Personally, I am not fond of the whole interviewing process. Unfortunately it’s a necessary part of growth, which I am fond of. It definitely is easier if you have a procedure that you follow when interviewing people for a position in your company.

I am the co-owner of a small business with only 6 employees. We have fairly small quarters to work in, and it is a friendly family atmosphere. When we need to hire someone it is important that we find someone not only very qualified but that will fit into our organization.

Since my business is a technical one (medical billing) it is also important that I hire someone with a brain. I don’t mean that to sound insensitive, but the truth is I am hiring for a position that will require thinking. (I have actually considered putting that in the ad “Data Entry With A Brain”)

I have found that since we have gone to a list of preset questions we have had very good luck with our hiring. The last 3 people we have hired have been good choices. Prior to the last three, we interviewed and hired a person without a preset list of questions and it was horrible.

First of all, the interview starts when the person responds to your ad. Do they follow instructions on how to apply? If you put “no phone calls” then they shouldn’t be calling you, etc. How is their response? If you request a resume it should be neat and up to date. It should, even though it is not required, have a cover letter. Is the experience on the resume related to what you are hiring for, or is it not crucial for the position?

You should look the resume over carefully. Look for unexplained gaps in their employment. Also look for any clues as to why the person may be applying for your position. If they are just graduating from college, and your job is not in their field, they may be looking for a temporary position. This may be ok for you, but for us, we don’t want to go thru the training necessary for a temporary person. Make notes on the resume of any questions you may want to ask them in the interview.

It should be easy for you to reach the person at the number that they provide you with on the resume. Or at least you should be able to leave them a message. Listen the how the person answers the phone, or the message on the machine. These are little clues as to who the person is. If you have to leave a message, they should return the call within a reasonable time.

Once you set up an interview time, pay attention to when the person arrives. Preferably they should arrive at least 5-10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. Their appearance should be neat and presentable for the position they are applying for.

When the actual interview begins, you should have your list of questions in front of you, with a pen to take notes with. Write down your comments next to the questions as the person answers them. The following is a list of good questions to ask during the interview to help you get an insight as to who the person is:

Why are you applying for this position?

What type of job are you looking for?

If you are currently employed, why are you looking to leave your current job?

If recently unemployed, why did you leave your last position?

What would you say is your strongest quality (qualities)?

What would you say is your weakest quality (qualities)?

If I were to speak to one of your recent employers, what would they tell me is your best quality?

What would they say is your worst quality?

How much work have you missed in the past year due to sickness, or unexpected reasons?

What is the reason for the most time that you miss?

Do you take regular vacations every year at the same time? (Christmas? Summer vacation?)

Do you require medical insurance?

What would you like to be paid? (Not that you are going to pay them what they ask, but it is helpful to know what they think that they are worth. We recently interviewed someone who asked for less than we were willing to pay!)

Give an example of a situation that would arise in the position that they are applying for and ask how they would handle it. (When we are looking for a data entry person, we ask them how they would handle it if they fall way behind on the schedule that we have them on. I know it seems like everyone should know the ‘correct answer’ to that question, but it stills helps you to see what type of person they are by their answer.)

When would you be available to start work? (Again, this question will show you what type of employee they are. If they are currently employed, you would want them to give the current employer notice and not just walk out leaving them high and dry.)

When the interview is over, you may want to indicate to the person when you expect to make your decision. Once we interviewed a person for a specific position and during the interview we determined we didn’t think that the person was qualified. We advised her that we didn’t think she was qualified. She asked us what duties we felt she wasn’t qualified for and then stated that even though she didn’t have the experience we were looking for she felt she could learn the jobs that we needed done. We decided to take a chance on her and it turned out to be a great decision. So sometimes it pays to let the person know how you are leaning during the interview.

The above list of questions can be a good start to a successful interview. All of the questions may not pertain to your particular situation but you can use the list as a guide and change the questions to fit your situation. The important thing is that you go into the interview with a plan.

Michele Redmond is co-owner of Solutions Medical Billing and has been in business since 1994. She has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Science and is responsible for the medical billing for over 50 providers. She currently has 6 full time and 1 part time employees. For more information on medical billing visit her website at http://www.solutions-medical-billing.com.

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