I’d like to think that these books are well researched and sincere but let’s be real for minute and realize that most of these books have fancy covers and catchy titles but they say the same thing over and over again.

If you are an employer, you obviously want to know every possible thing there is to know to make an informed decision whether or not to hire the candidate sitting in front of you.   Success is key.

Of course you will have dozens of questions and follow up questions.  You will then possibly have another member of your staff interview this person.  It’s your duty to your organization and yourself to fire away at as many questions that you need to make the best possible decision.

But it all boils down to one question.  And that question comes after a request. 

The request should go something like this: “Please tell me your story- your personal and professional story that has led you to this moment.”

When you hear someone tell their story, you learn so much if you just sit back and listen.  Observe the decisions that they have made.

This of course is a “set up” to asking the #1 Winning Interview Question: “why?” 

Asking “why” throughout an interview not only gives you concrete answers but in so doing it can serve to clarify the intangibles that a candidate possesses such as integrity, grit, determination, loyalty. 

Asking “why” is the most effective question to uncover the decisions that we all make in our life journey and the thinking that went behind those decisions.  Were the reasons rational and legitimate?

Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and decipher if you would have made similar life decisions.  If not, then “why”?

Any questions or comments? I am Bernie Reifkind, CEO and founder of Premier Search, Inc.  I can be reached at 1(800) 801-1400 or email at ceo@psihealth.com

If you really want to know what is going on behind the scenes in the world of healthcare recruitment then you are in for a treat!  I have filled literally hundreds of positions and through the years I have encountered some amazing individuals.  I’d like to share this information with you!

In so doing, you will learn what it takes to be successful in the healthcare field and you will learn about hiring, firing, recruiting and of course retention.  In addition, as a healthcarerecruiter I am a guidance counselor to both employers and candidates.  I’ve heard about every war story one could hear and I will revealing a lot  of these- without of course mentioning any names.

Click here if you want to read about the 7.5 deady secrets to winning the war for talent. 

Click here for the 4 steps to eliminating employee downtime.

Sometimes this blog will help you sort things out in your own life! I will inject a bit if humor along the way.  Why not laugh at ourselves sometimes?

I encourage you to please contact me if you need advice on any employment topic.   

Any questions or comments? I am Bernie Reifkind, CEO and founder of Premier Search, Inc.  I can be reached at 1(800) 801-1400 or email at ceo@psihealth.com

Here is another frightening thought for operators in the senior housing market (such as long term care and assisted living) : good luck trying to find a great Director of Sales or Marketing.

Finding a stellar marketing professional is like trying to find the proverbial haystack needle.

One could argue that with unemployment rate so high there must be thousands of marketing professionals available right?  Maybe.  It’s not about quantity it’s about quality and a successful marketing professional is worth their weight in gold.

Employing the best marketing professional can mean the very survival of your business.

Because we are living in the age of the internet, email, texting, twitter, facebook, google:  quite frankly we are witnessing the erosion of human contact.  A great marketing professional understands the latest in technology but they know that “it’s all about who you know” and the willingness to meet someone face to face to develop trust is essential.

Calling someone on the phone trumps the digital world,  sorry about that to the the texting generation.  Great marketers are persistent professionals that understand that selling and marketing has always been about selling benefits- not features.  You can learn that in Marketing 101.

But wait, there’ s more.

“People do business with people they like.“  I have no idea who came up with that line but it always has been true and always will be true.

Can you really establish a true marketing relationship by email or texting?  Preliminarily yes as an introduction, but the digital world must be used in a clever way in order to create a face to face or telephone conversation.

Trust is the key to any relationship and all the great marketers know this.  So while there may be many unemployed marketing people, the best professionals understand that you have to stand out from the rest- while the rest are busy sending texts, emails, etc.

Great marketing people meet their clients and create relationships.  The shortage of great marketing and sales professionals trumps the nursing shortage in the senior housing markets and it’s only going to get worse.

What is your organization doing to address this issue?

Any questions or comments? I am Bernie Reifkind, CEO and founder of Premier Search, Inc. I can be reached at 1(800) 801-1400 or email at ceo@psihealth.com

As a healthcare executive recruiter with more than 20 years of experience, you might imagine the countless conversations that I have had with my clients- looking to fill job openings- and my candidates- looking for jobs!

After an interview I usually follow up with both the employer and the candidate to debrief and find out how the interview went.  My first question is usually to ask how long the interview went.  Obviously if the interview was less than 10 minutes long than chances are great that the interview was a disaster.

If however an interview lasts longer than an hour, that is a pretty good sign of some mutual interest.

There are so many questions that are asked by both candidate and employer during an interview as each party is learning about each other.  Some questions by employers are so completely lame that it is almost comical.

Here are the top 4 most annoying interview questions to a candidate:

1.  What are your weak points?- Like someone is really going to tell a complete stranger something incriminating about themselves.  Would someone really say  “I come to work late sometimes” or  “Sometimes I spend the entire day surfing the net” or “I am really lazy”? Of course not.

2.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?- If you want the job bad enough you’re going to almost certainly lie and say something politically correct such as  “If it’s with your company, then where you feel my abilities will be of most benefit to the organization.”  Yeah, right.  Most people have no clue where they see themselves tomorrow!  It is such an annoying question.

3.  How would others describe you?- Well doesn’t that depend on who the “others” are in question?  If the “others” are your friends and family, they’ll say great things- they’ll would even lie for you.  If “others” are your co-workers, than each one would have a different description of you because each has had different experiences with you- and they too would lie for you.

4.  Why do you want to work here?- Wow, how original.  Another completely annoying question that does not provide for any useful information in getting to know someone at an interview.  Is anyone going to tell the truth and say “I’m unemployed and I’m broke- I couldn’t care less who I work for” or “I want to work here because I’ve been turned down by every one of your competitors”?

If you want some great responses to these difficult questions, feel free to contact me!

I am Bernie Reifkind, CEO and founder of Premier Search, Inc. I can be reached at

1(800) 801-1400 or email at ceo@psihealth.com

Recruiter, Headhunter, Counselor, Agent…….what ever you want to call us, the bottom line is that we are professionals that find outstanding people for our outstanding clients.  

Do I mind being called “headhunter”?  No of course not.  I think the name has some charm to it.  Most people feel very uncomfortable with calling me a headhunter because they think that the word has some type of derogatory tone.

Not at all.

In fact if you google the word “headhunter” you’re likely to get 3,370,000 results.  If you google the word “recruiter” you’re likely to get 17,900,000 results.

Clearly recruiter is a much more common term, but headhunter gets over 3 million search results.  So what is the conclusion to be drawn?

“A rose is a rose is a rose.”

When you need help in filling a critical job opening, contact a recruiter or a headhunter and please do not feel uncomfortable with the word headhunter!

Any questions or comments? I am Bernie Reifkind, CEO and founder of Premier Search, Inc.  I can be reached at 1(800) 801-1400 or email me at ceo@psihealth.com