Posted on 02/01/2006 5:25:17 PM PST by doctora
My first vanity post and hope it's not an imposition. I'd really appreciate the suggestions from fellow freepers and I suspect others may benefit from this discussion.
I'm a doctor about to hire an associate for my practice. A few years ago I realized I was politically conservative which explained why very often a common thread among people I didn't respect was their liberal politcs. Their values were totally opposite mine. I've had some bad employees in the past - turned out they were all liberals (not that being conservative on its own makes one a good employee, to be fair). So it occurs to me a likely predictor of a bad employee (for me) is a liberal.
I hired an associate doctor two months ago who interviewed great but turned south fast. I fired him one month later. He was whiny, complained, treated my staff poorly, brought his personal junk to the office, felt entitled to running the place as he saw fit, etc. You guessed it - turns out he's a liberal. I even caught him Bush-bashing with a patient which I put an end to fast.
I've decided a liberal would be a very poor fit in an associate and I won't make this mistake again. (Also, there's a strong faith component to my practice: we're here to serve God, our bodies are God's Temple designed with the power to heal).
Politics isn't something one can raise in an interview and I'm seeking some ideas on probing for liberal traits. My office is in Western MA so I'm already playing against the odds.
Before I hire the next associate, I'm going to take him/her out to dinner with my husband. Hopefully, during a 3 hour dinner outside the office more will be revealed.
Any ideas on interviewing strategies to avoid hiring a whiny liberal?
Some thoughts that crossed my mind, especially to bring up during the dinner:
1) If has school-aged kids, ask how they feel about their school system. What they like and dislike about it.
2) What kinds of volunteer work they've done.
Any and all ideas very much appreciated.
Believe it or not, political affiliation doesn't have the same protections that race and gender do. You can tell the guy, to his face, that you aren't hiring him because he's a lefty, and there's nothing he'll be able to do. He'll sue you, but he'll lose.
Hang a picture of Bush in your office prominently right behind your desk and watch their reaction. Who would hold a citizen in bad regard for honoring the Commander-in-Chief......smirk.
If my patients saw that I'd be out of business
Darn, you have gone and spoiled it by putting a reasonable answer up there.
Thanks. Yes, there was certainly many ways i can improve the interviewing process. I just have this strong gut feeling that a lefty is a bad fit and this would be valuable to know.
- What questions are off-limits on an employment application or when conducting a job interview?
"embarking on a lame-brained scheme"
Agreed. There are many thinking "liberals" that I respect. Often, they are the "off the reservation" types who question the standard liberal positions and condem hypocracy on the left as well as the right.
Look for integrity, honesty, consistency, and a deep committment to professionalism combined with an abiding desire to serve others. That will be hard enough, no need to make it harder by stereotyping based on party. Zell Miller is a Dem, but he's no whiner!
Check out what kind of car he/she is driving. Liberals usually do all kinds of entertaining things, like affix Greenpeace bumperstickers to their little Range Rover.
BINGO! This is the way to go. Probe their opinions on public health policy. That'll indicate leftiness and several other important factors.
Thanks a million.
I have Bush stickers on my car and various things in my office that are obviously of a conservative nature (a framed copy of Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, etc.) and you can usually tell if a person notices these what they think. I'm not sure how much you can legally delve into a person's politics in a job interview. One suggestion would be to contact the American Center for Law and Justice (Pat Robertson's group) and they might be able to tell you.
http://www.aclj.org/
Ask if they have any objections to performing abortions, or tell them you'd like to get to know them better and invite them to get their guns and go to the shooting range with you.
How they react to one or both of these should give you a good idea.
Hmmmmm. I'm starting to smell a rat. First of all, this isn't your first vanity.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310572/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1336631/posts
Secondly, I'm questioning your medical creditentials due to some very suspicious statements:
The #1 way to strengthen your immune system is by getting adjusted by a chiropractor.
Ritalin is cocaine... speed.
This is an interesting question. A lot of things are illegal to ask. I suspect kids would be one of them.
An apolitical doc is probably safest.
But let's try a few. You're in Massachussetts so Mass General is nearby and there's a lot of cachet associated with that, but the undergraduate school degree will tell you more than where he or she interned or did residency. State of board certification tells you how long in one place.
But regardless of all that, how about these:
1) We do the military medical supplement plans here, but in general we treat military personnel at a reduced rate. You need to be aware that this can reduce your income if there are months where we happen to get a lot of active duty or active reservists in. It won't ever be steep, but it could get up to 5%. Are you okay with that?
2) Our patients often schedule themselves in for holidays, when they can come in without missing a day of work and pay. We do not take those days off. There are 10 holidays, but with the exception of Christmas and Thanksgiving, we take the Monday after the official holiday as a holiday. Are you okay with that?
3) We treat our professionals as professionals. I mean this in the context of continuing medical education. When you need to take a week off for that, we need 3 months notice so we can cover your patient load and not inconvenience our patients. When you are gone for week for CME or for vacation, we require a cellphone be with you and turned on so consultations about patients are possible. You will not be bothered for any administrative silliness or for any other reason than a patient, but you WILL be bothered for patients. Are you okay with that?
4) We will not accept illegal drug use, past, present or future. If you have something on your record, speak up now and save us both time.
5) Are you a veteran? Were your parents veterans?
Perhaps that's a good start. Establish the person as properly focused on the customer. Liberals seldom are.
BTW, why not just check opensecrets.org to see if a job candidate donated to Democrats. It's valid data, provided you never mention it.
Absolutely.
That is so true-In a perfect world. But she is in Massachusetts, and has a hard row to hoe.
1) The state is full of the worst type of liberal. It is a NEST of them. The particular breed we grow around here has rabies from birth. They are intolerant and intolerable.
2) At least around here, the AMA does not allow MD's to think for themselves, it seems, and for some reason, it has been determined that they WILL be Left. The pressure may originate at colleges or medical schools, of which we have plenty. Possibly they get them when they are fatigued and sleep-deprived, during internship and residency, as that is a known brainwashing technique. The constant droning, the stilted self-assured arrogance, the readings from Bostonienskii Mir at meals...Who knows?
The unfortunate who wrote this plea has been inoculated from the Plague by her Christianity, so while being immune, sadly realizes that peaceful co-existance, while an admirable goal, is not possible when confined in an office for any length of time with such a vile and despicable personification of Pure Satanic Evil as a MA Liberal.
Perhaps, as one poster suggests, she should leave the State, but sadly, many of the neighboring ones are showing signs of this plague.
Me? I would send a friend or relative scooting out to check the car. If there is an NRA Life Member, or "W-04" sticker on it, likely it can work. If there is a fading Gore-Lieberman sticker on the bumper, it is a very bad sign.
If there is a "People for the American Way" sticker, 20 ml of 6N KCl IV.
I've been troubled by men who have never drank, it definitely raises my suspicions. On the positive side I've changed my mind about both aholes and angels, when I've seen them snockered and learned, that inside they weren't who they wanted the world to think they were.
You are correct. Before the 2000 election, two owners of an ice cream shop in MA fired an employee because they found out he was supporting George Bush. The employee filed a complaint, but the ruling was that there was no law against discrimination on the basis of political philosophy. Now, they might not rule in that way if a whiney liberal was the one claiming discrimination, but there is no federal protection for political discrimination either.
Good luck.
Exactly. Political beliefs are not a protected class, so feel free to tell him you'd never work with an ugly, limp-wristed Communist loving, terrorist protecting leftist, and he can't sue you. Well, I guess he could sue you for slander in the unlikely event he isn't at least one of the above, so maybe tone it down just a bit. :-)
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