File:Management./Personnel, HR

Team Tryouts: Tips on Interviewing Potential New Team Members

Tryout: a test of someone's ability to do something that is used to see if he or she should join a team, perform in a play, etc. (Merriam-Webster)

In addition to interviews, practical tests that challenge candidates for the job position can be included in as part of the hiring process. Much like a “tryout” for any sport team or musical group, or an audition for a play, we want to see how the prospective new employee performs.

An old adage I use often in management is: “look, don’t listen.” This definitely applies to hiring.

After the first interview, if you are still interested in the person, have them come in again for a practical interview. This is the “tryout” or audition. For the front desk position, present them with some challenging but common situations and have them demonstrate how they would handle each. Have them demonstrate as in role playing, not just tell you how they would do it.

In the examples below, the doctor can be in the role of the patient, or prospective patient, or have another team member in that role.

For the Front Desk position, you can have the candidate take on the following situations:

Appointment book is full. Patient calls in and wants to see the doctor.

Patient calls in and is in pain.
Calls but is skeptical of chiropractic
Calls, asks how much for an adjustment, and then says it costs too much
Patient is leaving after an adjustment, needs to be scheduled, and the phone is ringing.
Patient owes $37.67. Collect it.
Promoting upcoming talk, next Tuesday at 6:30 on Spinal Fitness.

Someone applying for Patient Accounts could role-play the following:

Perform a patient financial consultation on a new Medicare patient who also has a secondary.
Call for benefits.
Receive a letter “not medically necessary.” What actions to take?
Promoting upcoming talk, next Tuesday at 6:30 on Spinal Fitness.

Other situations can be presented that are appropriate for your office, depending on the position, such as therapy, external marketing, etc. Be creative and keep it fun, but challenging.

You can give the candidate a few lines to help them, but tell them you want them to improvise to the best of their ability. You don’t have to let them know, but you are interested in how much in command they are, their compassion as well as the quality of their communication.

If you want a winning team, when hiring, use “Tryouts.”