Selection Procedure for the Post of Senior Receptionist - Essay Example

Corniche Health Centre The selection procedure of a staff is a tedious task and requires proper planning. If the selection process in not planned well, discrepancies can occur in the quality of the candidate selected, which can lead to difficulties in the working nature of the health centre. According to (Heathfield,2011)“Hiring the right employee is a challenging process. Hiring the wrong employee is expensive, costly to your work environment and time consuming”. Selection Procedure for the Post of Senior Receptionist Firstly, the head of the Corniche health centre should decide how many stages of assessment will be included and the number of applicants arriving for each stage. This is done in order to save time and energy, and to get prepared to the amount of applicant arriving for the selection stage. The application must be reachable to the individuals through websites or in material form. It will be very beneficial if the candidate can access application online, as it makes the process a lot easier. There should be a date fixed after which the application cannot submitted their application form. There is no need of setting a minimum or maximum number of applicants for short listing, but at least six numbers of candidates should be interviewed each day. It is also necessary to determine the amount of time spend on each candidate during the interview phase. The key skills possessed by the candidate for the senior receptionist post should be analyzed well. The selection procedure must include aptitude test and attitude test. A planned selection procedure may be comprised of methods like structured interviews, group dicussions,personality questionnaires and practical assessmentAfter the assessment is finalized the next step is to decide the resources required for the selection procdures.The resources are the interviewers, venue and materials required for the same. The recruitment panel members must be acknowledged with the job specification and duties of the senior receptionist of the health centre. The dates of the selection tests and interview should be properly fixed and feed backs of the test results should be properly informed to the candidates. The applications should be treated with confidentiality, so that further enquiries on them are dealt with ease and promptness. Interview Structure The interview structure is very important, as it is the crucial process through which the employers communicate face to face with the candidates. As per (Chapman,2001,pg.279-298)) “Interview structure did not significantly moderate the influence of interview medium on interviewers evaluations of applicants. These findings highlight the need to be aware of potential biases resulting from the use of communication technologies in the hiring process”. The interview structure as a process can be classified in to these steps: a) Introduction In the introduction step, efforts should be made to welcome the applicant and greet them to create a comfortable ambience. This is to build a rapport between the applicant and employer and to make them feel at ease and settled. The applicant is allowed to engage in a light conversation with the employer to give an insight it to the job role and other factors related to the post. b) Gathering of Evidence: In this step the answered questionnaires and curriculum vitae are analyzed and collected. The answers to the decided questions are reviewed. These questions are related to the job profile and qualities needed for the senior receptionist post. According to (Poderis,2011) “The questionnaire is designed so that the interviewer asks questions which go beyond simple yes and no answers, thus allowing the job candidate to do a good deal of the talking” It is very important to give enough space to the candidates to think and reflect on various question related to the job nature and other skills required for the job entry. c) Questioning and commenting Questioning and commenting is a phase where the applicant is given freedom to ask things which they want to know about the organization and job to the employer or interviewing panel. At this stage the applicant is given time to ask questions if any they have from their side. Usually some applicants have enquiries about their job roles and the duties they have to perform while on the position of senior receptionist in the health centre. They can also make any comments with regard to their application. This phase help in removing the misconception among the applicant about the job requirement and also allow them to clear their doubts and confusion they have in their mind about the job. This step can also come before the gathering of evidence if required. d) Closing session In this last but not least step in which the applicant can be given insight into the following procedures and other selection methods to come up in the future. Many a times it happens that after interview there is another interview held for the short listed candidates? 4 “ One key to a smooth closing is to consciously and skillfully stop gathering new information somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes before your interview is over”(Flanagan,2009,pg.157). Question to be asked the candidates 1) Have you ever worked in a health care centre or in an organization with medical environment before? Here we can understand the professional background of the applicant. 2) What make you apply for this post? This question is of prime importance as it allows the applicant to understand and gauge her capabilities with the scope of the senior receptionist post. 3) Do you have experience in handling customers or patients at a reception point? 4) How is your language skill and communicative skills? This a very important questions as it identifies the verbal communication of the applicant and their confidence. 5) How will you deal with a complaints put forward by the patients and how quickly you will deal with it? 4 “Stop what you are doing, and give your undivided attention to the patient. If you are on the phone, make appropriate responses so the patient knows you are listening. Do not argue with the patient or interrupt with explanations. Listen without attributing fault”(Texas Medical ,2011) 6) Do you experience in working as a senior receptionist before? 7) What are the strengths, qualities and weaknesses of your personality? 8) Are you ready to put in extra hours in to work as and when needed? References Chapman, D.S. (2001). The impact of videoconference technology, interview structure, and interviewer gender on interviewer evaluations in the employment interview: a field experiment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology , 74(3), 279-298. Flanagan, J.S. (2009). Clinical interviewing . New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Heathfield, S. (2011). 10 tips for hiring the right employee. Retrieved fromhttp://humanresources about.c om/od/recruiting/tp/recruiting_employee.htm Poderis, T. (2011). Development director job interview questionnaire. Retrieved from http://www.raise-funds.com/2007/development-director-job-interview-questionnaire Texas Medical Association .(2011). How to handle patient complaints . 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