Adding a new member to your MediSpa or medical aesthetics clinic team can be a stressful process, particularly if it’s your first time hiring an aesthetician or a past hire didn’t work out so well. Here, we outline some tips to help you better navigate the process and learn how to hire the right aesthetician for your clinic.
Step 1: Generate a Job Posting
The perfect job posting, created with intention and focusing in on the right details, can make all the difference to attracting the right applicants. Create a list of the top five attributes your ideal aesthetician may hold, whether that’s experience within a certain niche or working with a particular type of clientele. Include notes regarding requirements on any degree, certificate, or license required for practicing in your country, state, and/or region. Request that the applicant include these details in their application or create a form they can fill out and submit alongside their cover letter and resume. Adding this to your website can be a great way to offer prospective hires the chance to browse your offerings and get to know you a little better too before applying.
Pay particular attention to how you describe your staff, work atmosphere, and your clinic’s core values. Noting core values, such as a commitment to mental and physical wellness, natural or eco-friendly products and services, or gender-inclusive services can help applicants get a better feel for those intangibles that contribute to your clinic’s overall success and the way that you connect with your ideal patients. Any benefits or support offered to staff regarding career development and continuous education can also help to attract a driven candidate who’s the perfect match for your clinic. A job posting is just as much a list of your ideal candidate’s attributes as it is a list of your clinic’s attributes that make it an ideal workplace for the applicant.
Step 2: Carefully Consider All Applications
Once you’ve posted your job, give prospective applicants sufficient time to reply with a polished resume and cover letter. Three weeks is a good average, but it’s better to plan ahead for hiring so you’re not rushed to make a decision that isn’t best for your clinic.
Once the job posting closes, it’s time to organize applications. For this step, keep a copy of your job posting available and highlight sections of an applicant’s cover letter, application form, or resume that meet your requirements or stand out to you. You may work with a points system here, awarding one point per highlighted note, or you may be a little more subjective depending on your clinic’s priorities. If personality is more important to you and your staff than experience, you may choose the latter to narrow down applications to your top five or so to interview. If possible, have all staff responsible for hiring review applications to minimize bias and if an applicant is rejected, make note of the reason on the top of the application. It’s always best to have a concrete reason, rather than an indescribable feeling. If anything on an application appears unclear but does not disqualify a candidate from consideration, make notes to request further information if that applicant is asked in for an interview.
Step 3: Conduct a Conversational Interview
While it might be tempting to launch into a lot of questions to properly vet each aesthetician applicant, one of the keys to a successful hire is to ensure they’re just as eager to learn about you. It’s important to respect that not all applicants will feel your clinic is a good fit for them, and that’s okay. The wrong fit will just lead to a repeat of this hiring process sooner than you might wish. Instead, focus on openness and honesty, and sell what sets your clinic apart as much as the applicant notes what sets them apart.
Take note of personality and know that while the applicant may be nervous, there are times when they’re treating a patient that may put them under some stress. For this reason, the interview process may be a good way to gauge how they might interact with a patient. Take note of whether they ask questions, lead conversations, listen well, and offer detailed answers. As well, pay particular attention to how well they’re able to articulate their points.
Now is also the time to note compensation and ask the applicant how they feel about what you’re prepared to offer alongside any benefits, career development support, or other perks, like staff lunches, outings, or treatment discounts. You can always further negotiate salary at a later date, but if you know that your clinic and the applicant are in completely different ranges, it can help to save you time in the job offer process.
Step 4 (optional): Conduct a Mock Working Interview
A mock working interview can be a good way to choose between two or three serious candidates. For these candidates, set up a second interview in which yourself or a staff member may play the role of the patient during a mock treatment appointment. The candidate can go through all the steps of your most common treatment, during which you or your staff can pose some of your patients’ most frequently asked questions to the candidate. Take note of patient rapport, including listening skills, details in explanations, the aesthetician’s ability to preempt a patient’s needs, and even their level of efficiency. You may also consider throwing in a common red flag to see if the aesthetician spots it and resets the patient’s expectations. From here, you should feel more confident in your final choice.
Step 5: Pitch Your Offer and Prepare to Negotiate
If you’re ready to make the offer, it’s best to call the candidate as well as email your offer to them. Be prepared to potentially negotiate pay rate, benefits, or even vacation time. Avoid placing undue pressure on the candidate to respond immediately and even go so far as to suggest that they take time to review your employment contract and details. While most candidates will respond within 24 hours, allow them up to 48 hours before checking in again. Alternatively, if the offer is made on the Friday, allow the candidate the weekend to respond. While they may be eager to hop on board, you want to ensure that they review the details and are being diligent on their behalf to avoid any early departures. As well, offering your ideal candidate sufficient time to consider employment terms, salary, and additional details shows your potential new aesthetician that you respect your staff, setting you on a positive first note.
By following these steps for hiring an aesthetician for your medical aesthetics clinic, you can ensure the ideal candidate not only meets the qualifications of the position, but that they’re a strong extension of your brand and your clinic’s core values.
Interested in finding a medical aesthetics device company that is as perfect of a match to your clinic’s core values as your new aesthetician? Discover the benefits of a Venus Concept partnership that could help you attract top talent to your medical aesthetics clinic. Contact an expert today.
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