Healthcare is booming today, thanks in part to a growing number of aging Baby Boomers looking to improve their quality of life during their Golden Years. According to Glassdoor’s September Local Pay Reports, wages for several healthcare jobs are rising faster than the national average of 1.8 percent included pharmacy techs who enjoyed 3.4 percent to YoY ($30,688) pay gains in September 2017. Other healthcare related jobs with wages that grew faster than the national average were registered nurses (up 2.0 percent to $66,450) and certified nurses assistant (up 2.0 percent to $28,678).
Several healthcare companies were among our recently announced Best Places to Interview winners. We had a chance to talk to a few of them, and find out what they look for in top candidates. Here’s what we learned:
Identify the top qualities you are looking for
Knowing what you’re looking for is key to finding candidates who will succeed in your organization. These Best Places to Interview winners know which qualities are most important for worker happiness and success.
“It’s important to have integrity, a sense of servanthood, and a sense of humility. These qualities translate into doing the right thing, putting the care of others first, and relating well to others.” – Kirsten C., Recruiter, Baylor Scott and White
“We are looking for Associates that possess strong problem solving skills: can you give me an example of a time when you had to solve a complex problem and were given little or no information to start? This question allows a candidate to showcase learning agility when it comes to working on a new area. At Cerner, we challenge our Associates to think creatively and be empowered to push boundaries.” – Jessica Lamb, Manager & Lead Campus Recruiter at Cerner Corporation
Dignity Health designated humankindness as a core competency, a characteristic that is as carefully assessed as any other vital ability or talent. Just as there is a standardized method to ascertain job skill level, Dignity Health has developed a standardized method for measuring the kindness of individuals. “We want to know if they share our core values. It’s just as important as their skills and abilities. It is what Dignity Health is about.” - Kristie Griffin, Director of Talent Acquisition, Dignity Health
Look for informed candidates
Interviewing candidates who already know about your organization, its mission, and the job itself makes your job as recruiter much easier.
Jessie Pace, Talent Specialist at SSM Health told us that the best interview answers are when “their calling aligns with the mission and values of what SSM Health stands for. It’s most impressive when they know about our culture, mission, and values before it’s even asked of them and that’s what drew them to apply with us.”
Ashley Cowley, Sr Recruiting Partner & Team Lead at Cerner Corporation said, “I expect a candidate to know about the company prior to the interview and be able to speak to it. With skills and qualities, I expect candidates to explain how they use their skills in specific relevant responses, not generalities.”
Look for candidates with a passion for healing
Employees with a passion for healing are more likely to provide great patient care. Health care recruiters shared with us some of their favorite answers from passionate candidates.
Chris Wilson, Nursing Director, SSM Health said that some of the best interview answers are “expressions of passion for the work they do, such as nursing assistants providing examples of how they have made a difference in a patient’s life by doing something such as fixing the patient’s hair before their company came or how they listened to the patient’s concerns and reassured them...a nurse’s response to why they love to go to work and how their job fulfills them.”
The best interview answer Ashley Koerber, Talent Specialist at SSM Health ever heard was, “I have always felt like I was being called to be a nurse and care for others. Nursing is not only about healing people’s bodies, it’s also about healing their minds and souls.”
If you’re hiring for healthcare, be sure to check the Local Pay Report for your metro to see if your offers are line with local trends. Since details on salary/compensation packages are the number one piece of information candidates are looking for on Glassdoor (Glassdoor.com U.S. Site Survey, August 2016), competitive pay will help you attract more informed candidates with passion for healing.
