Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Candidate Interviews

By the time you are ready to schedule an interview, you’ve already spent time and money to identify a prospective candidate that is a good fit. You’ve scheduled the interview and now is the time to “roll out the red carpet”.

Often I work with clients that do not take the time to plan an interview properly. Candidate’s walk away without a good understanding of the practice opportunity, limited knowledge of the community and their spouses have not been included. Poor interview planning significantly increases your chances of loosing a candidates because he is no longer interested or ensure the need to schedule a second interview. Both mean you have to spend more money!!!

Every interview needs to be planned to meet the needs of the prospective candidate. Yes, you are interviewing the candidate BUT the candidate is also interviewing you. You only have one chance to make a first impression!

Consider the following when planning an interview:

1. Carefully review your notes from the candidate screening.

• Try to anticipate what the candidate may have concerns about and be prepared to address the concerns during the interview.
• Determine what will be most appealing to the candidate so you can highlight it during the interview (community and practice)

2. Invite the spouse:

• Winning the support of the spouse is critical. You are kidding yourself if you think the spouse does not influence the decision making process. Your competitors are inviting spouses to the interview.
• If you did not ask about the spouse's priorities during the candidate screening, call the spouse and find out what he/she is looking for: employment needs, community amenities, educational needs, etc.

3. Develop a detailed Itinerary:

• Plan an itinerary that allows the candidate to meet with physician leaders, physicians the candidate will potentially practice with, administrative leadership, representative from nursing staff, etc. The candidate should have the opportunity to meet with a broad scope of organizational representatives.
• Plan a separate itinerary for the spouse which reflects the needs of the spouse; tour of residential communities, visits to schools or day care facilities, community amenities, etc.
• Make sure the candidate and spouse will have opportunities to take a break and use the rest room.
• Incorporate a dinner to allow the candidate and spouse an opportunity to socialize.

4. On the day of the interview assign “tour guides” to stay with the candidate and spouse

• It is important to have a point person who spends the day with candidate (and spouse) ensuring he gets where he needs to go and to answer questions about the organization as they may come up.
• This is a great way to get to know the candidate and determine his fit. You can obtain a lot of information about the candidate that may not come-up during the interview meetings.
• Often the spouse will share information that is critical to the candidate’s decision making process.

5. Follow-up with the candidate and spouse once the interview has concluded:

• Make sure you contact the candidate within 48 hours of the interview to obtain interview feedback.
• Keep the candidate informed in a timely manner about your decision making and the status of the opportunity.

By following these steps you ensure the candidate will have the most positive experience during his interview. Your goal is to send the candidate home excited about his experience and eager to receive an offer.