15 May Interview Advice From A Home Care Hiring Manager
Toby Anderson is the CEO of Bright Star Care of the Upper East Side in New York City. He started his business last November and has been directly involved in the home health aide interview and hiring process for about 5 months.
Ozer: Let’s start with the key question: what are the top 3 traits you consider a ‘must have’ for a home health aide candidate?
TA: There are some things I do not compromise on – and that is the quality of care I want to deliver to my clients.
When I hire I look for people who have a passion for what they do. They are in this field as a career they care about and not a job of last resort. They see a future in this field and have something that drives them to this line of work.
I also look for people who pay attention to detail. You have to be the type of person that anticipates the needs of others and are aware of how situations are playing out due to fairly subtle changes in environment and behavior. A lot of clients struggle to articulate their needs and so the successful care giving is in the details.
Lastly, I look for people my clients can depend on. Showing up ready, focused and on time consistently is a basic level of service I insist on. Some people take little things for granted like being just a few minutes late, not being alert enough to carefully document, etc.— but these basic routines are what define our service.
Ozer: When you start looking at resumes, what are the things that stand out and ultimately make it to the “follow up pile”? What do you pass on?
TA: I love seeing applicants who go the extra mile and show me they have enrolled in courses or attended some lectures on relevant care topics. I look for people who are professional even in the way they prepare their resume. If you put care and effort into a document like this – it is a sign to me that you will do the same in the care you will provide to our clients.
I️ also look for different experiences and interests. I️ try to match our clients with people who have experience with their clinical situation but also with people who have common interests.
Resumes I️ tend to pass on are ones that don’t put effort into the application process. I️ know people are busy and are applying to many jobs at the same time but this is the first impression I think our clients will see as well.
Ozer: Tell us about your interview process – who makes the best first impressions and the worst?
TA: I generally take a week or two to go through resumes and then start scheduling phone interviews. In the phone interviews I try to make sure we have a shared understanding of the job and our company. I also try to make sure the applicant has the core traits I look for in a care giver.
Some red flags I see during the interview process include last minute cancellations or being very late without calling. Another red flag is when a candidate has difficulty communicating during the interview including talking about past experiences and career objectives.
Ozer: Can you give our readers some advice on how to move up in the world of home care?
TA: I would suggest that you set some career objectives and let those objectives dictate your decisions. Give some thought to the types of jobs you are taking on and ones you want to take on so that you can talk about how your skills and experiences are growing over time. I would strongly advise people to take a little extra time and keep learning about the common conditions they work with, or the industry itself. There are a lot of opportunities in this industry so this is a great time to really try to make the most of your experience and passion.
A huge thank you to Toby Anderson for taking the time to meet with us and share his insight straight from the front lines of the industry!
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