How To Hire Right the First Time

In the conclusion of his three-part series on interviewing, EMS World columnist Mike Rubin discusses techniques to use with prospective employees. Find Part 1 on interviewing students at www.emsworld.com/12071579 and Part 2 on interviewing patients at www.emsworld.com/12110596. 

My first job interview went something like this:

“So you’re…Mike? The one who called? When can you start?”

Before you think bad thoughts about some desperate EMS agency, I should mention I was 16 years old and looking for work as an usher in a movie theater.

So maybe movie houses didn’t go out of their way to vet unskilled labor when I was a teenager. I’d like to think today’s paramedics and EMTs find jobs only after much more thorough evaluations, but I don’t know if that’s true. What I do know is that although the consequences of hiring a rude ticket-taker are nowhere near as severe as employing an incompetent caregiver, most good interviewing practices aren’t industry-specific; they’re broad enough to apply to almost any help-wanted scenario.

In this article we’ll discuss some of those practices from the employer’s perspective. There’s intrigue and gamesmanship on both sides of the desk, but after 41 years as interviewer and interviewee, I’d rather be the one asking the questions.

Interview Basics

What are you looking for in an employee? Wisdom? Honesty? Technical proficiency? It’s pretty hard to judge those qualities in a person sitting across from you for 15 minutes.

Try this exercise: Think about your current employees or some other group of workers you know well. Pick one trait that applies to the best among them.

Are they the smartest? The bravest? The nicest? The most experienced?

I didn’t have to think very long about my answer: My best workers made my job easier. They might not have been the brightest or even the most capable, but each of them found ways to make my life less complicated by grasping the implicit contract between boss and employee: I do for you, and you do for me.

I’m not claiming managers and their subordinates routinely follow that principle. I’ve worked for several firms where the corporate rules of engagement were more like, You do for me because you have to, or simply, I do for me. It takes an innovative company and exceptional people to own the part about helping each other, not merely for altruistic reasons but because unselfishness and trust are essential elements of good business.

I don’t know if you work for a truly innovative employer; probably not—they’re pretty rare. I bet your company is looking for exceptional people, though. Distinguishing them from the largely unexceptional majority—and, more problematically, the ones who lack substance but can charm their way through 15 minutes of dialogue—is the primary goal of an employee interview.

Desirable Traits

So how do we cull good candidates from the not-so-good ones?

Remember, the good ones understand the implicit boss/employee contract and will make your job easier. What “raw materials” do they need for that? Reliability, maturity, adaptability and good judgment are my picks.

Those attributes are qualitative and therefore hard to measure, so how many of them can we hope to evaluate during a brief interview?

All of them. Let’s run through the list:

Reliability—Detecting this fundamental trait has the highest priority. Even the smartest, most talented people are of no value if they don’t show up for work.

• Good signs: Applicants who aren’t just on time for their interviews; they’re early. It’s their responsibility—not yours—to allow for traffic, weather and wardrobe emergencies.
• Bad signs: Prospective employees who arrive even one minute late.

Maturity—Beginning with grooming and dress and continuing with behavior during the interview, maturity is the easiest of the four key traits to judge. Whatever a candidate does to make you feel uncomfortable would probably affect patients the same way.

• Good signs: Neat business attire complemented by conservative grooming. Even inexperienced interviewees should know the difference between having rights of self-expression, such as extensive tattoos or piercings, and exercising those rights.
• Bad signs: Questions asked by applicants in advance about how to get there, what to wear or whether to bring a résumé; questions asked early in the interview about vacation or sick time; questions asked anytime about drug testing.

Adaptability—I’m going to take a chance and proclaim, without a shred of evidence, that most candidates don’t enjoy job interviews. I say that because the majority of prospective employees I’ve met seemed at least mildly uncomfortable before, during and even after that process. Some were beyond uncomfortable and on their way to nonfunctional.

A little nervousness isn’t a bad thing. Even on the job, controllable anxiety means we care about our performance.

Some of my interviewees confessed their nervousness to me during interviews. Many of them found ways to impress me despite their discomfort. They adapted to unexpected questions and overcame their distress.

A 2005 study by the U.S. Army found that an important trait linked to adaptability is willingness to learn.¹ I’d rather manage people with a realistic sense of what they don’t know and an eagerness to improve than those who labor to project invincibility.

• Good signs: A candidate’s pleasant, constructive affect and cogent replies to unpredictable questions despite ordinary anxiety.
• Bad signs: Anyone who appears overwhelmed during their interview.

Good judgment—One could argue that reliability, maturity and adaptability are elements of good judgment, but I look at that relationship in reverse: Good judgment, I believe, precedes reliability, maturity and adaptability on the developmental scale and is the mortar that binds those building blocks of character.

• Good signs: Interviewees who answer whatever they’re asked with a minimum of editorializing and digression.
• Bad signs: Almost anything from a candidate that you wouldn’t have said.

High-Frequency Listening

A fundamental interview strategy is to encourage prospective employees to reveal their strengths and weaknesses without necessarily knowing that’s the plan. Success depends on establishing a feedback loop whereby interviewers evaluate candidates’ verbal and nonverbal responses, vector toward provocative issues, then immediately pose related questions. Such “high-frequency listening” and real-time follow-up is harder than it sounds. Consider these essentials:

Minimize distractions—The way we used to do this, we’d have someone in the office answer our phones and take messages. That sounds laughably antiquated now, but you can still separate yourself from your smartphone, can’t you? Or at least mute it and ignore it? Maybe not. The problem is that frequent interruptions are going to interfere with your focus and signal interviewees—especially the ones worth hiring—that you’re either disorganized or rude.

Add a little atmosphere—I liked to evaluate people as they responded to opposite circumstances: at ease and stressed.

Relaxed candidates were more likely to say something revealing about themselves—the kinds of unusual beliefs or values that might come out during collegial conversations. Sometimes I heard about personal biases or frustrations with past bosses that I considered deal-breakers.

A sympathetic affect can help interviewers encourage sometimes-startling statements from prospective employees. You don’t have to explicitly agree; just project a pleasant willingness to listen. Such tactics sound disingenuous, but ferreting out negatives is your responsibility and much more important than eliciting self-serving positives.

Adding mild-to-moderate stressors to an interview can simulate some aspects of challenges candidates will face on the job. For example, multiple concurrent questioners can make it hard for interviewees to formulate answers cautiously. EMS providers who can’t process simultaneous sources of input probably aren’t the ones you want to hire.

Don’t just listen; watch—Deciphering body language is an art beyond the scope of this article, but nonverbal responses are an important way to derive a more complete picture of prospective employees. Let’s stick to a few commonsense considerations:

Is eye contact steady enough so you don’t feel deceived, but not so riveting that the candidate seems possessed? Is their sweat level appropriate for mild anxiety, not triathlon training? Do they suddenly cross their arms—perhaps indicating defiance—when you ask a difficult question?

The bottom line, I think, for those of us who lack expertise in body language is whether the applicant’s nonverbal behavior makes us uncomfortable.

Processing first impressions—Our initial opinions of people are often valid, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t allow interviewees a minute or so to get acclimated to our sessions before we start making irreversible decisions about their futures. Just keep in mind that the behavior you’re seeing is the best those candidates can manage.

Preparation

Even with high-frequency listening, you’re going to want a question bank you can draw from whenever an interview “thread” has run its course. I used to bring 5–10 conversation-starters to each session.

Avoid common queries that aren’t directly related to the job, like “What do you want to do 10 years from now?” Candidates have probably heard that one before.

Consider problem-solving questions based on EMS scenarios. Also try prompting a reaction to a controversial event or point of view; for example, “Did you hear about the medic who dumped his patient off the stretcher?” If you ask that with a smile or even a chuckle, you might be surprised at the sympathy for aberrant behavior you elicit. Better to learn about that before making an offer.

Instead of waiting for references, ask prospective employees for permission to contact former supervisors in advance. You probably don’t need to pursue applicants who decline.

Remember, you goal is to mine nuggets about candidates’ character traits, not to facilitate their recitation of practiced rhetoric. Be professional, be thorough and be opportunistic.

References

1. Mueller-Hanson RA, White SS, et al. Training adaptable leaders: lessons from research and practice. U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 2005; 1,844: 5.

2. Goman CK. Busting 5 body language myths. Forbes.com, www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2012/07/24/busting-5-body-language-myths/.

Mike Rubin is a paramedic in Nashville and a member of EMS World’s editorial advisory board. Contact him at mgr22@prodigy.net.