See Why This Boutique NY Ophthalmology Practice Repeatedly Turns to PainLess Hire

The surest sign of a successful hiring experience is when the same company happily returns for help again and again.

That’s what a boutique New York ophthalmology practice has been doing for many years. They have turned to PainLess Hire each time a new position opens up ever since their first experience went so well.

Why Does This Practice Prefer PainLess Hire?

This clinic operates in an upscale part of New York. They do not cater to the masses. They do not take Medicare or insurance. It’s a high-value, high-grossing optometry experience.

The patients who come to this practice expect a higher bar of customer service. That’s part of what they’re paying for.

Thus, anyone working at this practice must be more than a time-clock puncher. They must have strong skills from both sides of the brain – the technical details and the friendly and professional service. It is not a ‘typical’ ophthalmology practice, and just having experience in that field isn’t enough.

They’re looking for the best people available. The kind who will put the practice’s interests first, care about their work, show up every day with a good attitude, and on top of all that, be skilled at their job.

PainLess Hire has proven repeatedly that they have the ability to deliver candidates who measure up to this high bar.

What Happened When They Used a Different Hiring Service?

“It was horrific,” says the practice administrator who also manages new hires.

Previously, this practice used a recruiting service that is supposed to specialize in their industry. Normally, you would expect that to be a good fit.

But that hiring firm displayed a total ignorance of the uniqueness of the New York market, especially for the boutique and high-end nature of their practice. They also did not understand the type of person they were looking for.

For instance, they gave little thought to the role of geography, and once recommended a new hire who lived 90 minutes away. No one wants to commute 90 minutes each way. Not even by train. When the practice administrator raised this objection, the recruiter insisted that this candidate “likes to read on the train.”

Maybe for the first week. Perhaps the first month. But not year after year. A long commute affects your demeanor when you finally arrive at your workplace. It drains you. You’re already ready for a break and you haven’t even started working yet. How will this affect your attention to detail? Your energy level? Your customer service skills?

That recruiting firm did not seem to understand these critical factors. Or, if they did, they didn’t value them nearly enough.

With that in mind, let’s look at two recent hires made by this practice from the high quality candidates sent to them by PainLess Hire.

Position 1: Optometrist

After a long period of stability (one indicator of a quality hire – they stick around), the practice lost a person from a hard-to-fill optometrist position. This person must be an optometrist, but they also must perform certain tasks other clinics often delegate to technicians, such as doing work ups for the physician.

The person who fills this position must be smart, efficient, and have a personality that endears them to patients, because each optometrist sees about half the patients that come in.

Why is this spot so hard to fill?

It is difficult because most doctors do not want to do ‘technicians work.’ So when the previous doctor left to become an owner of a new practice, this NY clinic turned to PainLess Hire.

It was a challenge because this job description was not the typical one an optometrist would look for. PainLess Hire first worked with them to get a clear understanding of this unique position. Then, they went to work, and the practice administrator went back to hers.

Don’t miss the significance of that.

In her words, she loves working with PainLess Hire “because you can sleep.” The value of “knowing you have someone who can do the job and do it well” is worth so much more than the job itself. You “don’t have to work extra hours to fix all the problems” caused by incompetence or a bad attitude.

Knowing someone can do the job means you can focus on yours, saving many hours and finish on time, not have any fires to put out, and go home happy.

How’s it going so far?

The new hire arrived April 15th, and the patients love her. She’s a team player who has the interests of the practice at heart, and she’s willing to pitch in wherever needed.

She cares about her work. She values her skills and demonstrates it in the quality of her work.

And the entire process, from reaching out to PainLess Hire to hiring the perfect person, took about three weeks. All she had to do was schedule and run a few interviews and call references.

PainLess Hire did everything else, sending her a list of top candidates to interview after executing their proprietary hiring process.

Position 2: Front Desk Receptionist

The second position was harder to fill, because receptionist skills tend to be more general in nature. But to work at the front desk for this practice requires an additional layer of skills.

You need to know or be able to quickly learn all the ophthalmic terminology and other industry-specific jargon, as well as the scheduling rules and protocols unique to this practice. In addition, the front desk job requires triaging and patient management skills. And of course, you need good computer skills.

Just two weeks after starting the hiring process, PainLess Hire sent a list of five qualified candidates, culled from an initial list of over 2000, that the practice administrator could interview.

There was one clear favorite. When she left the interview, they had a great feeling about her. She had a great attitude. She was good on the phone – a very important skill in her position. She was more responsive to communication than any other candidate – another critical soft skill.

However, there was one problem.

On the skills tests PainLess Hire uses to winnow down their candidate lists as part of their hiring process, this candidate didn’t score as high as the others.

So what should the practice do?

On one hand, you have someone with all the soft skills you’re looking for who scored a bit lower on the skills tests. On the other hand, you have other candidates who scored higher, but are not demonstrating the qualities that usually mean success in this position.

Who would you choose?

They chose the first one – smartly. She was a smart choice for one simple reason: Hard skills can be taught much faster and easier than soft skills. She already possessed the intangible qualities required to be a successful front desk receptionist at a high-end clinic. The other skills were there, and with training they will grow.

How did the new hire do?

Her very first day on the job was, according to the practice administrator, “the worst day in 8 years.” It was the kind of day where everything goes wrong (and not because of anything the receptionist did… just one of those days). But this new receptionist handled it with professionalism and grace.

And the next day, she showed up with the same positive attitude, ready to do it again. So now they know: If she can handle our worst day in 8 years on her first day, she can handle anything.

“We’re Very Happy”

The practice administrator at this clinic loathes the hiring process, for reasons you can all probably relate to. She hates interviewing. It takes so much time to place ads, read resumes, do interviews, and go through all that mess. And then when you meet candidates, you find out some of them are lying to you.

They embellish or outright make up stuff on their resumes. They give old references. They inflate their experience. It’s very hard to tell the difference between liars and candidates with authentic skillsets.

PainLess Hire removes all that stress and frustration.

All you have to do is clarify the job requirements, wait a couple weeks, and then act on the list of final interview candidates.

Stop wasting time on your prolonged and frustrating hiring process

Reach out to a hiring consultant, and get the best person for the job, without all the fuss.