I have recently been promoted to my agency’s Rehab Manager and I am responsible for hiring new therapists. I have been a PT in homecare for 5 years, but have never conducted an interview. The agency has provided me with an outline of general questions but do you have any guidance for interviewing for therapists?
Ask anyone in the field of healthcare these days and you will hear that therapists are among the most difficult of all professionals to hire. Many reasons have contributed to this over the past few decades. Higher educational demands (with PT now at an entry-level doctorate and OTs now master’s prepared), rising costs of higher education in general and tightened restrictions on those foreign-trained are just a few. Whatever the reason, an overall shortage of licensed therapists has resulted.
When considering this fact, many employers become intimidated and have even given up with a “we just cannot find them anyway” attitude. Then, when a therapist does present as a candidate for employment, the interviewer often gives away control of this valuable opportunity in a hasty attempt not to loose the staffing. We advocate that this perspective be resisted so that you hire the best, and not the only, staff – especially when there are so few to choose from out there.
When performing any interview, have a human resources representative present. During an interview there are questions that are “out of bounds” – personal and health-related issues are the most obvious. The HR personnel will be able to review these with you ahead of time to ensure that no lines are crossed as you learn this process. HR should then take over the interview meeting to give information about the agency- pay scales, benefits programs, etc.
If you are able to have any input, keep the job application itself simple. Asking for too-detailed information can be a turn-off. While you may need to get the information once hired and it seems like a good idea to just get it upfront, the long and tedious application (i.e.-multiple references with addresses and phone numbers), may give the candidate the wrong first impression of your agency. Streamline the entire interview and subsequent hiring process so that the therapist feels like you value their time and efforts right from the start.
One of the first things usually considered when interviewing prospective therapy staff is experience. It is easy to think that the candidate with several years of homecare experience is preferable to one with little or no time spent doing homecare on their résumé. However, depending on the individual, the lack of experience also means lack of bad habits that will need to be broken. Clinicians who worked in home health prior to PPS (in 2000) often refer to the fee-for-service era as “the good ole’ days” and can still be in mourning, having difficulty with the mandatory changes to make their practice contemporary for Medicare programming of today.
New hires of any experience level who demonstrate a willingness to learn, adaptability to change and are able to take direction are the strongest candidates. Avoid making any promises to potential therapy hires – areas of coverage is one of the most tempting. The clear communication upfront that the job will or won’t entail driving into specific geographic regions will eliminate this. State your expectations explicitly, especially those regarding productivity, paperwork timelines and other topics that are often difficult to control once the staff is on board.
A standard interview line of questioning deals with the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. While this is valuable information, avoid directly asking for it. Use your powers of observation to tell you about the person – are they organized, clear and concise with answers, confident in appearance and attitude or do they look too casual or disheveled, mumble when speaking, or have hard-to-read handwriting? People will generally tell you what they think you want to hear in an interview and a list of strengths and weaknesses will be just that.
Assess non-verbal communication as well. For instance; posture - leaning forward with eager attentiveness vs. slouching and crossed legs or arms- tells you a lot about their openness and receptiveness. Remember you are interviewing them; though you are mindful that they are also interviewing you/your agency. If you act as though you are willing to give them the moon during the interview and then hit them with other expectations once they are hired and oriented, you will find you have lost more than just that hire. Word of mouth in this industry is very important and your reputation as a great place to work starts with the first meeting-the interview.
Teri N. Thompson and Arnie Cisneros are physical therapists with nearly 40 years of combined home care experience. Co-owners of Home Health Strategic Management in East Lansing, MI, they provide clinical service management and home care consulting expertise. They are nationally renowned speakers regarding the PPS refinements of 2008 and therapy utilization under the New Rule.