8 Effective Hiring Questions
Healio ⋅ Orthopedics Today – November 2017
by Cheryl Toth, MBA
Technical skills and job experience are important considerations when you’re interviewing for new staff, but as a colleague once said to me, “You can’t train for ‘nice.'” In other words, there are some characteristics a candidate either has or doesn’t. Determining these entails you to go beyond simply asking about key tasks on the job description.
Here are eight questions that can help you understand a candidate’s grit, curiosity, problem solving and comfort with failure.
1. What can you tell me about our practice/organization?
This is a good, general opening question and the answers give you a lot of insight. First, you’ll quickly learn if the candidate did any research before showing up for the interview, indicating preparation and curiosity. Second, you’ll get a sense of the candidate’s honesty and integrity. If they try to pretend they’ve read about you, but haven’t, you’ll see right through their answers. And third, assuming they do know a bit about your practice, this question is a conversation starter. Most people appreciate being asked their opinion and telling you what they know.