Screening Candidates

Tips for Screening Potential Attendants

Preliminary Screening

After you have placed your ad, the next step in recruiting is to select the candidates to interview. This can be done by reviewing resumés, through telephone screening, or a combination of both.

The goal of screening is to select only the best people who meet your criteria, saving everyone time and effort by avoiding unnecessary personal interviews.

Reviewing Resumes:

It is always best to receive a resumé from a potential attendant, even if it’s someone you’ve known for some time. Receiving a resumé sets the tone for the work environment and confirms that you are a proper employer.

Be wary of the person who says they want the job but do not follow-up with a resumé, or who does not return your calls promptly. If they don’t call back it suggests they don’t want the job that badly.

The resumé gives you a snapshot of the person’s work history including how long they have worked in the field. You might want to watch for a resumé that lists many jobs in a short period of time, as it may suggest lack of commitment. Be prepared that they may not stay long.

Some employers are only looking for attendants with previous experience but the resumé may show you someone who is either new to the area or who is looking to make a change; if they have a solid work history and have taken the time to include a cover letter, it might be worth your time to make a pre-screening phone call to see if they might be a good “fit” for you.

Telephone Pre-screening

It is often advisable to call any applicants who look promising to do a telephone pre-screening. This way both parties can get a glimpse of the potential employer/employee arrangement and can prevent an uncomfortable face-to-face meeting. Telephone screening may help weed out “chancy” candidates who appear to be inadequate or undependable; they can cost you further time-consuming termination and replacement.

You might choose four or five telephone pre-screening questions and you should write or record each person’s answers since it is easy to get confused once you’ve spoken to more than a couple of people.

Points to consider or ask during a telephone screening might include:

• Review the job requirements listed in the ad (to confirm the person read and understands what is involved)
• Ask open-ended questions like: “Tell me about yourself” to get a feel for the candidate
• If you are looking for people with experience in specific areas you can ask about that on the phone. For example, “What experience do you have with Hoyer lifts?” (or whatever equipment you use)
• Do you know anything about quadriplegia? (or whatever your disability is)
• People who must travel long distances, or who rely on others for transportation for short work periods, may have short-lived employment with you;
• You might consider giving candidates time to digest the information so you both don’t feel pressured to set up an interview time immediately.

Note: To safeguard your privacy and prevent disclosure of your telephone number and name to those with call display, see if your phone company has a “call block” feature (it’s usually *67) before dialing a candidate’s number.

Once you have completed the telephone screening you should choose your top candidates to invite them for an in-person interview. You might consider asking candidates to bring their references with them to the interview to save time if the in-person interview goes well.

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