Interview Tips for Health Professionals

By Michele Drayton
Feature Author

It didn't take long for Gwen Hughes to realize that the job applicant she was interviewing for a medical record technician's job didn't have half the background he claimed.  All she had to do was listen.

He would have fared better had he known that employers often take a chance on inexperienced job candidates if they show intellect and maturity.  Exaggerating his background scored no brownie points.

The Crucial Factor

Some hiring managers judge a job candidate within the first four minutes of an interview and spend the rest of the time justifying their conclusions.  That may seem unfair, but it happens.  So, job candidates must make a great first impression, Hughes said.

Employers want health care professionals who are honest, personable, motivated, knowledgeable, hardworking and dependable.  Job candidates must convince the hiring manager they have some measure of all those traits during the span of the interview, said Hughes, who has worked in health information management for 25 years.

"Job candidates should come across as personable, act interested and give eye contact," said Hughes, a professional practice manager with the American Health Information Management Association in Chicago, Illinois.

"If hiring managers find a personality they can work with, they're often willing to teach the skills needed for the job," Hughes said.

Clothing and Grooming

The hiring manager will assume the job candidate is dressed his or her best during the interview.  Attire should be clean, neat and professional.  Avoid tight-fitting clothing or shirts with provocative messages.

Before the interview, job candidates should visit the department and observe how employees are dressed.  Climate, as much as organizational culture, sometimes dictates dress code.  For instance, health care workers in the Northeast tend to dress more professionally than those in warmer climates, according to Hughes.

Vice presidents and other high-level administrators may wear suits, but other health care employees tend to dress more casually.  These details count -- job candidates don't want to show up better dressed than the person interviewing them.  Hughes suggests slacks, shirt and a matching jacket as appropriate interview attire for coders, billers and related health information staff.

Common Interview Questions

Hughes, who has managed and consulted for health care organizations, said the following interview questions are typical:

• How would you describe your current position?
• What duties or responsibilities do you enjoy?
• Why are you leaving your present position?
• What are your work-related strengths and weaknesses?
• Why do you want to work here?
• What are your career goals?

Salary

Before the interview, job candidates should ferret out salary information from the human resources department or Web sites.  Then the candidate knows whether they want to proceed with an interview at all.  During the interview, candidates should avoid the salary issue until it is clear the hiring manager is very interested.  The candidate should show interest in the job first.  If compelled to ask a question about salary, the candidate should ask other questions, too.

Negative Work Experience

Candidates should aim for the positive spin.  Perhaps a job candidate had a bad experience with an employer.  If asked about it, the candidate can say they decided to move on because they learned as much as they could from that particular manager or that organization.

Put Yourself in the Interviewer's Shoes

The hiring manager isn't asking questions to kill time.  They want to hear responses that reflect a job candidate's interest in and knowledge of the job.  If Hughes were interviewing a job candidate for a coding position, she'd expect to hear that they:

• Like coding
• Pay attention to details
• Grasp basic anatomy and physiology
• Enjoy investigating problems
• Know medical terminology

It's All in How You Answer the Question

To appraise a candidate's organizational skills, a hiring manager may ask a candidate to describe their work history.  The manager would listen for "ordered phrasing" and "topical sequencing" in their response, Hughes said.  For instance, an organized job candidate may reply, "First I worked at X, then I worked at Y.  In my third position, I worked at Z."

A hiring manager may observe how a job candidate makes decisions by asking them to decide between two choices.  "The response will tell the manager whether the individual makes decisions based on fact or feeling," Hughes said.  A job candidate who relies on fact may be more appropriate for a coding, billing or other technical position.

The Foolproof Resume

Do not lie or fib.  Managers want trustworthy employees, and one way they calculate the honesty quotient is to ask candidates to write their work history on a blank piece of paper.  A dishonest candidate may have difficulty getting the facts on the paper and the resume to match.  Souped-up credentials may get a candidate in the door, but should the resume prove to be fiction, they can be out the door.

Pre-employment Tests

Managers who put a lot of thought into the interview process may conduct pre-employment tests to learn more about a candidate's personality and skills.  Tests have become more generic to avoid bias and to produce better job matches, Hughes said.

Personality

The hiring manager may ask a job candidate whether they've ever said anything behind someone's back that they wouldn't say to their face.  Most people have, so a hiring manager probably would be skeptical of a candidate who claimed otherwise.

A job candidate applying for a billing position can expect questions about how they would handle money.  For instance, a candidate could be asked whether they would ever take money from an employer without permission.

Skills

Job candidates applying for positions as coders, transcriptionists, billers and clerks may be asked to demonstrate their skills.

• Coders could be asked to code diagnoses or procedures typical in the job.
• File clerks may be required to file in alphabetical or terminal digit order.
• Transcriptionists may be asked to transcribe medical dictation.
• Billers may be asked to perform simple math problems or compose an e-mail requesting charts or information.
• Job candidates who need to know medical terminology may be asked to define a common medical abbreviation, prefix, suffix or root word.  For example, what does "URI" or "ectomy" mean?

Not Just Skills

A job candidate could have the right skills and still be wrong for the job.  Hughes recalls a friend who loved people but was assigned to a computer job in a room by herself.  "She could perform the work, but it didn't make the best use of her skills," Hughes said.

Most people can perform adequately, but those who excel in a job usually really enjoy it.  "It seems to take a lot less energy to do something you love than something you dislike," she said.  "Try to apply for a job you will really enjoy."

Have a Clue

Before an interview, Hughes recommends contacting friends working in similar jobs, reading about the industry, checking Web sites and researching the organization.

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