5. Language Proficiency

In the following video we hear from Andrea Strachan, who is the director of a communication competency program at Touchstone Institute.

She is currently looking at ways to support Internationally Educated Health Professionals and the regulators who certify them to understand the issues around language and communication along the pathway to certification.

Sometimes we like it when a story has an unexpected twist, but when it comes to hiring someone we often prefer when there are no surprises, and when the candidate meets all our expectations. Drawing out the interviewee’s background, skills, and experience helps the interviewer understand the candidate and gives a more complete picture than just academic credentials can give. Think about what was said about an interviewer listening for the “gold nuggets” in an atypical narrative during an interview—we can easily miss things when we already have a script in our heads for how we think the interview should go, or how the story will sound.