By: Maureen E. Harrop

The big day is fast approaching.  It’s time to make your final preparations.  The following tips and resources are intended to assist you in this effort.

Before the Interview 

• Prepare responses to potential interview questions and know the contents of your resume well.
• Arrive early.
• Turn off your cell phone before entering the building.
• Bring a favorite book or magazine to read while waiting.
• Dress appropriately.  Piercings and tattoos may be unappealing to some interviewers, but it is unlawful in most regions for employers to deny you a job because of these things.

Greeting the Interviewer

• Smile.
• Shake interviewer’s hand firmly – no limp or excessively strong handshakes!
• Greet with a statement like, “Good morning/afternoon,” not “Hey, what’s up?”

Conduct During Interview

• Maintain eye contact and don’t forget to smile when appropriate.
• Sit back in your chair.  Leaning over the interviewer’s desk is inappropriate.
• Answer questions honestly without being negative.  Listen, then respond.  No interrupting.
• The best rule of thumb is, “Be yourself.”

Illegal Interview Question Topics
Questions regarding age, race, ethnicity or color, gender or sex, country of national origin or birth place, religion, disability, marital or family status or pregnancy are illegal.

For more illegal interview questions, visit the following sites:
http://www.hrworld.com/features/30-interview-questions-111507/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8963-2003Apr11.html
http://humanresources.about.com/od/interviewing/a/interview_quest.htm

Interviewer Questions and Responses
Questions like, “Tell me about yourself,” and “Why do you want to work here?” and “What do you know about our company?” and “What are your 5/10 year goals?” are pretty standard, so it’s a good idea to prepare responses for them.  However, others may be a bit more difficult.  

What did you do during this one year gap in employment?  I was fired due to my allowing some personal problems to interfere with my work life.  I’ve resolved those problems and I’m ready to give 110% to my new job.  The time off allowed me to reevaluate my life, my personal and professional goals, and to take courses to upgrade my skills. It was a worthwhile experience.

What major challenges did you face in your last job, and how did you handle them?  My boss sexually harassed me, so I told him to stop and he did. 

What motivates you?  Creating quality work, being challenged, and co-worker teamwork.

Have you ever worked with a co-worker you didn’t like, and how did you handle it? Yes, I have.  I handled it by trying to get to know the person better and understand where she was coming from.  Once I did that, I was able to respect our differences, and although I still didn’t like her, I could work with her without getting upset.

Please describe your favorite and least favorite bosses, and explain why you liked or disliked each one.  My most recent boss was my least favorite, because he and I had different values and work ethics. Be prepared to give examples.  My first boss was my favorite.  He gave me a lot of responsibility and helped me when I made mistakes, rather than scolding me.

For more information on interview questions and answers, visit:
http://whitepapers.silicon.com/0,39024759,60171982p,00.htm

Telephone Interviews

• Prepare yourself as you would for a face-to-face interview and have your resume, a pen and writing tablet handy.
• Don’t chew gum, drink, smoke or eat during interview.  However, your mouth might get dry, so keep a glass of water nearby.
• Don’t interrupt.  Speak slowly.
• Keep answers brief.
• Be respectful.  Use the interviewer’s last name unless s/he tells you it’s alright to use her/his first name.
• Call-waiting can be distracting to the interviewer and to you.  Turn it off prior to taking the call.
• No background noise.  Turn off radio, TV, remove animals and children from the room, close the door.
• Use a landline phone.  Cell phones experience signal losses on a regular basis.
• At the end, thank the interviewer and send a thank you note.

Interviewee Questions Now it’s your turn to ask the questions.  Don’t assume you’ve “got” the job, no matter how well you feel the interview progressed.  That is a big mistake.

• Could you please describe a typical work week?
• Why did the incumbent leave this job?
• If I was hired, what would be my biggest challenges in this job?
• If I was hired, to whom would I be reporting?
• If I was hired, what would be the expectations for my performance?
• What is your timeline for making a hiring decision?

References
Plan ahead and compile a list of references and some letters of recommendations now, so you’re prepared if/when the employer requests them.   Expect to have them checked prior to receiving an offer.

Common Mistakes

• Asking questions like you’ve already been hired, i.e., When do I start?
• Being late without a really good excuse.
• Chewing gum, burping, or slurping.

Conduct After Interview

• If the interviewer asks you to call back, do so.  If the interviewer does not ask you to call back, don’t.  You have the option of asking the interviewer whether or not you should call to learn about the status of your application.
• Continue looking for a job.  Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Write a personal thank you note, not a thank you e-mail.  Handwritten notes are very powerful but have gone out of style.  Some experts believe a typed letter is the preferred method.  It’s your call. 

Future articles will include topics such as resume writing, salary negotiation, conducting interviews, etc.

Maureen Harrop is President of Claridis, Inc., a training and consulting company, specializing in the Latino/Hispanic workforce. Claridis has produced Telly Award-winning videos in Spanish, utilizing Latino actors. These films are unique because they are not dubbed or subtitled. They were designed for use by training and human resource professionals for their bilingual and Spanish-speaking employees. English versions are also available. Maureen has a Master’s Degree in Education and has been in the human resource/training field for 27 years. Customer service training is an additional area of expertise for Maureen.

For more information, visit her web site: www.claridis.com or e-mail her at maureen@claridis.com or call (888) 701-2879

Copyright © 2008, Claridis, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

In an article written by Kurt Badenhausen for Forbes Magazine here are ratings (more…)

Zone Sonography Technology™ Developer Cited Number One in Image Quality, Ergonomics and Throughput

Mountain View, Calif. – December 20, 2007 – ZONARE Medical Systems, a developer of premium ultrasound systems, today announced it has been ranked Best in KLAS as the top hand carried ultrasound (HCU) vendor in the KLAS Top20: Year-End Report published this week. Previously, the company was ranked number one in the inaugural HCU KLAS study. KLAS, a highly respected research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of information technology and medical imaging vendors in the healthcare field, continued several studies to incorporate additional customer data in order to determine Best in KLAS for 20 different categories for the year, including the HCU market.

“To be further honored as Best in KLAS for the HCU market, is extremely gratifying since this is based on our own customers’ satisfaction and feedback,” said Donald Southard, president and CEO for ZONARE. “ZONARE has been shipping the zone ultrasound system for just over ten quarters. This significant recognition helps reconfirm the rapidly expanding acceptance of our proprietary Zone Sonography™ technology and Convertible Ultrasound™ platform.”
The 2007 Top20: Year-End report was the result of KLAS’ effort to uncover answers to a number of questions regarding the impact of HCU on the facilities and patient care. With independently reported growth of more than 40 percent in 2006 alone, HCU is the fastest growing segment within the overall ultrasound market and one of the fastest in all diagnostic imaging. ZONARE was cited as number one in image quality, ergonomics and throughput by the KLAS HCU study.

Zone Sonography technology has enabled ZONARE Medical Systems to bring its unique, patented Convertible Ultrasound platform to the industry providing premium image quality and performance together with greater portability at an attractive price to value ratio compared to conventional ultrasound systems. Clinicians are able to convert the z.one system, at the touch of a button, from a full-featured, cart-based system into a premium compact ultrasound system, optimizing its versatility in a variety of clinical settings, without sacrificing image quality or performance.
Unlike most other HCU systems, the z.one system’s Zone Sonography software-based architecture allows its performance to continue to improve as greater processing power becomes available. System upgrades can be downloaded via the internet, allowing for fast, convenient advances in clinical capabilities, enabling clinicians to cost-effectively maintain a state of the art premium ultrasound system.
“We are committed to maximizing our customers’ investment by providing ongoing upgrades to optimize clinical data and workflow efficiencies,” said Mark Miller, vice president of sales and marketing for ZONARE. “The KLAS study provides an excellent measurement of our success in achieving this goal. We will monitor our progress through this ongoing study as we continue to improve our technology and services in support of our customers’ imaging needs.”

About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of information technology and medical imaging vendors in the healthcare field. KLAS has created a database of information on the performance of 300 vendors and 500 products, as judged by executives and clinicians from more than 4,500 healthcare facilities. The company gathers data through written evaluations and confidential interviews, and publishes results regularly. For more information on KLAS, visit www.healthcomputing.com. Copyright © 2007 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.

About ZONARE Medical Systems
ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc., is a privately-held company that designs, develops, and manufactures premium performance compact ultrasound solutions, which combine its proprietary technology with an innovative physical design. Zone Sonography technology, ZONARE’s unique patented approach to ultrasound imaging, is focused on bringing premium image quality and performance to clinical settings, leading to advanced diagnostic capabilities, portability, cost-effective operation, maintenance and upgrades, and attractive value to clinicians. For more information, please visit our web site at www.zonare.com.

Contact:
Laurie Hallwyler
ZONARE Medical Systems
lhallwyler@zonare.com
650-248-9081

Brava Medical serves clients across the country

A Tailored Approach to Providing Recruiting Services is Key to Success

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA (April 1, 2008) Brava Medical announces the
Formation of a new company that provides high-end recruiting services to both large and
Small clients in the Medical Device, Diagnostic Imaging, and Capital Equipment
Industries. Brava Medical’s approach to meeting clients needs will be to offer an array of
tailored services together with offering clients the option of featuring their company on
Brava Medical’s recently launched premier website designed to attract thousands
Of medical professionals. Brava Medical combines the managerial talents of industry
veterans Rosemary Penn and Betty Phillips who with an elite team of highly savvy Executive Recruiters located in strategic areas of the United States, will be in a position to work one-on-one with clients and candidates.

Brava Medical’s clients can expect an array of tailored services including:
• Value-Added offering to feature the client’s company on Brava Medical Website.
• The client’s message is Brava Medical’s message.
• Final candidates are screened and verified before forwarding to client
• Special and continual follow-up through-out the recruiting process
• Focused personal approach to ensure the “perfect fit.”
• One-on-one customized meetings at national shows with clients.

Betty Phillips with over 30 years experience in the industry describes the Brava Medical charter as follows, “I’ve been a field sales manager, a national accounts manager and business owner and I know how difficult it is to find those “pearls,” those people who can come in and make your team better. Brava Medical understands that companies don’t have the time or resources for exhaustive searches for good people while at the same time they inherently understand the necessity of keeping the bar raised by only adding the highest quality individual to their existing teams. Recruiting can no longer depend on simple net-working or broad-casting job availability, or promises of big money to motivate the highly qualified medical professionals that are required by manufacturers; novelties and gimmicks will not impress a product development manager, program analyst, sales professional or clinical support professional. Today’s medical environment calls for an even greater human sensitivity than ever before on the part of the individual recruiter. We must treat our prospects, not as numbers on a chart, but as individuals with valuable skills to contribute to the nation’s companies. Therefore, recruiting is and will continue to be a person-to-person process. The quality of the people recruited depends in the final analysis on the quality of the people who recruit them. Brava Medical is poised and prepared to bring the finest candidates in the country to these companies.”

Rosemary Penn, Managing Partner, with over 25 years experience and past national accounts manager with Sony Medical sees a similar trend with Brava Medical’s clients. “Each organization we talk to has a very unique personnel need in terms of hiring criteria, background checks, references, track record strength, and educational requirements. Therefore, it’s clear we can’t use a cookie-cutter approach to offering our services. It would never work to just forward resumes. Instead, we base our business around true, strategic partnerships that promotes free-flowing conversations between Brava Medical and client’s hiring managers that will ensure the finest candidates available for those open positions. This regular and on-going feedback allows us to respond quickly to new information that supports everyone’s strategic goals. Recruiting today relies as much on modern methods of salesmanship and personnel quality control as the companies depend on the latest advances in technology. To summarize, effective recruiters listen and heed client’s needs and keep them well informed about their progress in identifying and qualifying top candidates. In the end, we understand that many or our candidates will become employers searching to find members for their own staff.”

Ann Yost, Managing Partner, Operations adds “We want to provide our clients with not only excellent candidates, but to also share with them trends we observe throughout the country, such as salaries, perks, and any other data they need to help them build their teams. This regular and on-going feedback is important for both parties.”

Visit Brava Medical: www.BravaMedical.com