Summer is often a time for interviews and new jobs. Organizations are often contemplating what the next fiscal year will bring. Will we, as an organization, grow? Which areas will be growing? Particular to nursing is an ever-growing concern around the retirement of incumbent staff. Perhaps now, more than any time in health care and nursing, hiring someone for your team is one of the most important decisions you will make as a manager. Conversely, accepting a new position as a new-to-practice nurse or an experienced nurse can lead to tremendous professional growth or years of unhappiness. For everyone, it is a high impact hire. The current interview process reflects this culture.
There is a new paradigm for what a high impact hire looks like. Managers go beyond typical metrics such as college rank or grade point average. Hamilton and colleagues have identified the skill sets and mind-sets that are most predictive of on-the-job success. They arrived at 7 characteristics that, taken together, best translate into someone killing it at their job.1 The Table summarizes these concepts and describes interview questions that may help both parties articulate values, behaviors, or traits that are essential to the work at hand. In addition, cover letters, resumes, interviews, and references are important. Each piece is a unique part of informing the hiring institution or manager about the candidate. These conversations, e-mails, and letters tell a prospective employee about a person's values and allow a glimpse into ones personality. In the initial phase, these are critical pieces of information that determine whether a candidate will receive an interview. Once interviewed, often the likeability factor is a key indicator if the relationship will work. Hayes2 reminds us that hiring someone who will be a good fit as part of a team is something every employer must consider. Once an interview has been scheduled, the perspective employee must be prepared for questions in many formats.
Many nursing organizations now schedule candidates to interview with groups of staff and with a manager. Nursing, as a profession, has realized that the autonomous practice of nursing can only occur within the team and leadership practice that supports the individual practitioner. This demonstrates why likability- and performance-based interviewing techniques are so critical. Interview teams or individuals may use formal and informal methods of evaluation.
Sepah3 designed a performance system that he refers to as the Performance-Values Matrix. This can be used as an interview guide or for annual evaluation. He recommends doing this with a face-to-face encounter, when one can gain important insights into performance-based behavior and value-based behavior. Sepah3 creates a 2x2 matrix that guides leaders toward people who have tremendous potential, those who need remediation or mentoring, and those that are just not the right fit. A key word that emerges in his evaluation is competence or incompetence. This type of evaluation tool may be developed using references and resumes, together with personal interviews for prehire evaluation.
Hamilton1and Hayes2 remind us that each new employee has a critical effect on culture and is a unique investment for the organization. Leaders want to hire someone who will be a professional asset and a productive, hard-working member of the team. Candidates must be poised but energetic, while also being respectful but inquisitive. Hamilton reinforces 1 key factor, "The thing that trumps everything is likability. People want to be around and hire people they like." He adds, "Hire people who are engaging and who will bring energy into a room or a meeting."1
The new interviewee should ask questions, ones that show interest and knowledge but also humility, curiosity, and a willingness to learn. Part of being humble means realizing that you do not have all the answers. Humble people acknowledge what they do and do not know and enlist help from others. Humility is a wonderful trait within a team; often, this willingness to learn and become better cultivates successful cultures.4
The critical nature of hiring the right individual and accepting the right position ensures the desired outcomes for the organization as well as for the individual nurse. Hopefully, sharing the new paradigm for interviewing will assist the new-to-practice nurse in obtaining an interview and choosing the right position.
New-to-practice nurses are often well equipped for the current job landscape and prepared with the aid of mentors, faculty, and/or career counselors. Resumes and reference letters are polished and reviewed before submission. However, experienced nurses will also benefit from the same detailed preparation because hiring practices may have evolved significantly since they last interviewed!
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