Good pharmacy job interview techniques are much neglected these days, even though hiring the right staff is arguably one of the most important steps in a pharmacy. If you practice good pharmacy job interview techniques, your business is likely to run better and be more successful.
Here are some steps to conducting the best interview you can with prospective employees, according to Paul Peterson, national talent resource manager with Grant Thornton LLP in Toronto, Canada.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 10 minutes
Here's How:
- Prepare really well in advance. And, since there are typically two people conducting the interview, make sure you both know what the objective of the interview is: Is it technical competency, behavioral competency, etc.?
- Always try to have more than one person in the interview because you get two viewpoints. More than two might be intimidating for the candidate. Two interviewers also protects you should the candidate make a claim against you.
- Formalize the introduction process; let the candidate know the titles and roles of anyone interviewing him or her. This helps build rapport.
- Use the first 10 to 15 minutes to make the candidate feel comfortable—ask them how their commute was, about something in the news or a sports game the night before, for example. For shy or very nervous candidates, this can even take a little longer.
- Set the agenda right away and let the candidate know how long the interview will take and the goals of the interview. Also let them know if you’ll be taking notes to collect information.
- Make sure the interview is structured but not rigid. “Asking the same questions is cookie cutter and you get cookie cutter answers,” says Peterson. “It’s a very artificial approach.”
- Know what you want to ask in advance and don’t have it written down. Or if you absolutely can’t remember it, have a cheat sheet and don’t let the candidate catch you reading it. “You need to show confidence in what you do,” Peterson explains.
- Challenge the candidate with some of your questions, but if they are struggling too much, rephrase your question. A challenging interview can leave candidates feeling the job will challenge them.
- Use certain trigger words to draw things out of people, especially if they’re shy, such as What? Why? and Help me understand …
- At the end of the interview capture your thoughts on paper while they’re still fresh, and discuss them with the other person in the interview so you have a united front. If you don’t agree about the candidate, talk about why.