Last year, 86% of organizations were performing virtual job interviews—a considerable step up from previous years. The good news is, the process creates several benefits:
- Cutting costs: For long-distance candidates, you don’t have to fly out a candidate, rent them a car, or put them up in a hotel.
- Flexible schedules: If you need your candidate to meet with multiple people, you don’t have to schedule your team into one interview window. Instead, you can find convenient spots in everyone’s schedule over a day or two or three—which makes it possible for a candidate to meet with HR, providers, nurses and other healthcare professionals without disrupting their daily schedule.
- More candidates: When healthcare organizations can interview and hire from anywhere in the country—or even the world—the talent pool vastly increases.
Of course, for every advantage, there are also challenges—and that’s where best practices come in. We’re sharing ways to overcome the challenges and find your next great staff member.
Challenge #1: Tech troubles
A wide variety of computers, tablets, phones and Wi-Fi connections may contribute to connection issues. You can help prevent this by:
- Testing your hardware and software setup with another person on your team to ensure your programs and connections are working smoothly.
- Sending a list of programs and setup suggestions to your interviewee well in advance to give them time to get their equipment updated and ready for use.
You can also use interview gifts as both a thank-you and to help make sure the interview process goes smoothly. A set of ear buds with microphone will help you hear each other, and a webcam cover can help protect the candidate’s privacy when the interview is done.
You can also make it easy for them to take notes by including a pen and journal in the pre-interview packet.
Challenge #2: Determining cultural fit
Trying to figure out whether someone fits your work culture can be tricky when you can’t meet face-to-face. To help them understand your culture and to check their fit during virtual job interviews, try:
- Having multiple people participate in the interview to ask and answer questions.
- Encourage the candidate to ask questions about your healthcare organization’s culture and team. Emphasize to everyone who is interviewing the candidate the importance of answering openly and honestly.
- Provide materials that discuss the culture of your organization, including brochures, social media posts and patient testimonials.
- Use video as part of the interview process to provide a walking tour of your hospital, clinic or other working spaces.
You can also put together a collection of custom videos and send them on a flash drive so candidates can watch them before the interview and ask questions.
Challenge #3: Assessing communication skills
A big part of every job is communication, whether it’s face-to-face, instant messaging, email or another method.
Giving your potential employee homework not only allows you to assess their communication abilities, it also provides a chance to evaluate their critical thinking skills; ability to ask questions and meet deadlines; and see their job-specific skills in action.
Virtually perfect interviews
Performing virtual job interviews creates opportunities for finding great candidates. It also presents challenges that can be easily overcome. With these tips and interview gifts, you’ll be sure to find a perfect fit for your healthcare organization.