. And by abroad, we mean outside of the immediate community or even state. There could be incredible candidates for your healthcare roles out there you can’t reach simply because of your more localized efforts. If your candidate pools and healthcare applicants seem to all be from your own neck of the woods, you might be ready to partner with a healthcare recruiter. Professional recruiters have connections coast to coast with thousands of top-talent medical specialists, nurses, doctors, and surgeons. Tap into a greater pool of hiring potential with the right healthcare recruiting partner.

If any of these hiring scenarios resonate with you, let InSync Healthcare Recruiters help! Our professional recruiters specialize in filling critical healthcare-related roles and can help you bridge your gaps, as well!

7 Tips for Nailing the Virtual Interview

Today’s healthcare industry employers recognize the increased convenience of remote engagement tools available to them. Even if the job you’re applying for requires on-site reporting, you need to be prepared for virtual connections for meetings, collaboration, patient care, and even the interviewing and onboarding processes.

As you explore your healthcare career opportunities, you should be prepared for the virtual interview. Not shaking the hiring manager’s hand means missing out on that critical non-verbal connection. So, how can you make that incredible first impression from behind a screen? Today, we’ll share a few tips for nailing that digital interview.

1. Preparing Your Space Ahead of Time

Before your online healthcare interview takes place, take the time to prepare your space. Be mindful of what background will be visible to the hiring manager. Make sure everything is tidy and neat to reinforce your organization skills. Don’t hop online and realize after the fact that a cluttered counter or pile of laundry was visible the whole time. Instead, do a trial run to inspect what your environment might be saying about you. And if you want to go the extra mile, maybe display some of those awards and certificates behind you.

2. Testing Your Connection Stability

Consider conducting a few trial calls with friends and family to sample new earbuds or to troubleshoot any microphone interference. Make sure your home internet connection is stable for more than five or ten minutes at a time. And if you feel your home connection runs the risk of glitching during your virtual interview, consider going somewhere else with a stronger signal. Just be mindful of limiting any distractions, regardless of where you decide to set up for the call.

3. How to Stand Out on a Webcam

If you were sitting directly across the desk from a healthcare hiring manager, you’d know to make great eye contact. So how can you make that non-verbal connection with a webcam? Look at it! Often, candidates make the mistake of focusing their gazes on other aspects of the screen or downward. Instead, routinely look directly at your webcam, especially when the hiring manager is speaking. And if you do look away to take notes or jot down questions, mention that’s why you’re doing so.

4. It’s Still a Professional Interview

Even if you’re hopping online for a virtual interview from home, remember that it’s still a professional engagement. So dress the part and conduct yourself the same way you would if you were meeting in person. Fix your hair. Put on the tie. If you normally talk with your hands, make sure your hands are presentable on camera. And even if you don’t anticipate a need to stand up, go ahead and look professional below the waist, too. It would be all too embarrassing for you to stand up during the interview, to grab a nearby document, and your sweatpants show up on the screen.

5. No Robots Allowed

It’s definitely recommended that you do a practice run of your interview before the big day. Rehearsal, either alone or with someone else, can help you get the marbles out of your mouth and prepare yourself for delivering answers to tough questions. But what you don’t want to do is perform a monologue during your virtual interview. This isn’t the time for a soapbox presentation, and healthcare hiring managers don’t want to interview robots. Instead, be prepared for a conversation by rehearsing ways to spark dialogue. Be prepared to answer those questions, of course. However, have a few conversation starters in your back pocket as well. It’s the natural flow of discussion that will allow for a more authentic connection rapport-building.

6. Have Your Questions Ready, Too

To piggyback on the previous tip, have your own questions prepared to keep the conversation flowing. The hiring manager may be interviewing you. But remember, you’re interviewing the healthcare organization, as well. And you’ll want to know specifics about company culture, office expectations, and hospital or patient care policies that matter to you.

7. Interview Follow Up & Next Steps

As with any in-person interview, be sure to inquire about the next steps in the hiring process so you can prepare a follow-up strategy. Depending on the nature of the healthcare position you’re interviewing for, you may not be able to stop by for a follow-up visit, for example. Ask as though you’re confident you’re the ideal fit for the role, and then deliver accordingly. If you say you plan to touch base if you haven’t heard back by Thursday, then you need to be calling or emailing a follow-up inquiry on Thursday.

When you’re ready to consider a healthcare career change, let InSync Healthcare Recruiters help by taking the guesswork out of the available positions in your area right now. And take advantage of these tips for nailing the virtual interview.

How Today’s Healthcare Employers Are Finding & Hiring Top-Talent

As the healthcare hiring landscape continues to shift, so do the strategies top healthcare employers leverage for recruiting top talent. If your healthcare organization is falling short of finding great hires, it may be helpful to know what others are doing to cut through the noisy applicant space and find the best.

Recruiting for the Long and Short Game

Right now, countless physician’s offices, hospital organizations, and clinics are in dire need of top talent. And it’s easy to see how the need is driving the recruiting efforts looking for immediate results. However, it’s also critical to not lose sight of the long-term recruiting strategy, even if you’re in a mission-critical state to fill roles now. So, continue your efforts with early campus recruiting of students. And make the most of potential internships that you can, to potentially groom great hires in the future.

Taking off the Recruiting Blinders

Your team might be focused on filling a specific role, leading you to only leverage posting sites and hiring tools for that niche specialty. However, today’s healthcare employers are realizing there are benefits to reaching across the niche specialty lines to find great talent. Don’t be afraid to branch out and engage other professions, looking for referrals and passive candidates beyond traditional methods.

Less About Wages, More About Culture

Today’s applicants know the ball is in their court. They’re savvy about competitive pay and salaries, too. So, when it’s time to post your opening, don’t spend too much time discussing what these candidates already expect or know. Instead, look to identify the key differentiators of working with your organization, including company culture and added value benefits offered. Highlight how you depressurize often high-pressure medical environments. Talk about the extras like personal care benefits for employees, healthy lifestyle perks, and flexibilities the role might enjoy. Today’s best candidates will likely be looking for these incentives more often than salary and job duties alone.

Demonstrate Your Organization’s Forward-Thinking

Healthcare professionals who may be considering a career change won’t likely join another team that feels like a lateral move. Instead, they’ll look specifically for employers who demonstrate forward-thinking in various operational strategies, including health technology, patient services advancements, and ongoing development offerings. Consider promoting these key aspects of your organization during the hiring process. Convey your company’s ability to embrace and enhance telemedicine, incorporate revolutionary technology or equipment, and mission to continue the personal and professional development of the team.

Hiring & Promoting Internally

It’s not uncommon for today’s healthcare employers to look inward for top talent. This strategy can be great for finding candidates for hard-to-fill positions. Instead of spending time and investing in recruiting online for a specialty role, promoting from within can offer a quicker solution. Replacing that internal candidate’s old role might be a much easier job order to tackle.

Understanding the Current Healthcare Hiring Issues

When you develop your organization’s recruiting and hiring processes, it’s important to start by recognizing today’s challenges. Using a method that used to work five years ago won’t produce results in today’s market. Instead, use these obstacles to your advantage. For example, you know that employee burnout is a real phenomenon and drives countless professionals back into the pool. Attract those professionals by advertising your organization’s answer and solution to physician burnout. Know why these candidates abandoned their former roles and use those reasons to attract them to your role.

Targeting the Passive Candidate Healthcare Professionals

Some of the best candidates aren’t necessarily out on the job boards looking for work. And there are plenty of professionals who would consider a career move if only they knew those opportunities existed. Meet the passive candidate. And it’s the target audience for many of today’s healthcare employers. Tap into your network. Talk to your current employees about identifying great-fit candidates in their circles. Reach out as an expert, not a recruiter, to candidates on Linked In.

Mine Your Databases

Don’t forget to spend some quality time mining your databases of past applicants. Many of today’s healthcare employers are creating strategies to connect with past interviewees. These conversations may lead to immediate hiring potential. But even those who perhaps weren’t a good fit before or who took other opportunities can provide you with leads or referrals that can help.

Bring in the Help You Need

Today’s hiring and recruiting landscape is tumultuous, to say the least. And any advice you receive today might become obsolete tomorrow. The best way to get and stay ahead of your recruiting challenges is to recognize when it’s time to bring in the healthcare recruiting professionals who can help. InSync Healthcare Recruiters knows the terrain and can adapt and shift accordingly to ensure your roles get the most visibility with the best-fit candidates. Take the guesswork out of healthcare recruiting and focus on keeping your roster full.

When you’re ready to explore the many healthcare recruiting benefits of working with InSync Healthcare Recruiters, connect here.

7 Details to Include in Your Organization’s Job Posting for Best Results

There isn’t a healthcare organization out there not actively searching for talented professionals to join the ranks. The need in some regions is dire, too. But if you feel you’re missing out on applicants or are struggling to gain traction with your job postings, it could be time to revisit your job postings entirely. Today’s professionals are looking for a few key details before applying. The old way of posting and attracting the best may not cut it in today’s market. What you can do is ensure your open position descriptions include these elements to attract the best-fit candidates to your roles. Knowing what those top-talent applicants are looking for will help you develop a long-term job posting strategy for results, as well.

1. Keep the Postings Brief

Don’t make a habit of copying and pasting long, drawn-out job descriptions from an employee handbook to the job posting. These healthcare professionals likely have a good idea of what the responsibilities of the job will include. Use this section instead to offer any unique responsibilities, tasks, or expectations that fall outside the traditional description. Sure, you can outline some of the general expectations of the role, but again, don’t overdo it with lengthy, unnecessary text that a potential applicant will already expect. Keep the title of the position specific and clear, as well.

2. Sell the Opportunity for Growth

A nurse can expect duties to be similar across different organizations. So, the job posting for your opening should be clear about opportunities for growth and betterment with your organization. The top-notch talent you’re looking for will be less interested in a lateral move and will look for what advantages you have to offer. Your key differentiators will attract those looking for something different from a new role.

3. Company Culture Matters

In today’s health-focused environment, people are even more mindful about working in healthy arenas and for companies that prioritize wellbeing. Be sure your job posting includes a healthy segment describing your company mission, culture, and functional attributes, as they contribute to the overall wellbeing of the team. Anytime you have an opportunity to mention wellness benefits that stand out from traditional extras, do so. It’s those company culture details that will attract the best.

4. Describe Benefits and Perks

Be honest and precise about what benefits and perks are available for the opening. If a candidate has to search for what your organization offers, he or she may search elsewhere. Outline insurance, vacation, and retirement benefits, along with any vehicle or device provisions and front-row parking, too. And this is a great spot to talk about why others within your organization love working there. It demonstrates a welcoming environment of support staff, colleagues, and team members, appealing to new hires.

5. Be Specific About Desired Skills

If your open position requires a minimum level of experience or certification, be transparent about those expectations. Not itemizing the “deal-breakers” will mean both you and the applicants will be wasting time, presenting unnecessary burdens on your hiring team and HR staff. Once those must-have skills are listed, your job posting can flow into other skills or experiences that would be nice to have in a candidate.

6. Revising Your Content Flow in a Job Listing

Remember when crafting your job description to leverage the best practices for grammar, content, and engagement. Use strong keywords that might jump out at potential applicants. Keep the flow of grammar normal and not overly technical. You can delve into more technical aspects further in the application process. And it’s best to keep things brief and conversational, highlighting the unique details that only your organization plans to offer. The best results come from those job postings within 300 and 700 words in length.

7. Call to Action Steps

Applicants complain all the time about the unnecessary steps, duplicate actions, and unclear instructions for applying. For the best results, ensure your job posting has a precise series of call to action steps. If you want candidates to upload a resume or CV, be particular about the format you need. If there are additional application steps, make those flow naturally in the process with clear instructions about what information you’re hoping to collect. Include and requirements for documents or certificates, as well. And always provide a contact, should a great candidate have questions about the process.

It’s an applicant’s market right now and the competition to land the best healthcare professionals is steep. One way to stand apart from the sea of job postings out there is to amend your listings in line with these strategic tips in mind.

And if you find you still have hard to fill positions within the healthcare industry, let InSync Healthcare Recruiters assist with your efforts. We have access to countless active and passive candidates, ready for a change. And they may be just the new additions your organization needs right now.

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