By Diane West
The applicant has answered your basic pre-screen questions correctly. They’ve completed your application showing they have 
caregiving experience. Now what? You sit down for an interview and ask the standard questions about their experience, past employers and maybe a few situational questions.
caregiving experience. Now what? You sit down for an interview and ask the standard questions about their experience, past employers and maybe a few situational questions. You’ve spent 30 minutes with this applicant. Do you really know this person? Will they be dependable? Are they honest? Do they have a temper? How engaged will they be with the job and your company? After a 30-minute interview are you comfortable placing this caregiver in a client’s home with no supervision?
Now, let’s add another step. Have them complete an online assessment. It will take anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on which assessments you have them complete. You have four to choose from – Personality, Cognitive, Attitudes and Engagement. The results are available immediately.
You have a decision to make. Is it worth your time to interview this applicant? You are busy and time is valuable. So why spend time interviewing the wrong person for the job? Use your time to really get to know applicants who have the personality and attitude to be a good fit with your company culture. By using the assessments, and becoming a member of the Caregiver Quality Assurance®program, you’ll be able to identify the best fit individuals and have access to a variety of narrative reports explaining each candidate’s profile. These reports range from a simple graphic profile to more comprehensive narrative reports with targeted behavioral interview questions based on the individual’s responses.
We’ve found that the home care company owners and recruiters who use the results of the assessment, plus the interview questions suggested in the report, do a much better job of selecting the very best caregivers. When you hire only the best, your client satisfaction goes up, your caregiver turnover goes down, your revenues increase, and you put more money on the bottom
Your time is precious. Use it wisely by interviewing only those applicants who will be a good fit for your team. There is a quote by John Wooden, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, that sums it all up. “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
Contact me at diane@leadinghomecare.com if you’d like to experience the assessments and I’ll send you the link. We’re confident that using the assessments, and paying attention to the results, will help you hire the right people for the right jobs.
