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Cindy Whittum: Guest Panelist at a Career Event

07/18/2011

Avoiding the ‘Miss America’ answer and other ways to hire for fit.

Cindy Whittum, Director of Career Services, will be a panelist at the July 26 career event, “Bridging the Gap: Train and Hire for Fit”. The breakfast educational and networking event is sponsored by Capital Health Care Employment Council.

The breakfast event will be held from 8 am to 10 am at the Henry Center for Executive Development. The event will provide information useful for healthcare educators, recruiters, human resource specialists and others. More information and registration for the event is at www.capitalhealthcare.org.

Whittum, a 20 year veteran of workforce training and career development, will join a discussion led by Christy Fox, Senior Field Representative with the American Hospital Association. The panel will explore how behavioral tests and interviews are being used to find the right people for the open jobs in the health care field. Better hiring for fit aims to improve performance in healthcare positions and is also intended to reduce turnover.

Skills and education are one piece of the puzzle in hiring, but not the only piece, according to Whittum. “I try to help people avoid the “Miss America” answer to interview questions so they can provide a true answer about their motivation for the work they want to do,” says Whittum.

“Most people will say they want a job in health care because they want to ‘help people’. But far fewer of these job candidates really understand what’s involved in day to day health care work. Having a strong motivation makes it more likely that a person will succeed. Maybe there has been a family member with a health crisis. Maybe the job candidate had a good – or a very poor – experience themselves. This kind of information helps the company hire someone who will be a good ‘fit’. When someone is well suited to a specific field, then education and training can fill specific knowledge gaps,” Whittum said.

Whittum holds a BS degree from Central Michigan University in Community Development/Public Administration and is a certified Global Career Development Facilitator. Before joining Career Quest, she was the Executive Director of Regional Health Care Skills Alliance and the Director of Nursing and Allied Health Recruitment for the Michigan Health Council.

 
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