Personal Interview

The next interview should ideally be at the home where your elderly relative lives, so your candidate can become familiar with the environment. For the first interview, arrange a time when your relative won’t be present, so you will have uninterrupted time to talk.

The purpose of this meeting is to determine how well the caregiver meets your needs. Remember to have your list of an ideal candidate so you can form a decision based on your priorities.

A meeting like this can give a mass of clues and information that will allow you to reach a decision.

Check the following:

Did the candidate arrive on time?

If not, did they call ahead to notify you? This is important, as you will need to heavily depend on reliability in this job.

Did they come prepared with a resume or other documents you asked for? Again, this is important for reliability.

Your focus should be on two tracks: practical and emotional.

On the practical track, ask about skills, and make sure he or she has what it takes to get the job done. Give lots of room for your candidate to speak.

Here are a few ideas of questions you could ask:

How will you get to the home? Do you have access to reliable transport?

Do you know how to cook or just re-heat pre-prepared food? What can you cook?

Are you available to begin on the start date?

Are you legally able to work in this country? Did you bring the documentation to prove it?

This meeting is also the chance to ask questions about how the candidate will behave towards your relative:

Do you have experience looking after elderly people in a similar situation?

Tell me more about your most recent experience.

Why did you choose to work with the elderly?

What do you like most about being a caregiver?

What do you like the least?

In your previous jobs, how do you react when you don’t have the person’s cooperation?

What kind of daily routine did you have?

Are you organised?

In previous workplaces, did you clean up and wash dishes after a meal?

Did you run errands?

Did you administer medication? Under what circumstances?

Inside your mind, as your questions are being answered, focus on trust. Can you trust this person to offer the help you need? Can you rely on him or her to turn up on time to do the job properly? As a caregiver, does she or he have the compassion, warmth and gentleness that you need? Will he or she be passive or active as a helper? Look into the person’s eyes and let your intuition will tell you what you need to know.

After you have all the information you need, schedule a working interview where the caregiver can meet your relative with you present.