How to Interview Someone in Healthcare: 5 Tips for Facilities

In healthcare, finding workers who can meet standards of care is key to delivering quality services. While a candidate’s resume provides a snapshot of their work history, the interview is where you can really figure out whether they embody the values of a strong healthcare provider. This is why it’s crucial to understand how to interview someone when hiring for your facility.

Certain technical skills can be improved on the job, but professionalism, integrity, and compassion are qualities that a candidate should already bring to the role. In this article, we’ll discuss what to look for when recruiting and hiring healthcare staff and outline five tips to help you get the most out of your next interview.

What Traits to Look for in a Healthcare Candidate

There are many unique considerations to make when interviewing healthcare professionals.

The nature of this work requires staff to uphold strong integrity, clinical competence, and the ability to put patients first.

While mistakes can happen even among the best providers, there is little room for reckless errors or professional misconduct in the healthcare field, as this can have grave impacts on patient outcomes. Here are some more specific traits and qualities of a good healthcare provider:

• Detail-oriented: Healthcare staff juggle many tasks while attending to multiple patients throughout the day, and they must be thorough in their work to avoid preventable errors.

• Adaptability: Healthcare can be an unpredictable environment, and staff must be comfortable adapting to rapid changes in workflow or a patient’s condition.

• Resilience: It can be taxing to care for patients on a daily basis. Healthcare staff must know how to practice self-care and build resilience to difficult situations.

• Compassion: Healthcare providers should have a strong desire to help patients, conveying empathy and real concern for each individual’s situation.

• Communicative: The healthcare environment is heavily driven by teamwork, and staff must know how to communicate honestly and effectively to deliver high quality care.

How to Interview Someone in Healthcare: 5 Tips

Before conducting an interview, it’s crucial to have a list of questions that are tailored to the role you’re hiring for. As you formulate these questions and prepare to meet your next candidate, these five tips for interviewers will help you get the most out of the interaction.

1. Account for the Candidate’s Background

Some healthcare positions are suitable for candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds. For example, individuals applying to be caregivers or medical schedulers may not have formal healthcare experience. However, this doesn’t mean that they lack qualities suited for the role.

For these roles, tailor questions that assess qualities without centering around the fact that a candidate lacks healthcare experience. For instance, has the candidate gone through schooling or volunteer work that would translate well to the role? Are they transitioning from a career that requires similar skills and qualities? These are just a few things to factor in.

2. Consider the Candidate’s Experience Level

It’s also important to consider each candidate’s level of experience. For certain types of nursing specialties, you may get a mix of new graduates and seasoned applicants — and you should take this into account when figuring out how to interview a nurse.

A new graduate may not have as much formal experience to draw from, but their willingness to develop their skills can indicate future success. If a new graduate struggles to answer technical questions, gauge their honesty and eagerness to learn, as these are traits of a good nurse.

3. Ask Situation-Based and Behavioral Questions

Things move quickly in healthcare, and staff are often expected to have strong critical thinking and decision-making skills. Since you can’t actually observe how candidates function on the floor, asking them how they’d respond in specific scenarios is your next best option.

Situation-based and behavioral questions can be helpful indicators of how candidates might carry out essential tasks. As the candidate formulates their answers, listen for how they might bring some key qualities (e.g., integrity, honesty, and empathy) into their work.

4. Watch for Non-Verbal Signs of Professionalism

Knowing what non-verbal signs of professionalism to look for is also key to understanding how to interview someone. Example questions you might ask yourself include:

• Did the candidate show up well-dressed and on time?
• Did they treat the receptionists with respect?
• Are they calm, confident, and friendly in their demeanor?

If a nurse consistently shows up late to their shifts, this can have significant impacts on workflow. Similarly, if a provider is being rude to their team, this will get in the way of the collaboration needed to deliver quality care. While the interview is a one-time interaction, a candidate’s demeanor throughout the process can hint at how they might behave on the job.

5. Pay Attention to What a Candidate Asks and How They Listen

At the end of each interview, it’s important to leave time for the candidate to ask questions. This is also a critical point in the interview that can tell you more about who they are as a person.

Healthcare is a difficult industry, and candidates must have genuine passion and interest in the field to be successful. If a candidate seems apathetic and has no questions, or they’re more focused on asking about pay and benefits, they might not have the right intentions.

Additionally, observe how a candidate listens to you as you answer their questions. Active listening is a crucial skill for healthcare providers. The way they engage with you can clue you into how they might interact and consider the perspectives of patients.

Are You Ready to Build Your Healthcare Talent Pool?

Now that you understand how to interview someone in healthcare, you may be wondering where to find qualified applicants. Need help building your talent pool? IntelyCare’s job board is optimized to connect you with quality healthcare professionals who are ready to work.