Interviewing Employee Candidates

Questions keep coming in on the broad and complex subject of hiring employees. (If you missed any of the several columns I've written about hiring and firing, go to www.skinandallergynews.com

Several readers have asked about candidate interviews. As I've written before, the importance of thorough interviewing cannot be overemphasized.

The tendency of many physicians is to conduct superficial interviews—or even skip them entirely—and then hire the candidate they have the “best feeling” about. This probably leads to more bad hires than any other hiring mistake. And hiring the wrong person can be one of the most expensive mistakes you can make.

As every physician knows, hunches are no substitute for hard data. You need to be well prepared before conducting interviews. Know the job description and hiring criteria, carefully review resumes (highlighting items you would like to ask about), check references, and conduct thorough but efficient interviews.

Be alert for resume red flags: significant time gaps between jobs; positions at companies that are no longer in business or that are otherwise impossible to verify; job titles that don't make sense, given the applicant's history and qualifications. The interview can resolve such quandaries, or confirm them.

Conduct your interviews in a comfortable location and allocate a reasonable amount of time. I need about 30 minutes: 5 for getting acquainted, 15 to ask the questions I have prepared, and 5–10 for the candidate to ask me questions.

I always have an identical list of questions to ask all candidates, which gives me a level basis of comparison of candidates' answers; however, I also tailor questions for each individual, based on what I have discovered in resumes and other reference materials.

There are, of course, certain questions which by law cannot be asked, such as those related to gender, race, creed, religion, or national origin, but there are acceptable alternatives to many forbidden questions.

For example, you cannot ask an applicant's age or date of birth, but you can ask if he or she is over 18 years old. You cannot ask about specific disabilities, but it is legal to ask if the applicant is physically capable of performing the job's essential duties.

You cannot inquire about marital status, maiden name, or how many children an applicant has or who cares for them, but it is permissible to ask if the applicant has ever gone by another name (for employment history and background check). And while you can't ask if he or she is a U.S. citizen, you can ask if the applicant is legally authorized to work in the United States.

Rather than ask about past drug or alcohol addictions, you can ask about current addictions, but only to illegal drugs. Questions about arrest records are forbidden, but you may ask if the applicant has ever been convicted if the question is accompanied by a statement that an affirmative answer will not necessarily disqualify him or her from employment.

Other than those sorts of obligatory, specific questions, I try to be as nonspecific and open-ended in my questioning as possible. In the first edition of “Human Resources Kit for Dummies” (John Wiley & Sons, 1999), Max Messmer suggests some excellent general questions:

▸ What do you know about our practice and why do you want to work here?

▸ What interests you about this job and what skills and strengths can you bring to it?

▸ What would you describe as your greatest strengths as an employee? What are your greatest weaknesses?

▸ Who was your best boss ever and why? Who was your worst boss, and looking back, what could you have done to make the relationship better?

▸ How do you think that best boss would describe you? What about the worst boss?

▸ What do you think was your single greatest achievement on the job? What was your worst failure?

▸ Where do you see yourself and your career in 3 years?

▸ Can you tell me about an important decision you made and how you arrived at it?

▸ How do you handle conflict? Can you give me an example of how you handled workplace conflict in the past?

The idea is to avoid leading questions, which tend to elicit exactly the answers you want to hear, which lead, in turn, to snap judgments.

Conversely, the questions a candidate asks can be very helpful in making your decision. Candidates who go beyond the basic salary/benefits questions, who show evidence they have done their research about your practice, can offer important insights into their values, goals, and aspirations as well as their analytical abilities and true desire to work for you.

Questions keep coming in on the broad and complex subject of hiring employees. (If you missed any of the several columns I've written about hiring and firing, go to www.skinandallergynews.com

Several readers have asked about candidate interviews. As I've written before, the importance of thorough interviewing cannot be overemphasized.

The tendency of many physicians is to conduct superficial interviews—or even skip them entirely—and then hire the candidate they have the “best feeling” about. This probably leads to more bad hires than any other hiring mistake. And hiring the wrong person can be one of the most expensive mistakes you can make.

As every physician knows, hunches are no substitute for hard data. You need to be well prepared before conducting interviews. Know the job description and hiring criteria, carefully review resumes (highlighting items you would like to ask about), check references, and conduct thorough but efficient interviews.

Be alert for resume red flags: significant time gaps between jobs; positions at companies that are no longer in business or that are otherwise impossible to verify; job titles that don't make sense, given the applicant's history and qualifications. The interview can resolve such quandaries, or confirm them.

Conduct your interviews in a comfortable location and allocate a reasonable amount of time. I need about 30 minutes: 5 for getting acquainted, 15 to ask the questions I have prepared, and 5–10 for the candidate to ask me questions.

I always have an identical list of questions to ask all candidates, which gives me a level basis of comparison of candidates' answers; however, I also tailor questions for each individual, based on what I have discovered in resumes and other reference materials.

There are, of course, certain questions which by law cannot be asked, such as those related to gender, race, creed, religion, or national origin, but there are acceptable alternatives to many forbidden questions.

For example, you cannot ask an applicant's age or date of birth, but you can ask if he or she is over 18 years old. You cannot ask about specific disabilities, but it is legal to ask if the applicant is physically capable of performing the job's essential duties.

You cannot inquire about marital status, maiden name, or how many children an applicant has or who cares for them, but it is permissible to ask if the applicant has ever gone by another name (for employment history and background check). And while you can't ask if he or she is a U.S. citizen, you can ask if the applicant is legally authorized to work in the United States.

Rather than ask about past drug or alcohol addictions, you can ask about current addictions, but only to illegal drugs. Questions about arrest records are forbidden, but you may ask if the applicant has ever been convicted if the question is accompanied by a statement that an affirmative answer will not necessarily disqualify him or her from employment.

Other than those sorts of obligatory, specific questions, I try to be as nonspecific and open-ended in my questioning as possible. In the first edition of “Human Resources Kit for Dummies” (John Wiley & Sons, 1999), Max Messmer suggests some excellent general questions:

▸ What do you know about our practice and why do you want to work here?

▸ What interests you about this job and what skills and strengths can you bring to it?

▸ What would you describe as your greatest strengths as an employee? What are your greatest weaknesses?

▸ Who was your best boss ever and why? Who was your worst boss, and looking back, what could you have done to make the relationship better?

▸ How do you think that best boss would describe you? What about the worst boss?

▸ What do you think was your single greatest achievement on the job? What was your worst failure?

▸ Where do you see yourself and your career in 3 years?

▸ Can you tell me about an important decision you made and how you arrived at it?

▸ How do you handle conflict? Can you give me an example of how you handled workplace conflict in the past?

The idea is to avoid leading questions, which tend to elicit exactly the answers you want to hear, which lead, in turn, to snap judgments.

Conversely, the questions a candidate asks can be very helpful in making your decision. Candidates who go beyond the basic salary/benefits questions, who show evidence they have done their research about your practice, can offer important insights into their values, goals, and aspirations as well as their analytical abilities and true desire to work for you.

Questions keep coming in on the broad and complex subject of hiring employees. (If you missed any of the several columns I've written about hiring and firing, go to www.skinandallergynews.com

Several readers have asked about candidate interviews. As I've written before, the importance of thorough interviewing cannot be overemphasized.

The tendency of many physicians is to conduct superficial interviews—or even skip them entirely—and then hire the candidate they have the “best feeling” about. This probably leads to more bad hires than any other hiring mistake. And hiring the wrong person can be one of the most expensive mistakes you can make.

As every physician knows, hunches are no substitute for hard data. You need to be well prepared before conducting interviews. Know the job description and hiring criteria, carefully review resumes (highlighting items you would like to ask about), check references, and conduct thorough but efficient interviews.

Be alert for resume red flags: significant time gaps between jobs; positions at companies that are no longer in business or that are otherwise impossible to verify; job titles that don't make sense, given the applicant's history and qualifications. The interview can resolve such quandaries, or confirm them.

Conduct your interviews in a comfortable location and allocate a reasonable amount of time. I need about 30 minutes: 5 for getting acquainted, 15 to ask the questions I have prepared, and 5–10 for the candidate to ask me questions.

I always have an identical list of questions to ask all candidates, which gives me a level basis of comparison of candidates' answers; however, I also tailor questions for each individual, based on what I have discovered in resumes and other reference materials.

There are, of course, certain questions which by law cannot be asked, such as those related to gender, race, creed, religion, or national origin, but there are acceptable alternatives to many forbidden questions.

For example, you cannot ask an applicant's age or date of birth, but you can ask if he or she is over 18 years old. You cannot ask about specific disabilities, but it is legal to ask if the applicant is physically capable of performing the job's essential duties.

You cannot inquire about marital status, maiden name, or how many children an applicant has or who cares for them, but it is permissible to ask if the applicant has ever gone by another name (for employment history and background check). And while you can't ask if he or she is a U.S. citizen, you can ask if the applicant is legally authorized to work in the United States.

Rather than ask about past drug or alcohol addictions, you can ask about current addictions, but only to illegal drugs. Questions about arrest records are forbidden, but you may ask if the applicant has ever been convicted if the question is accompanied by a statement that an affirmative answer will not necessarily disqualify him or her from employment.

Other than those sorts of obligatory, specific questions, I try to be as nonspecific and open-ended in my questioning as possible. In the first edition of “Human Resources Kit for Dummies” (John Wiley & Sons, 1999), Max Messmer suggests some excellent general questions:

▸ What do you know about our practice and why do you want to work here?

▸ What interests you about this job and what skills and strengths can you bring to it?

▸ What would you describe as your greatest strengths as an employee? What are your greatest weaknesses?

▸ Who was your best boss ever and why? Who was your worst boss, and looking back, what could you have done to make the relationship better?

▸ How do you think that best boss would describe you? What about the worst boss?

▸ What do you think was your single greatest achievement on the job? What was your worst failure?

▸ Where do you see yourself and your career in 3 years?

▸ Can you tell me about an important decision you made and how you arrived at it?

▸ How do you handle conflict? Can you give me an example of how you handled workplace conflict in the past?

The idea is to avoid leading questions, which tend to elicit exactly the answers you want to hear, which lead, in turn, to snap judgments.

Conversely, the questions a candidate asks can be very helpful in making your decision. Candidates who go beyond the basic salary/benefits questions, who show evidence they have done their research about your practice, can offer important insights into their values, goals, and aspirations as well as their analytical abilities and true desire to work for you.