10 "Culture" Questions to Ask at a Job Interview

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Unlock the secrets to finding your ideal veterinary clinic job by asking smart "Culture-based" questions at your job interview.

Today Julie South guides you through smart questioning techniques that reveal a clinic’s true culture and values.

Wondering how to ensure your future workplace aligns with your professional ethos? This episode of Veterinary Voices promises to equip you with the right questions to ask during job interviews, helping you uncover crucial insights about workplace culture, employee satisfaction, professional development support, and feedback processes. By integrating these tactics with thorough online research, including checking reviews on vetclinicjobs.com, you'll be well-prepared to make informed career decisions.

Moreover, hear why verified reviews are vital in your job search and how they can transform your understanding of potential employers.

Listeners are encouraged - regardless of whether they're seeking a new job or currently employed - to contribute to their clinic's community by leaving positive, anonymous reviews that can aid fellow veterinary professionals.

Today, you can discover how to leverage these 10 "culture" questions and their insights to leverage your career growth, ensuring each step you take is towards a workplace that truly resonates with your values and aspirations. 

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Have you ever asked a question in a job interview
that absolutely, completelychanged your perception of that
clinic's culture?
In today's episode, we'rediving into the art of asking
the right questions to uncoverthe true essence, the true

(00:28):
values of a clinic's environment, the culture.
So stay tuned as we explore thetop questions that you can ask
to ensure the clinic's valuesalign with yours.
Welcome to Veterinary Voices.
This is episode 209 and I'myour show host, judy South.

(00:49):
With listeners tuning in fromover 1400 cities worldwide,
veterinary Voices celebrates allthat's great about working in
New Zealand's veterinaryindustry.
I'd love to hear where you'relistening from right now, so

(01:12):
please feel free to share yourlocation with me at
veterinaryvoicesnz.
It's also at veterinaryvoicesnzwhere you can find back copies
as well.
Veterinary Voices is brought toyou by VetStaff, New Zealand's
only recruitment agencyspecialising in helping
veterinary professionals findjobs that they're excited about
going to on Monday mornings inKiwi vet clinics.
That's vetstaffconz.

(01:33):
Let's face it in a jobinterview, both parties the
employer and the potentialemployee are both putting on
their best faces.
They're presenting their bestfoot.
I think it's fair to say thatboth want to impress the other,

(01:57):
and both sides will probably saysomething like especially at
the end of the job interviewthat they've got other
applicants to consider probablynext week, always afterwards or,
in the job applicants case,that you've got another
interview lined up with anotherclinic.
Sometimes people say thesethings even if and even when

(02:19):
they're not true, becauseneither side wants to appear
desperate.
So to a degree both will beplaying a little bit hard to get
.
But as a job applicant, whatkind of questions can you ask to
get a feel for the culture ofthe clinic?
Let's face it, at the end ofthe day it's attitude that

(02:40):
matters most, by the employerand the employee.
If you're the job applicant,you need to know the team that
you'll be working with isgoverned or ruled or adheres to
a set of values that aligns withyour own.
And if you're the hiringmanager, you need to know that

(03:04):
the values of the person thatyou're interviewing mesh with
your clinics.
They don't mess with them.
I've already recorded a coupleof episodes about toxicity, so
you can check out episode 60,and that's entitled 10 Warning
Signs and how to Recognize VetClinic Toxicity at the Job

(03:25):
Interview.
I'll put links to that in theshow notes at veterinaryvoicesnz
.
And also episode 35, 15questions to ask veterinary
professionals at job interviewsto determine whether they'll
mess or mesh with your clinic.
Again, both of those episodesthe links to both of those
episodes will be atveterinaryvoicesnz and both of

(03:48):
those episodes, just so you know, date back to when this show
was known as Paws Claws, wetNoses.
Now, today, what questions canyou, as the job seeker, ask at
the job interview to check outthe culture of a clinic?
Ask at the job interview tocheck out the culture of a
clinic and, at the same time, ifyou're listening to this and

(04:11):
you're an interviewing manager,be prepared to answer, if you're
the job applicant, before youeven get to the interview stage.
Hopefully you've checked outthe clinic yourself.
You've gone online and you'vedone a bit of research.
You've checked out the clinic'swebsite and their social media
pages.
Keep in mind, though, that theAbout Us and, if the Clinic has

(04:36):
a Careers page on their website,those are written to impress,
so keep an open mind about whatyou read there.
For a more impartial sense ofwhat it's like to work at a
clinic, what you're looking forare reviews, both employee and
the customer.
The Google reviews will giveyou an idea of what their

(04:58):
customers think about the clinic, the staff and the service If
you go to places like Glassdooror Indeed, they are employee
reviews, but none of thesereviews are verified.
So just because there might bea five-star review or there
might be a one-star review, itdoesn't mean it's for real.

(05:20):
It could be a vindictivecompetitor, could be anybody.
As an offset to that, pleasevisit vetclinicjobscom, one of
the sponsors of this podcast.
The reviews there are verifiedby real human beings and you
know that they are genuine andbona fide.

(05:40):
What's more, atvetclinicjobscom you can
actually search for employers bytheir reviews.
So that's vetclinicjobscom.
Okie, dokie, you've done youronline research and you've
decided that you'd like to bepart of this clinic's team.
Now what?
What questions can you ask?

(06:02):
Here are 10 that you can askduring a job interview to help
you find out more about theculture of a clinic.
First question of the personwho's interviewing you can you
describe the clinic's culture?
That's the question.
Can you describe the clinic'sculture?
What words would you use todescribe the clinic's culture?

(06:23):
It's a direct question.
It can help give you a broadoverview of how the people at
that clinic view the culture ofthe place that they work at.
Number two what do you mostenjoy about working here?
What would the lead vet or thehead nurse say about working

(06:45):
here, that's if you're beinginterviewed by the practice
manager or the HR manager.
So what would the lead vet orthe head nurse also say about
working here?
What that does is it gives youan insight into how your peers
value or perceive about workingat that clinic.
Question number three how doesthe clinic support professional

(07:07):
development and career growth?
Question number three how doesthe clinic support professional
development and career growth?
This is because a clinic thatinvests in its employees' growth
is likely to have a positiveculture.
Number four can you giveexamples of how the clinic looks
for and responds to employeefeedback?
This question can help youunderstand how open the clinic

(07:31):
is to change and improvement andwhether it's proactive with its
feedback or not.
Of course, nobody's going tosay that, yeah, we go out and
get feedback and then we keepall the answers in a bottom
drawer and don't do anythingwith them.
So just ask how they look forand then how they respond to

(07:52):
employee feedback.
Question number five how doesthe clinic promote work-life
balance?
They might say that they've gotit and they're all for it, but
how do they do it?
What does that look like whenyou understand the clinic's
approach to work-life balance,you know what you're looking for
and whether that aligns withyou.

(08:12):
You know they might say thatwe're a family-focused clinic.
Well, how?
What does that look like?
Now I just want to interruptthis chat for a very brief
moment to share somethingimportant for clinics that are
doing their own recruitment.
Vetclinicjobscom mentioned themalready.

(08:34):
You probably already know andagree that traditional
recruitment methods just aren'tcutting it anymore, which means
that a different approach torecruitment is necessary.
If you're an employer who wantsto work direct with job
applicants and you're a jobapplicant who wants to work
direct with the employer inother words, no recruitment

(08:57):
agencies involved then your jobadvertisement needs to be listed
on vetclinicjobscom.
Vetclinicjobscom showsemployers how to boost their
clinic's employer brand, whichis what we're talking about
today, which is just what jobseekers want to know about.
The employer brand iscompletely different to a client

(09:20):
brand and at just $99, newZealand dollars per vacancy
listing, it's totally affordable.
So visit vetclinicjobscom todayand give your job listings the
oomph that they need, and checkout different employee reviews

(09:41):
vetclinicjobscom.
Now let's get back to today'sshow.
We are up to question numbersix what are the clinic's values
and how are they lived out andimplemented in everyday work
life?
This question helps you seewhether the clinic's stated

(10:03):
values align with its action.
Also, is the person answeringthis question fumbling around
with what they think theclinic's values are?
Do they even know them?
Are the values actuallydetermined?
So what are the clinic's values?
Question number seven how doesthe clinic celebrate team

(10:26):
successes?
This gives you an idea abouthow achievements are recognized
and celebrated.
Obviously, what you're lookingfor to hear here is about
successes from different teams,not just the vets.
How is the admin and thesupport team recognized, or is
it just the veterinarians, theonly ones talked about?

(10:49):
Question number eight can youdescribe a typical team meeting?
This question can help revealabout how collaborative,
collegial and communicative theteam is.
Is it the sort of team meetingthat you'd like to attend?
Number nine what are some of thechallenges that the clinic is

(11:11):
currently facing and how arethey working through those?
In New Zealand, we're currentlyworking our way out of a
recession.
Some clinics have closed aroundthe country, some clinics are
short-staffed and some clinicsare overstaffed.
Understanding the challengescan give you an insight into the
clinic's current priorities andhow the teams various teams,

(11:35):
different teams and the clinichandle those difficulties?
And then, finally, questionnumber 10, how does the clinic
ensure diversity and inclusion?
Do all the different people thatyou're talking with meeting
with, seeing, if you're goingfor in-clinic interviews?
Do they look the same ordifferent?

(11:56):
Do they sound the same ordifferent Ethnically?
What about age and experience?
Wise, hopefully there's atleast a few men in the clinic.
This question and this insight,this viewing, can help you
understand the clinic'scommitments to creating an

(12:17):
inclusive environment whereeveryone's contribution is
important, including yours.
I hope you found thosequestions helpful.
Remember that if you're lookingfor a job, please check out

(12:38):
vetclinicjobscom.
If your clinic is looking forstaff and actually even if it's
not, if you enjoy working whereyou do, then one of the most
supportive things that you cando to help your clinic is give
it a five-star review atvetclinicjobscom.

(12:59):
As I said, every review is 100%anonymous and it is verified,
so it helps your peers andcolleagues who are looking for
jobs know the good places towork at.
Check out vetclinicjobscom.
This is Julie South, signingoff until next week, inviting

(13:20):
you to go out there and be themost fantabulous version of you
you can be.
Thank you for spending the lastquarter of an hour or so of
your life with me.
This is Julie South signing offKa kite anō.
Take care.