How to pass a care manager job interview.
Data is showing how people at living longer then they did 30 years ago.
As more people live longer, more care managers are needed, with some research stating that over 67 million people over the age of 60 will need caring support.
Each residential home, and there are over 15,000 residential care homes in the UK, require a care manager.
A care manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the care home: managing the care assistants, budgets, health and safety, recruitment, and the quality of service (to meet national care standards).
Type of Care Homes that interview care managers.
- Nursing homes for the elderly
- Supported housing for young people or adults
- Children’s homes, often run by social workers
- Hospice care homes run by NHS nurses
Each specialist care home will look to hire a care manager with relevant experience. During the job interview, questions will be asked about the specific needs to the residents IE a elderly care home manager, may be asked situational questions about end of life, whereas a children’s home care manager is likely to be asked interview questions around child exploitation.
But, all care manager roles have generic duties, requiring specific skills and knowledge. It is this crossover of duties that allow care managers to work in various care home positions.
The interview questions asked, for a care manager position, will be common across all types of care manager job roles.
Care Manager main duties.
Interview questions are created based upon the job duties of the advertised position.
Job interview questions will vary depending on each individual job role, but as there are common duties across all care manager positions, a number of commonly asked job interview questions can be predicted.
Being able to identity the job criteria, is the first of the three rules of a successful job interview outcome.
With a list of potential care manger job interview questions, applicants can spend time crafting a high-scoring interview answer.
To help, below is a list of commonly asked care manager interview questions and an outline of how to answer each question.
Commonly Asked Care Manager Job Interview Questions.
99% of care manager interviews come in the form of a structured job interview. Each interview answer must reference the job criteria to ensure a high-scoring outcome.
Managers are encouraged to read the Interview Questions for Managers post, as this outlines a selection of managerial interview questions and answers.
Talk me through your care manager experience?
The opening care manager interview question, is designed to get an in-depth look at the candidates suitability:
- Are they an experienced or new care manager?
- Is the experience relevant to the specific needs of the care home?
- Does the applicant have the skills and knowledge to overcome the problems the care home is currently facing?
- How would the applicant fit within the company culture of the care home?
In short, a care manager when answering the first interview question will need to communicate their competences confidently.
Answer the interview question by stating a specialism. A specialism could include:
- Duration in the industry or a sought after qualification
- A unique skill, as an example being able to prepare care homes to pass OFSTED inspections
- Won awards
Next, give specific care manager skills, knowledge and duties for business-as-usual task. Then, state any relevant qualifications before summarizing.
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“First, thank you for inviting me to interview for this position. I applied for this role as I very passionate about caring for (add specific group). I know that if I was employed I would be able to add value to the company because (add unique selling point). I am also highly experienced in (list business-as-usual tasks). I have a (add qualification) as well as (add any relevant care home related certificates). In short, I am highly experience care manager who is able to (repeat one of the unique selling points).”
How would you manage the care home finances?
Each care home, depending of the care home size, will have varying budgets.
Care managers need to have an organised approach the budget management as well as being able to manage budget risks and hiring managers need to be reassured that the candidate has an organised approach, with an eye for detail.
To answer the finance interview question, detail of how the care manager manages the budget short and long term needs to be stated.
Budget management tasks:
- Using finance spreadsheets
- Forecasting spend including salaries, utilities
- Reviewing spend vs income
- Completing financial risk assessments
- Managing cash-flow
- Raising purchase orders and Invoicing
- Recording daily transactions
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“I enjoy the financial aspect of the role. In all my previous roles, I have been responsible for the finances in the care home. The reason why I have a goof eye for finances, is because I have a good eye for detail, I’m very good at seeing errors. My organised approach also helps to ensure accuracy.
When given a budget I first project the care home spend which includes staff salaries, building cost (add anything specific to the type of care home you work in). I also create a risk budget for unexpected cost (you can add an example here). This allows me to breakdown the budget by month. During the financial year, I complete daily/weekly/monthly booking keeping tasks, including (add specifics) to stay on top of the finances and I complete regular quality checks to ensure accuracy before sending the ‘books’ to the finance team.
Give an example of creating a person-centered care home?
The Care Act 2014 set the terms for the development of social care for the foreseeable future. The act, for the first time, puts personalisation on a legal footing. For the recruitment process, this means hiring managers will be asking more person-centered questions.
In the interview answer the candidate needs to cover:
- What personalisation means to them
- How person-centered is about identifying the individuals – their personal history, needs and strengths. Also their hopes and ambitions
- Experienced of person-centered approach
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“My experience has shown how a regimented non person-centered care home isn’t as effective as a person-centered care home. In my previous care home, I created a person-centered environment putting the residents at the center of all decisions. In fact, we would actively involved them in the planning of the care home, an example of this was (add example). This resulted in (add outcome).
To create a person-centered care home you have to start by understanding the residents, their past, their strengths, their ambitions. You need to ask the residents what they need and respect who they are. One way I use person-centered planning is to (add person-centered planning technique)”
How would you maintain the required quality standards?
With numerous inspects and legislations, care homes need to remain at the adequate quality standards. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all care homes, and provides guidance to help support care homes to adhere by the regulations it enforces.
According to CareHome.uk, a care homes must:
- Provide person-centred care
- Treat residents with dignity and respect
- Acquire consent before giving any care or treatment
- Ensure they do not give unsafe care or treatment, and that staff have the qualifications and skills to keep residents safe
- Safeguard residents from any form of abuse or improper treatment
- Provide food and drink which keep residents in good health
- Keep premises and equipment clean, suitable and looked after
- Offer a complaints system, investigate incidents thoroughly and take action
- Have plans in place to ensure they can meet above standards and systems to check quality and safety of care
- Have enough suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff to meet standards
- Only employ staff who can provide care and treatment appropriate to their role
- Be open and transparent about care and treatment
- Display their CQC rating clearly and make their latest report available to you
Employers are looking for a care home manager who knows and can enforce the legislation into business-as-usual tasks.
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“Quality for me is my first priority. As a care manager I ensure that all staff know and adhere to the quality standards set by the CQC, which include (name 3). To embed quality standards into business-as-usual tasks I (talk about staff recruitment and training), In addition I (explain how you create and embed processes and procedures) and (explain your internal quality check process).”
What is your approach for recruiting care assistants?
Care homes need staff to run them.
Staffing is a real issue in the care industry. Blue leaf care stated that “There are numerous social and economic reasons why staff shortages in care homes are at an all-time high. However, most of the vacancies can be linked to three key causes: an ageing population, the stigma in the care industry and the uncertainty of Brexit.”
Employers know that a string recruitment process can improve staff retention.
In the interview answer, explain recruitment, staff training and staff retention.
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“Overall I have a good track record with staff recruitment and retention, which has a direct impact on expenditure and time. The reason why I have had so much success in recruitment and retention is due to (add interviewing, staff CPD, or creating a positive working environment).
To ensure I gain a high number of applicants, on the interview advert I explain (the duties, available training, expectations, salary). In the interview I use a structured job interview process as this, research shows, is the best tool for predicating applicants job performance.
Once employed a create a positive working environment by (add details) and ensure staff retention by (explaining management styles; CPD, setting up processes and procedures, door-open policy)”
How do you manage your time?
Each day brings its own challenges in a care home, as no one week is the same.
Employers are looking for managers who can manage time, priorities tasks, delegate duties and respond to unforeseen incidents, while not forgetting business-as-usual tasks.
In the above manager job interview questions link, there is a section on discussing the time management matrix model when answering the ‘time management’ interview question. Read this now.
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“As an experienced care manager, I know the importance of time management. Working with (add specific group) no two days are the same, and urgent tasks can present themselves daily.
To manage my own time I (add organized approach: diary management, to-do list, automated reminders, etc) When an unexpected emergency happens, I prioritize the most urgent and important tasks first. For lesser urgent tasks, I may delegate this to the care supervisors or even create an automated process such as (add example).
To ensure that all tasks have been completed I (explain end of day checks you complete)”
Give an example of working with residents families?
As discussed previously, care homes are moving to a more person-centered approach. Working with resident families is part of the person-centered approach.
One way to answer this question is to focus on person-centered approach theory.
Families are a vital part of a residents life. Being able to work with family members can improve the experience and life of a resident. This interview question, therefore, is best answered with a real-life example.
To answer the interview question use the following template:
“To improve the life of a resident I take a person-centered approach and work collaboratively with the resident, their families and friends, often creating a personalized plan for each resident.
An example of this was when I worked at X. There was a resident who needed (adds support needs). His family and friends included (add details). To create a person centered approach I (explain who you were able to agree a meeting) to discuss the residents needs and wants. In the meeting (explain how you chaired the meeting to get everyone involved, to hear opinions of the resident and to challenge assumptions). The outcome was (give learning points and outcome)”.
Do you have any questions for us?
- How many residents do you have in the care home?
- What is the priority of the care home over the next 12 months?
- What score did you get in the last inspection?
- Is the care part of a larger group?
- What would my first 3 months look like?
