Who is a hospital manager? This is an individual who is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of a hospital.
Below are the top 20 questions and answers that will guide you in your interview. Also, there are sample answers to guide you on how you are supposed to answer the questions.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
When you are asked this question, you should talk about why you want to work for the interviewer’s company. Consider talking about nurturing your experience and advancing your skills as well.
Sample Answer
“After I learned that you were recruiting, I did not hesitate to apply for the post because I had all the qualifications listed and I needed a job. I want to use the skills and knowledge that I have gained from the university and past experiences to earn an income. In addition, I saw a great performance and nice patient care at your hospital, and I wouldn’t be shy to say that I would like to sharpen and gain more knowledge and skills from you as well. Providing my services to better the performance of your facility and at the same time earning and gaining knowledge and skills sounds perfect to me. I would like to be part of your team.”
2. What Are The Roles Of a Hospital Manager?
The interviewer wants to know whether you are aware of the duties and responsibilities that you are entitled to. Talk about the main duties and responsibilities of a hospital manager.
Sample Answer
“As a hospital manager, these are the duties and responsibilities that I am expected to perform;
a) Set a budget and departmental goals
b) Strategize to improve efficiency and quality of care.
c) Oversee finances such as patient fees, billing, and fundraising.
d) Ensure the facility’s compliance with laws and regulations.
d) Communicate effectively with departments and staff regularly.
e) Represent the organization to investors or governing boards.
f) Oversee work schedules, supplies, and budgetsEducate the community on important health topics
These are the top duties and responsibilities I would be delighted to perform in your hospital.”
3. What Are The Qualities That a Hospital Manager Need To Be Successful
Your interviewer expects you to tell them the qualities you have that you think can help you succeed working as a hospital manager.
Sample Answer
“Despite having the academic and experience qualifications, I believe that having the right personal qualities determines whether you are going to perform well in this role or not. As a hospital manager, I should have good communication skills. Secondly, customer service skills are essential since you want to make sure that all patients are attended to in a good manner and a professional one. Having problem-solving skills is also essential since you have to solve issues that may arise in the hospital. Lastly, a hospital manager should be able to work in a team since there are several departments they have to work with to succeed in this role.”
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You Manage?
The interviewer wants you to tell them the difficulties that you faced in your previous role. Talk about the main challenge and the ways you used to manage them.
Sample Answer
“Cultural barriers were one of the challenges I faced in my previous role. Since I could get patients from different countries, the language barrier would be a challenge. Some would talk to you in different languages that you cannot understand. I could get a challenge communicating with such patients when trying to gather some information from them. To curb this, I had to use technology where I could get applications that would translate a speech immediately.”
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As a Hospital Manager?
Your interviewer wants to know what your daily schedule looks like. Give them a very organized schedule starting from the first activity until the last activity of the day.
Sample Answer
“After arriving at the hospital, I would first check my email to see whether there is an urgent matter that needs to be attended to urgently. Then, I would hold a brief meeting with the staff members to motivate them and remind them about our mission and vision. After that, I would visit the procurement office to see whether we have all that is needed in the facility. I would then visit other departments to see how they are doing their work and end at the patients where I would ask them about the services they have got. I would then get back to my office and continue with the general duties like budgeting for the hospital and many other activities.”
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience
The interviewer wants to know where you have worked before, for how long you have worked, and the experience you have gained.
Sample Answer
“After completing my Bachelor’s degree in business management, I was employed as a hospital manager at a government hospital in the central business district. I worked there for four years, and I was able to gain a lot of experience. After four years, I was employed in another hospital where I met different types of people and I was able to learn from them. I worked for this hospital for three years as the hospital manager and my contract expired.”
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Is Required For This Role?
The interviewer asks this question to learn what attitude you have towards this role. Talk about what hospital managers should always focus on.
Sample Answer
“The success of a hospital depends on the managerial strategies and mindset. A hospital manager will be the main cause of any success or failure in the hospital. As a hospital manager, I should always focus on making sure that the patients are getting effective health care at all times. If the patients are satisfied, we expect the hospital to perform well. The feedback that I will get from patients will determine whether we need to improve on a certain sector or not. As a hospital manager, focusing on customer service feedback is very important. It will help me know what it is that I am doing best and what it is that I need to improve in the hospital.”
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge That You Foresee In This Job?
When you are asked about this question, you need to talk about the difficulties that you think might affect this sector in the future.
Sample Answer
“The main challenge that I foresee in this industry is unreadiness to combat new diseases that may occur in the future. A good example is what happened when Covid-19 struck. Hospitals were being overwhelmed and it was a very big challenge. All hospitals should be prepared to face these kinds of diseases and help patients have a quick recovery.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated In Your Work?
The interviewer wants to know what it is that gives you psych when it comes to your work. Consider talking about your achievements as your motivators.
Sample Answer
“As I have said earlier, my main focus while working is ensuring that patients are getting quality health care. When patients are satisfied with the types of foods and drinks that we serve, I always feel motivated to keep on growing in this career. Some patients will even offer some tips to waiters or me for a good job. This will make us feel that we are doing a great job towards customer satisfaction. That would be a great motivation to me.”
10. Describe A Time When You Failed In This Role And The Lessons You Learned.
Your interviewer wants you to tell them when you made a mistake in your role, and it did not go as you expected. Talk about the biggest mistake that you made and the lesson that you learned.
Sample Answer
“In my entry-level as a hospital manager, I did not know that customer engagement is very crucial in this role. I did not dwell so much on engaging the patients to collect their views and feedback. Most of the patients did not return when they came to our hospital. After having a detailed study and research, I learned that customer engagement would help you build a close relationship with patients. When I started engaging them, we started seeing an improvement. We need to engage our patients as hospital managers.”
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Most Suited For This Role?
Your interviewer wants to know why you think you are the only candidate you are looking for. Talk about the unique qualities and experiences that add an advantage to you.
Sample Answer
“Firstly, I think that I am the only candidate you are looking for because of the experience, knowledge, and skills that I have been equipped with within this sector. I have gained seven years’ experience while working as a hospital manager. This is the kind of experience needed for a big hospital like yours. I believe that you will consider it as an added advantage to me.”
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievement
When the interviewer asks you this question, they expect you to talk about the most significant goals that you have attained in your career. Talk about the awards, promotions, and goals that you have received.
Sample Answer
“Having worked for seven years in this role, you must expect some achievements, rewards, and promotions. In my last role, I was awarded as the best manager of the hospital. Since the government hospitals are many, the best manager would be recognized and awarded as the best manager of the overall hotels. This was a very great achievement in my career. I hope that I will get a chance in your institution to achieve more in my career by giving the best services to your esteemed patients.”
13. How Would You Advise Your Medical Staff To Avoid Medical Errors Which Are Very Common?
Since this role can have many mistakes and errors made, the interviewer wants you to tell them how these mistakes should be avoided.
Sample Answer
“As a hospital manager, it is very important to give your staff members tips on how they can do away with errors. Some of the tips are;
i) Ask if you have questions
ii) Make sure that someone is after your care
iii) Follow what doctors have prescribed for patients
iv) Ask the patient questions about their illness.”
14. What Are The Top Mistakes To Be Avoided By Medical Staff?
The interviewer wants to know whether you are aware of the mistakes that need to be avoided. Mention the common mistakes.
Sample Answer
“The main mistakes to avoid would be;
· Having surgery done on the wrong area of the body.
· Getting the wrong meal while in the hospital, such as a regular meal when you need a salt-free meal.
· Getting the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine.
· Getting a diagnosis or lab test that is not correct.
· Not knowing what doctor instructions mean and doing the wrong thing.
· Having a piece of medical equipment fail or not work the right way.
These would be nice strategies to put in place for success and help your employees maximize the productivity of the hospital.”
15. How Would You Deal With Unsatisfied Patient?
Your interviewer wants to know the level of your problem-solving skills. Explain how you would handle a patient who is not satisfied with the services.
Sample Answer
“I would first call the patient at my office and try to find out what the matter is. I then admit the challenge and take responsibility. I would apologize to them and look for a way to solve the issue with both parties winning if possible.”
16. How Would You Handle A Staff Who Doesn’t Value Good Customer Service?
The interviewer wants you to tell them how you would handle an employee who is not good at customer service.
Sample Answer
“I would first listen to the employee and try to understand where the problem is. I would then advise them and teach them the benefits of having good customer service. I would then follow up on the employee to see how they are doing and the improvements they have made.”
17. How Would You Collect Feedback From Patients?
The interviewer wants to know the methods you would use to know if the patients are satisfied or not.
Sample Answer
“Customer feedback is very important in this role and needs to be collected to better your performance and know where to improve. I would prefer using comment cards or suggestion boxes saying ‘How would you rate our services? Bad, bronze, silver, gold? The comment section, thank you.’ The customer would tick where appropriate, and the feedback would be recorded. This is a very convenient way of collecting customer feedback.”
18. How Would The People Close To You Describe Your Personality?
Your interviewer wants to know how your relationship with other people would be like. Talk about the nice things they would say about you.
Sample Answer
“I believe that the close people I have well interacted with would describe me as a creative, humble, and problem-solving person. That would differ from person to person, but it would be something close to that.”
19. How Do You Deal With Anger And Dissatisfaction In Your Job
The interviewer wants to know how you would react when you are not comfortable with something and how you would address it.
Sample Answer
“If it is something that has angered me too much, I would take a break, have a glass of cold water, breath in and out to cool down, and think about how I would solve that. That would be the best way to deal with extreme anger that cannot be dealt with in front of the patients.”
20. What Will You Offer To Us In Your First Month Of Working In Our Hospital?
Here, the interviewer wants to know what you will put in place in the first month. Talk about implementing your strategies
Sample Answer
“I would be testing my skills and learning how to respond to situations according to the services offered by the hospital.”
Conclusion
You need to answer the questions confidently and show them that your main focus is increasing productivity through customer satisfaction. All the best!
