If you want to find candidates who match your business goals, work ethic and retention needs, behavioral interview questions work. What are the benefits? And how can you get the most out of this technique?
Thinking about attending a nursing conference? Despite their busy schedules, many nurses agree that conferences support professional development and career growth—especially in today’s growing and complex healthcare environment. Consider five ways you can benefit from attending.
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If you’re interviewing pharmacists, you have limited opportunities to speak with candidates and identify top professionals for your pharmacy. What kinds of questions should you ask to help you get it right?
Determine Competency and Soft Skills
Degrees, certifications, and skills are essential in performing certain job duties. Specific, competency-based interview questions are critical in finding the right candidate. But remember, soft skills are important too. The interaction between pharmacy staff and patients has a significant impact on customer loyalty.
To help you get started, consider the six interview questions below and what to look for as each pharmacist candidate responds:
1. Tell me about your three most recent positions and what caused you to look for new opportunities.
· Obtain key details about duties and experience
· Listen for complaints about management
· Determine if the candidate is indecisive about their career path
· Learn if the candidate’s job changes indicate a desire for challenging opportunities
2. Describe two of your most significant accomplishments and the impact they made.
Learn about the candidate’s values
Find out if they are is a team player
Determine if the candidate is goal-oriented
3. How would your previous two or three managers rate your performance? What would they say are your strengths and areas for improvement?
· Listen for honesty
· Determine if the candidate is open to constructive criticism
· Learn if they are self-motivated to make improvements
4. Tell me about a time when a prescribed medication wasn’t appropriate for a particular patient. How did you resolve the issue?
· Learn how the candidate resolves conflict
· Gain insight into their interpersonal skills
· Listen for clues about their ability to handle an issue without alarming a patient
5. Describe a situation when there was an unexpected event in the pharmacy. How was it handled? How were you involved?
· Listen for details about how the team was affected and if the candidate is a team player
· Learn if safety protocol was followed
· Take note of actions that demonstrate leadership skills
· Discern if the potential pharmacist is customer-service conscious
6. Describe a time when you had to speak with a customer who was very upset or angry. What triggered the reaction, and how did you respond to the customer?
· Learn about the candidate’s customer service and communication skills
· Find out how they react to pressure
· Listen for clues about the pharmacist’s level of compassion for patients
As you prepare your interview questions, think about common occurrences in your pharmacy, and use them in the questions to help you find the right candidate.
Access to Qualified Pharmacy Candidates
At WSi Healthcare Personnel, we’ve established screening and interview processes to help us quickly identify candidates who match the needs of your pharmacy. Contact us to learn more about our staffing solutions.
How can you advance your nursing career and keep it moving forward? Short- and long-term goals can help you maintain a career that is fresh, challenging and rewarding. Consider three keys for a successful career path.
Are you interested in a career in occupational therapy? It’s a good opportunity to interact with people and help patients improve their quality of life. But before you commit to it, learn about the education requirements, prospects for future opportunities, and what it’s like to be an occupational therapist.
If you’re thinking about relocating for a job, planning and preparation can reduce much of the stress that naturally comes with moving. What questions should you ask before making a move?
How Will Relocation Affect My Family?
If you have young children, ill family members, or aging parents, the location of a new job matters. Climate, culture and distance can affect the well-being of your family. Check the new location for the availability and quality of services or facilities your family will need, including:
Day care centers
Healthcare facilities
Recreation options
Schools
Senior care services
Is the Company Financially Stable?
Before you apply for a job, check the financial stability of the company. Some of the questions you should ask include:
How long has the company been in business?
Have there been any recent layoffs?
If the company has recently been part of a merger or acquisition, what was the reason?
What do online reports show about the company’s financial status?
What's the Cost of Living in the New City?
Will family expenses be more affordable or more expensive if you move? Consider all aspects of the cost of living compared with your potential pay rate, and decide if the move is right for you. Remember to consider the following costs in your review:
Groceries
Health care
Housing
Insurance
Taxes
Transportation
Utilities
How Will the Pay Affect Your Quality of Life?
Research the pay range for careers similar to yours. At times, a job with lower pay can have a positive effect on your quality of life. Perhaps the new job will allow you to spend more time with your family or on personal interests. On the other hand, higher pay might make it easier to provide for your family and care for necessary expenses.
Will the Company Pay Relocation Expenses?
Moving can be expensive. Before you relocate, find out if the company offers relocation assistance. Out-of-pocket costs can influence when and where to move. Make sure you know everything a relocation package offers, including:
Full packing at your current location
Full unpacking at your new location
Housing assistance
Storage
Transferring your cars to the new location
How Will Job Relocation Affect Your Career?
Is relocating for a job a wise move for your career? Will you be given opportunities that challenge your skills or help you acquire new ones? Carefully consider how a new job will help or hurt your career goals.
Interested in Job Relocation?
Relocating for a new job can be exciting and rewarding. WSi can accelerate the process. Apply today. Our recruiting team will help you find opportunities that match your location preferences and career goals.
Reliability in the workplace is important for every business. How can you interview job candidates for reliability and learn about their work ethic before you make an offer? Below are five questions to ask every candidate.
Questions to Determine Reliability
The examples below provide a basis for interview questions that help determine a candidate’s reliability. You can adapt the questions or create new ones to match your business needs. Beneath each question is types of responses that can reveal a positive, or a problematic, work ethic.
What convinced you to leave your last job or look for a new one?
Positive Responses
Provide examples of successes and accomplishments
Include expressions of satisfaction from completing projects and readiness for a new challenge
Provide details about what the candidate liked about the position
Problematic Responses
Include complaints of low pay
Express boredom at work
Complain about management
Give an example of a time when you went out of your way to resolve an issue at work. What were the results, and who benefited from them?
Positive Responses
Provide details
Clearly state results
Relate tangible benefits
Problematic Responses
Avoid giving an example
Are generic
Include complaints about management
Describe a time when you missed a deadline or failed to follow through. Who was affected? How did you correct the situation? What did you do to help prevent it from happening in the future?
Positive Responses
Provide details of a missed deadline
Acknowledge how the candidate was at fault
Give a clear indication of what the candidate learned and how they worked toward improvement
Problematic Responses
“I always leave on time. I can only do so much in a day.”
Place the blame on someone else
Before you say your work is finished, what do you do to ensure you’ve done your best?
Positive Responses
Reveal the candidate has a system to review work and catch errors
Express willingness to spend extra time to ensure work is correct
Indicate willingness to ask for assistance when needed
Problematic Responses
Include complaints about processes and the inability, or lack of time, to check work
Express over-confidence
Reveal a “nobody else cares, so I don’t care” attitude
Tell me about a time you had to follow directions or guidelines that you didn’t agree with.
Positive Responses
Show directions were followed
Indicate suggestions for improvement were offered later
Reveal a positive attitude was maintained
Problematic Responses
Imply directions were ignored or bypassed
Give evidence of anger or frustration
Include negative comments about guidelines or the management team
Experts at Finding Reliable Staff
Screening and interviewing job candidates—and asking the right questions to reveal a person’s reliability—take a lot of effort. At WSi, we understand the details that matter in finding top talent to meet your business requirements and respect your work culture. Contact us today for expert assistance in finding the right staff.
Does your business have an employee wellness program? Seventy-five percent of healthcare spending is related to chronic disease. Many chronic diseases can be delayed, alleviated, or prevented with lifestyle changes. An effective program can help you retain healthy, productive employees. Consider the facts.
The Cost of Chronic Illness
Chronic illness among U.S. workers costs employers more than $200 billion each year. It manifests itself in the workplace in different ways, including:
Absenteeism
Decreased productivity
Increased healthcare costs
Injury
Tardiness
What’s Making Your Employees Sick?
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce report, Winning with Wellness, obesity, and depression are the top two chronic conditions that escalate healthcare costs for employers. And anxiety disorders closely follow. The figures below show why employers should be concerned and proactive about implementing an employee wellness program.
68.8 percent of adults are overweight or obese.
6.7 percent of the U.S. population experiences depression that lasts at least two years.
18 percent of the population is affected by anxiety disorders—the most common mental disorder in the U.S.
How an Employee Wellness Program Can Help
The program encourages physical activity, a healthy diet, and healthy lifestyle choices. If your employees stick with it, they can improve their well-being in many ways. Both you and your employees will benefit. Here’s how:
Employees
Decreased levels of stress
Improved physical fitness
Increased self-confidence, self-esteem, and well-being
Increased stamina
Weight loss
Employers
Reduce absenteeism
Increase productivity
Improve recruitment/retention
Reduce healthcare costs
Where Do You Start?
If you want to implement an employee wellness program, but don’t know where to start, there are plenty of resources for ideas and guidance. Visit the websites of the organizations listed below to learn the dos and don’ts for developing a program that’s tailored for your business.
Center for Disease Control
Department of Labor
Society for Human Resource Management
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Attracting the Right Talent
Although an employee wellness program can help your business attract and retain top talent, there is no substitute for effective recruitment processes. At WSi, we’ve provided staffing services since 1988. Each year, more than 1,200 employers trust us to find the right professionals to help their businesses thrive. Contact us today, or visit our website to learn more about our staffing solutions.
With all interviews comes stress and anxious preparations. Making sure you are prepared is more important than ever with 33 percent of bosses claiming to make a decision on whether a candidate deserves the job within 90 seconds.
Company culture matters. Gallup polls show that in the past three years, 91 percent of employees who left their company were looking for a better job. Although most job seekers were seeking a pay increase, they revealed that other factors were involved.
Healthcare workers are in demand, and increasing numbers of them are looking for a new job. If you’ve thought about using a staffing firm to help accelerate your career, why should you choose WSi?
Finding ways to retain top talent is vital to the success of your business. On average, it takes more than $4,000 to hire a new employee. Training new employees costs even more.
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