When you have an open position, a full inbox can be a welcome sight. But there’s nothing worse than the disappointment of sifting through those fresh applications, only to find that most of your new candidates are unqualified. You’re no closer to filling your open position, and the candidates who’ve applied have also wasted their time.
If this situation is familiar to you, you’re not alone. In fact, managers report that 42% of candidates who apply for a job don’t have the basic required qualifications. One way to prevent this scenario? An application with screening questions.
Using a few well-chosen questions can quickly qualify (or disqualify) candidates. But what questions should you ask? And how many? We break it down.
What Are Pre-Screening or Candidate Screening Questions?
Put simply, pre-screening questions are questions businesses publish as part of an application to help quickly qualify a candidate, or else add depth to their application. According to AppCast, a whopping 92% of candidates who click “apply,” never follow through to the end of the application.
Easy apply and quick apply functions can help cut down on the time it takes from candidates to fill out applications. The flip side of this is that you may also receive a greater volume of unqualified candidates.
That’s where screening questions come in. With these, you can make sure that only candidates with the appropriate replies to essential questions are funneled through to the next stage.
Why Should I Use Candidate Screening Questions?
Screening questions can help you easily filter qualified candidates from unqualified ones. With some jobs, knockout questions can also automatically disqualify candidates. A service like Apploi can sort candidates by their answers to easily create a list of qualified candidates.
Do Candidate Screening Questions Have Any Drawbacks?
If you have too many pre-screening questions, you may end up negating the convenience of easy apply. Having a dozen questions to slog through may dissuade otherwise qualified candidates.
It’s important to balance getting all the information you need with curating a seamless experience for your candidates. A few well chosen application questions can actually make the process easier for candidates—they’ll be able to quickly tell if they’re qualified for the job.
The Best Candidate Screening Questions for Healthcare
It’s vital that you ask the right questions to make sure that your candidates are qualified and good cultural fits.
Here are the best kinds of pre-screening questions to ask healthcare candidates and a few examples to get you started.
Knockout Questions
Knockout questions are questions that immediately qualify or disqualify a candidate for their role. They’re typically multiple choice, and can be answered quickly. We dig into some of the best ones for healthcare.
Do You Have the Necessary Licenses or Certifications Needed for This Role?
This question ensures that you’re only looking at candidates who are, at minimum, qualified to do the job described in the state you are located in. You can also ask candidates if they’re in the process of getting their license, or if they’re licensed in multiple states.
Do You Have X Years of Experience?
This is a great question to ask if you’re interested in candidates who have clinical experience, especially if you don’t currently have the resources needed to educate someone new to the field.
Are You Located in or Willing To Relocate to X?
If employees are required to move between facilities, then this is also a good time to ensure your candidates have that kind of mobility.
Are You Available to Work at These Times?
Will you specifically be looking for someone who’s able to pick up weekend or night shifts?
Are You Comfortable Working in a Hospice, Emergency Room, or Other Specific Setting?
Not every healthcare setting is suitable for all workers. Some workers, for example, may not perform well in the fast paced and high stakes environment of the ER, while others may struggle in hospice settings. This question ensures that the candidates who you move forward will be comfortable in your open position.
What Is Your Salary Requirement?
Here, you can allow the candidate to type or select their own response. However, if you want to streamline the process further (and improve your reputation as a transparent employer), you can post your salary range, and allow the candidates to decide whether it’s acceptable to them.
Salary transparency can help attract candidates and build trust. Posting salary ranges in your job descriptions is a great way to incorporate wage transparency into your hiring process (and increase candidates!).
Read an employer’s guide to salary transparency
Better Hiring With Apploi
With Apploi, quickly set up easy apply and pre-screening questions on healthcare’s most popular job boards. You can use Apploi to improve applicant tracking, onboarding, employee management and more, all with software tailored to the healthcare industry.
Interested in learning more about how to recruit, hire, and onboard staff quicker than the competition? Contact us today for a free demo of our end-to-end solution.
