Since most dental practice owners and their managers do not interview job applicants for a living, they often make the same mistakes every time they interact with a new job prospect – specifically, the interviewer talks too much. We want so much to make ourselves look good to the applicant and to have the job requirements understood that we tend to explain the work situation too thoroughly without giving thought to what we really need in order to make sound employment decisions. To be a more effective interviewer, consider incorporating the following ideas into your job interviewing process.
Don’t be “close-ended” minded
Most interviewers ask “close-ended” questions. For example, they ask:
- “Are you good with customers?” or
- “Do you enjoy working with others?”
Guess what the one word answer will be? It most certainly will always be “Yes.” When we try too hard to clarify the circumstances of the job, we get a lot of head nodding and “yes” answers when we ask the applicants if they understand and if they can do the job. After all, the reason they applied in the first place was to land the job.
Be “open-ended” minded
In order to get a real sense of whether an applicant will make a potentially good employee, you need to ask the types of questions that will give you the opportunity to assess their suitability to your needs, not your needs to theirs.
Consider asking questions that get the applicant to explain or describe situations to you. These questions are called “open-ended” questions. Examples include:
- “Tell me about your last job.”
- “Can you share with me the circumstances surrounding your decision to leave your last job?”
- “Give me an example of a difficult customer that you handled well,” and most importantly,
- “Why do you want to do this job?"
We take listening for granted. The more you listen ("listen" being the key word), the more data you get to use in your decision-making process. Remember, you never learn anything new by listening to yourself talk.
Be prepared
We strongly encourage you to have a core set of scripted questions that can help you compare answers between candidates on the same topics that are critical to your needs in filling the job.
Do not hesitate to take notes, either during the interview or just after it. This will be especially helpful when you have multiple applicants for the same position, and you are seeing them several days or weeks apart. It also helps to have a witness present at the interview. This person can corroborate what was said and help with important hiring decisions. Remember the old adage that “two heads are better than one.”
Here is another tip that we have found to be very effective. Whenever possible, see a candidate that you like more than once. Be sure to schedule the second interview at a different time of day and on a different day than the first interview. For example, schedule one interview first thing in the morning and the second interview later in the afternoon on another day. You may be surprised at how differently people act at the end of the day than they do in the morning or on different days.
Schedule a working interview
Assuming you have found an applicant who, based on the initial interviews, meets your requirements and is in agreement with your employee office policy, schedule a working interview where the applicant has a chance to demonstrate his or her technical and people skills in the environment you want the applicant to work. Do not overwhelm the applicant by forcing him or her to perform in a situation for which you have not prepared him or her adequately. Remember that the point of the working interview is to evaluate the applicant’s work ethic, ability to work with others, compassion and listening skills with patients and other staff members, and desire to learn. Since the applicant has passed your initial interviewing process, respect the applicant’s time by paying him or her a fair salary for his or her efforts during this working interview.
Conclusion
As employers, we want to hire employees that complement our work philosophies. Always remember that you will learn more about the other person by listening to what they have to say, not by listening to what you have to say. Give the applicant a chance to demonstrate why he or she might be the right person to make your practice better than it already is.
---
©2012 Tracker Enterprises, Inc.™
Reproduction prohibited without written consent.
Dr. Pavlik and Tracker Enterprises, Inc. assume no responsibility for business decisions made by the reader. It is recommended that the reader also seek legal, accounting, or financial planning advice before making any business decisions.
