Still Interviewing the Same Old Way? Up Your Game in 2019!

As a Hiring Manager for a Senior Living organization, if you’re not regularly assessing the strength of your hiring process, 2019 is the year to start. In a candidate-driven market, you need to make a conscious effort to find new ways to attract job candidates, implement the latest interviewing tools, and shorten your hiring process.

With that in mind, here’s 6 ways to up your game when interviewing job candidates in 2019:

     1) Add Video Conferencing

Consider using video-conferencing before personally meeting job candidates. This will show candidates that you’re up-to-date with technology and in touch with how they want to communicate. Plus, it enables you to get a good sense of what your candidate is all about. It could also ease your scheduling burden. If you are interviewing a multitude of candidates, you can quickly pare them down to a remaining few.

     2) Update Your Interview Questions

Re-examine the interview questions you have been using for years. Are they still relevant? Do they address important issues such as company culture, career path, purposeful work, etc.? According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), today’s job candidates, especially the Millennials, should be asked questions that are targeted to their viewpoints such as: What kind of relationship do you expect to have with your boss? What is something in your career that you are most proud of or consider a major accomplishment? How did you go about making it happen? Tell me about a time you worked in a diverse group with diverse opinions? What does a typical workday look like?  What’s your definition of a work/life balance?

     3) Streamline Your Hiring Process

Time kills deals.  This is especially true in a candidate-driven market. While you were busy scheduling a third, fourth or even fifth interview for your job candidate, chances are good they were snatched up. The average time top talent stays in the job market today is 10 days.  Gone are the days of taking your time and grilling candidates by a number of your managers.  You now need to put your best foot forward and sell the job during the first interview, especially when it comes to in-demand long term care talent such as a Director of Nursing and Director of Resident Care. You might also want to involve the most engaging and convincing member of your team to present the opportunity, provide reasons to work at your organization, and facilitate the tour.

     4) Create Convenience for Passive Candidates

While passive candidates are not active job seekers, they can often be persuaded to learning more about a new opportunity if it piques their interest and is convenient to pursue. Hiring Managers need to create a convenient interview schedule and experience for passive candidates. An initial over the phone interview just might be the ticket or a short video conference could be the way to go. Otherwise, if they have to drive across town in the middle of the day, they will probably opt out and suddenly you’ve lost a potential great new hire.

     5) Offer a Great Candidate Experience

Today, the candidate experience is fundamentally important to how job seekers perceive and react to your sourcing, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding processes.  Examples of a great candidate experience include:  Communicate often and before your candidate even walks through the front door, Communicate in a manner of how your candidate wants to be reached usually by text or email, provide a warm welcome once through the door, allow candidate to meet some of their future co-workers, sell your organization as a place where they can grow their career and be excited about coming to work each day, share employee testimonials, etc.  It’s all about establishing a real relationship with your job candidate and adding the human and personal touch.

     6) Hire for Culture Fit

We’ve heard it before, hire for culture fit. Today, culture fit may be the most important aspect of hiring and retaining great employees in the Senior Living Industry.  However, it doesn’t mean hiring people you like or being discriminatory. Hiring for culture fit means recruiting people who will thrive in your environment. Before you start interviewing candidates, define your company’s values and long-term objectives. Then evaluate whether candidates share the same values as you.

ABOUT JULIE RUPENSKI

Julie Rupenski is the Founder, President & CEO of MedBest, opening the doors in 2001. Since that time, Julie has gained national recognition for providing top talent solutions exclusively for the Senior Living Industry. Julie is a Succession Planning specialist and also a seasoned recruiter at filling C-Suite, Vice President, Regional, and Property level positions.

Julie has an in-depth knowledge of the Senior Living Industry since she previously worked in operations for both Senior Housing and Senior Living. Today, Julie makes it her personal and professional mission to place qualified people in health care positions where they have the greatest impact.

Julie earned her degree in Gerontology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida and continues to cultivate her career through senior living conferences, forums, trade shows, and expos.

Julie’s industry articles and interviews have been published in Provider Magazine, Argentum Quarterly, LeadingAge Magazine, Florida Health Care Association, Florida Assisted Living Association, Florida Senior Living Association, LeadingAge Florida, LeadingAge Indiana, Pennsylvania Health Care Association, Oregon Health Care Association, and Virginia Assisted Living Association.

Contact Julie Rupenski at jkrupenski@www.medbest.com / 727 526-1294.

ABOUT MEDBEST

MedBest is a nationwide senior living executive recruiting firm that was established in 2001. We specialize in recruiting quality executive talent for all types of senior living facilities across the US including Assisted Living, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, Memory Care, Independent Living, Home Health Care, and Skilled Nursing Homes.