Top 10 Behavior-Based Site Visit Questions

In order to ensure you are hiring the candidate who is the best fit for your practice, it is important to step outside traditional interview questions and focus on questions that will reveal his or her true character. By utilizing open-ended and probing questions you can avoid vague, canned or hypothetical answers.

Behavioral questions focus on real time experiences and are based on the premise that past performance will be a predictor of future behaviors. Questions should focus on five specific assessment areas: Technical/Clinical Competency, Interpersonal Skills, Practice Management Competency, Professional Competence and Corporate Contribution/Group Culture Fit.

While there are numerous behavioral-based questions that will elicit answers reflective of a candidate's true self, below are 10 key questions:

Technical/Clinical Competency

What stands out about your clinical skills? Why do you say that? What would your colleagues or staff say is your greatest strength? What clinical area do you feel you can improve upon? What steps are you taking to ensure growth in this area?

If a patient presents with XYZ symptoms, how would you go about evaluating the patient? What tests would you run? How would you explain the situation to the patient?

Interpersonal Skills

Describe a time you had to communicate bad news to a patient. How did you deliver the news? How did you manage the emotions of the situation?

Think about a difficult peer, colleague or administrator. What made him/her difficult? How did you successfully interact with this person?

Practice Management Competency

Describe a typical day in your current practice. What makes this schedule work? What would you like to change and why? What creates stress in your day? How do you deal with that stress?

Give an example of when someone was not performing to your standards. What did you do? What was the outcome? How would you change the way you handle it next time?

Professional Competence

Give an example of when a patient had a complaint about you or your practice. What did you say to the patient? How did you resolve the complaint?

What is the most recent constructive criticism you received from a peer or colleague? How did you handle the criticism? What actions did you take to address the issue?

Corporate Contribution/Group Culture Fit

Give an example of a project you have been involved with or a contribution you have made to your organization. What was your specific role? What made you effective? If others were involved, were you a leader or a follower?

Describe an organization change that impacted you over the last few years. How did you feel about it? What did you do to adapt? How did you help others respond to the change?

Responses to these questions will provide key insight into a potential candidate and help determine if he or she will be a good fit for your organization. If you have additional questions or would like to discuss how to successfully incorporate behavioral interviewing into your candidate screening process, please contact us.

Home | About Us | Contact Us