Virtual Physician Interviews: Maximizing Efficiency without Losing the Personal Touch
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.
Our newly published white paper, Structuring an Effective Physician Interview, examines how hospitals, medical groups and other employers can structure effective physician interviews.
Mastering the Virtual Physician Interview
The coronavirus pandemic limited candidate travel ability and has promoted the use of virtual interviews. Some of our clients choose to have a brief introductory phone or video call with candidates prior to inviting them out for in person interviews. Traditionally, it is during the on-campus interview that both sides begin to learn whether there is a potential personal and professional fit between the candidate and hiring facility.
However, it is certainly possible for both sides to assess the fit in detail virtually. Some candidates even prefer the efficiency of virtual interviews, rather than taking several days off to travel. Virtual interviews also provide a means of reducing recruiting costs and turnaround times.
Your Virtual Interview Itinerary
Thinking about the interview process as a series of boxes both sides must check in order to assess the fit, the following topics should be adequately addressed during the pre-interview and interview process:
Job description – Clinical, teaching, research, administrative, procedural, call, and other responsibilities of the position. It typically is not difficult to outline the requirements of the position and whether the candidate is willing and able to perform the job duties by phone or video interview.
Facilities – Office space, equipment, patient rooms, and proximity of all facilities that the provider would use. Although most providers would prefer to see these facilities in person, it is possible to use marketing videos and pictures, campus maps, equipment lists, and even a Facetime tour of the facilities to answer most questions.
Personality fit – It is easiest to assess personality fit in person, perhaps at a lunch or dinner. However, video conference discussions can go beyond professional conversations and can be used for both parties to get to know each other on a personal level. Assuming the candidate is comfortable providing references, those can also be used to assess the candidate’s personality.
Community fit – Although it is very challenging to recruit a provider to a community their family has never visited, many of the candidates who may want to interview at your facility may already have ties to your area and in some cases they may already have a strong motivation to live in your area. If that is not the case, having a real estate agent provide information about the area, virtual home tours, and other information about the area can give them a strong level of comfort with the community.
Salary, incentives, benefits, and contract information – These details are often not discussed until after an onsite interview and frequently discussed by email or phone in a typical recruitment, so this part of the recruitment process may not be substantially different if the candidate does not visit in person.
It may not always be possible for the recruiting party and its hiring leaders to make an official offer to a candidate without ever meeting them face to face and, in some cases, the candidate may not feel comfortable formally accepting an offer without a visit to the campus and community. However, we are working with a growing number of clients who are making offers virtually and with candidates who have signed offers without traveling to the community.
If the recruiting team can cover the topics listed above, have a real estate representative educate the candidate about the community, walk them through a sample draft contract and offer terms, and check references before a visit ever takes place, recruiting momentum can be maintained and in some cases enhanced leading to in-person signings or virtual offers.
However, on-site interviews still offer the advantage of face-to-face interaction and may be scheduled if both parties are amenable. If these details are covered sufficiently in advance, the candidate may be comfortable focusing their efforts exclusively on your position and not pursuing other options.
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.
