A lot goes into recruiting a new employee. You may have developed a job description and salary, posted the job, screened resumes and set up interviews. For working relationships to be successful, both the employer and employee have to find the right match. To help you determine the right match, we have compiled the following tips for what to look for in a new front office employee.

• Maturity and Reliability. Check personal and professional references. Does the candidate change jobs regularly? Does he/she have a reputation for being difficult to work with? Prescreening candidates over the phone is a good way to gauge an applicant’s sense of self. Can the applicant articulate himself or herself well and describe his or her career progression?
• Multiple tasking. Ask the potential candidate questions about how they handle stressful situations, changes in the schedule and daily interruptions. Ask the candidate to provide past examples.
• Communication and writing skills. When requesting resumes, ask potential candidates to include a cover letter and three reference contacts. Additionally, ask for a sentence or two about what makes him or her the best candidate or the ideal employee. This will help weed out candidates who do not follow directions and give you a sense of their ability to write and communicate clearly.
• Customer service attitude. Nothing kills a practice faster than having a lifeless greeting at the onset of a patient arrival. Choose candidates who exhibit warm, genuine characteristics during the interview process. While skills are important, they’re easily learned. Character comes from within.
• “No-fear” attitude when collecting co-payments from patients. With practices offering to extend credit to patients on the rise, it is important for front office staff to be comfortable with discussing and maintaining established practice financial protocols and communicating them to patients.

Take time to visualize, develop and prioritize key requirements for the candidates you seek. The hiring process can be tedious, but when done properly, it can result in finding the right candidate.