How to Structure Physician Interviews for Optimal Recruitment Success
In an era of physician shortages, scheduling an interview with a physician one hopes to recruit can be a challenging process. Depending on the physician’s specialty, the location of the recruiting facility, and other factors, it may take dozens of hours and thousands of dollars to source and screen an appropriate candidate for interview.
It therefore is essential that the interview be structured in a way most likely to lead to an optimum outcome, which in most cases is the candidate’s signature on a contract or agreement letter. Our newly published white paper, Structuring an Effective Physician Interview, examines how hospitals, medical groups and other employers can structure effective physician interviews.
An effective physician candidate interview is based on a clear understanding of what the interview is for. The interview should not be structured as an introduction of the opportunity to the candidate. Rather, the candidate interview is a time for confirmation, not investigation. To best ensure confirmation through the interview process, one key strategy is following the “70/30” Rule.
Balancing Physician Interviews: The “70/30” Rule
The candidate interview should be structured to be 70% social and 30% professional, following what we call the “70/30” rule. The goal is to allow the candidate and his or her partner to walk through the practice and the community and to visualize living and working there.
Equally important to the structure, it is also imperative that the spouse or significant other be included in the interview process—if the candidate’s spouse cannot make the interview, the interview should be rescheduled. Practice relocation is invariably a joint decision, and often the spouse is the ultimate decision maker.
In an on-site interview, the candidate and spouse should be able to meet and socialize with people of their own age and interests to experience what life and practice is like are your community. Both the candidate and spouse should be provided with a written itinerary in advance that allows them to view the practice, the hospital, the schools, the real estate options and other places of interest.
At the same time, the recruiting party or parties need to observe the physician interacting with physicians, administrators, and other key stakeholders in the search in both professional and social settings. Stakeholders then can determine if the candidate is the kind of physician and the kind of person they can spend hours interacting with each day – and the kind of physician who
will thrive in the community.
The interview itinerary should be customized to each physician, as follows:
The itinerary and the framework for the interview can be set by a recruiting consultant or in house recruiter, who will be a key driver of the search process, though the facility CEO or Group Administrator also has a key role to play.
Stay Ahead of the Competition with AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions
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For more information on how AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions can help you navigate your talent needs, visit our website.
