10 Important (but often overlooked) Questions To Ask During An Interview for New Healthcare Prospects

Hiring a new employee is no easy feat. When it’s time to hire a new employee for your healthcare practice, it’s crucial to get the best person for the job. But what are the critically important questions that will help you evaluate the person in front of you and get a better feel for their personality and how they will work with your team?

While it’s crucial to ask behavioral-based questions, many healthcare recruiters often overlook asking situational questions that can help in the hiring process.

Take a look at some of them:

1. What are the latest medical trends, and how do you stay up to date?

This question will tell you if your applicant is interested in staying up-to-date with all aspects of healthcare, including new developments and changes in technology and procedures. It also shows that you expect them to adapt quickly to changing situations — an important skill when working in an office that deals with patients daily.

Medical professionals should always be looking for ways to improve their skills and ensure that they are doing everything possible for their patients’ health and well-being. If they don’t have any questions about the latest developments, it may indicate that they’re not as interested in their work as they should be.

2. What do you find the most rewarding about working in healthcare?

Besides giving you insight into how the candidate views their role within the healthcare system, this question also reveals what motivates them. Do they believe that the work they do matters? Are there other benefits besides salary that motivate them? Is it because they get to help people? Perhaps it’s because it challenges them to learn new things. All of these questions are important factors that will help you determine whether this person will be a good fit for your team.

3. What do you think makes a good healthcare professional?

This question gives you insight into how your prospect views his or her role in the healthcare field and how he or she views other applicants who may not share these same values. You want someone who understands that medicine isn’t just about treating symptoms; it’s also about caring for patients as people too — not just bodies with illnesses that need fixing or medication that needs dispensing. 

Their answer will tell you if they have the right attitude towards their work. You want to find someone who can empathize with their patients while also providing tough love when necessary. 

4. What do you find to be the most challenging part of working in healthcare? How do you deal with these challenges? 

This question allows you to get a sense of how a candidate thinks. You’ll be able to evaluate whether they have considered all aspects of the job and their ability to deal with challenges. If they haven’t thought about it, then you know they are not as prepared for the position as you might want them to be.

5. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult situation with a patient or a patient’s family member.

Hiring someone who can work well under pressure and stay calm when faced with challenging situations is essential for any healthcare organization. It is crucial for your prospects to be able to handle situations where patients are upset or angry about something that has happened in the past or present. They should also be able to communicate clearly and effectively with other staff members and patients so that everyone feels comfortable working together.

6. Tell me about a time you had a conflict in the workplace. What did you do to address the concerns, and how did you resolve the issue? 

It’s essential that all employees can work together as one team. For example, in a medical emergency that involves a number of individuals, they need to be able to resolve conflicts quickly and effectively without affecting morale or productivity. This question will help determine if they have had any issues working with others, how they handled those situations, and what they learned from them. 

7. Have you ever made a mistake or failed to get something right on the job? What happened and what did you learn from it?

It’s important to understand how candidates view their performance and how they learn from their mistakes. It’s also an excellent way to gauge whether they are willing to admit when they’ve made a mistake or failed at something. This can be a valuable trait in an employee who is willing to take responsibility for their actions and learn from them rather than blaming others or making excuses.

8. Tell me about a time when you had to compromise to get things done. How did it turn out?

It’s important to know how your prospect will handle situations in which they must make compromises in order to achieve results. For example, if you’re hiring a nurse, ask them about their previous experience working with doctors and other healthcare professionals on a team. Ask them how they handle being told that things need to be done differently than they typically do. The answer to this question can give you insight into how well they’ll fit in at your facility and whether or not they’ll be able to work as part of a team or independently.

9. How do you work with others, and what is your preferred management style?

In healthcare, it’s important to hire people who are not only good at what they do but can also work well with others. You want someone who will be able to communicate clearly and effectively, who will understand and respect the roles of other team members, and who will be a problem solver in challenging situations.

10. What motivates you in life?

This is a question that employers often overlook because they think it’s too personal or invasive, but asking this question will help you know whether or not a candidate is a good fit for your organization’s culture in the long run. Their answer is especially important if you’re looking for someone who wants to grow with the company over time as opposed to just getting paid at any price point.

This question will give you insight into how the candidate views their purpose in life, which is an important aspect of being successful at anything. You want to know what drives them so that you can assess how well they will be able to motivate themselves and others.

In the end, these questions should be tailored to your specific job description. They can help you screen out some candidates and perhaps find highly competent people that you may not have thought of before. After all, a good fit is more than just a set of hard skills. Finding the right personality match is essential to long-term success in any organization, and interview questions will only get you so far.