22 Jan Acing Behavioral Interview Questions in the Home Health Care Space
Many Home Care agencies will use behavioral interview questions to gather an understanding of how applicants apply their knowledge and skills in the field. These types of questions are often used by large companies across industries and are more frequent amongst competitive positions. If you are applying for more selective agencies who offer better pay and a better career, practice modeling your answers to fit the behavioral question methodology.
Behavioral interview questions focus on you communicating how you have behaved in certain scenarios. This is not to be confused with the forward thinking question of ‘what WOULD you do’ in a particular scenario. People who are unfamiliar with the behavioral interview question style often rush to try to give the perfect answer with ‘I would have done this or I would do that’, which is exactly what the interviewer does not want to hear. The interviewer is asking you to think back and give an example based on what you have actually encountered within the scenario they have proposed to you.
Specifically, the answer should be structured as follows:
- Describe a specific situation that addresses the interviewer’s question
- Explain the tasks that needed to be done
- Discuss the actions you took
- Describe the results or outcome
If this sounds textbook – it’s because it is! There are literally thousands of articles, textbooks and management training modules that cover this type of interview model and they all boil down to the points above.
Unfortunately, organizing your answer to include these points is just NOT intuitive and you won’t do well trying to come up with it on the spot. So PREPARE!
Here are some examples to help you get started:
Have you ever been in a situation where the client refused care?
- Describe the situation: Last year I worked with a disabled veteran who needed help around meal time but refused to eat.
- Explain the tasks that needed to be done: Because the client was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Dementia, the family wanted to establish a mealtime routine.
- Action taken: I prepared various food and made sure to follow a meal time routine including setting a table and sitting together even if he wasn’t willing to eat. I used the time to try to establish a relationship and a familiar process.
- Results: Within a few days, we established a rapport and he started eating at meal time on a regular basis.
Tell me about a time you had to deal with a client or family being unsatisfied with the care you provided.
- Describe the situation : A few years ago I had just started working with a new client who needed a lot of physical care and had a very devoted daughter who oversaw his care. After only two weeks on the job she stated she was not satisfied with the care I was providing.
- Explain the Task: I had to address the daughter’s concern in order to keep the case for my company and ensure she was comfortable with the care being provided.
- Action Taken: I sat with the daughter and listened to her concerns to ensure she knew I was open to receiving criticism and validated her feelings. I explained the circumstances around the events she was concerned about and was able to reassure her that I had her parent’s best interest in mind.
- Result: The daughter appreciated the explanations I was able to provide and we kept in closer contact going forward. She felt better about asking me questions and valued my opinion on how care should be delivered. Our relationship improved dramatically within weeks
You can get more real interview questions by going to www.glassdoor.com.
Is it worth the time it takes to prepare for an interview like this? ABSOLUTELY!
While we have all been to interviews where it seems like the company is just looking for a warm body to send to the field – that is NOT the case with higher paid, higher skilled positions.
If you want to try to qualify for a more selective agency or a more selective position which pays MORE than the average, you will need to stand out and compete.
Remember that pay can range by as much as 100% for relatively straight forward HHA or CNA positions – the difference is in the quality the agency is able to deliver to their clients.