Physical therapy is one of the hottest careers today, which means that physical therapy employers can expect an influx of resumés for open positions. How can you make sure that you are hiring the right person for your practice? The following tips can help you get started, whether you want to bring on a team of 10 or an occasional backup staff PT.

Don't expect to hire a replica of you. Each person you meet and interview will be a living, breathing human, with their own habits, mannerisms, and even ideas. This is fine—as long as their ideas and habits are not philosophically opposed to yours. My first hire, Robert, was pursuing his transitional doctorate in physical therapy, had just moved to the area, and was nearly 20 years younger than I was. He's detail-oriented and relies on schedules to get things done, whereas I'm a bit more of a "seat of my pants" type of operator. He's a perfect fit because he complements my way of working. Over time he's grown into managing portions of my business that I neglected such as maintaining scheduling and billing.

Know exactly what you expect from your new-hire. Before you advertise for help, sit down and write a job description. List your goals for the new-hire—do you want someone who can fill in on short notice when you need to take a day off, or do you want someone who can work a regular schedule? By spending time working through your thoughts on hired help, you are setting yourself up for a great working relationship. If you can clearly articulate the job to all applicants, they will have the opportunity to determine if this is a mutually agreeable fit. Be sure to concentrate on specific job-related descriptions and not subjective information.

Determine what type of manager you are. It's imperative that you are honest about your work style. After all, if you say you want an independent thinker, but really do a lot of "checking-in," you may end up with an unhappy helper. On the other hand, if you hire someone who needs lots of feedback, you need to be sure that you are cut out for the "people part" of the management process.

Set aside time. If you expect to hire someone by the 15th of next month, you may be setting yourself up for failure. Just as you can't expect to find a perfect replica of you, you can't always put a deadline on your hiring process. In other words, plan to advertise, interview, and train until you find the right person. An important tip: If you find the right person, hire them right away and then find work for them. Never pass up a great hire.

Determine your time-off policy. Just like you, your team members will need time off—whether to recover from the flu or just to recharge. How will you handle these absences?

Create a disciplinary and review process. Whether you need to tackle issues of poor performance or chronic absenteeism, have a policy in place before you bring on your first team member. Questions to address in this process include: How many emergency absences are acceptable in a given time period? How will you deal with customer complaints and concerns? How will you reward outstanding performance? What format will you use to communicate with your team?

Consider using a third-party company for conducting background checks. Do not overlook the importance of conducting a background check. You can search on the Web, ask your insurance provider, or talk to your local police authorities for recommendations on companies to conduct this check for you. In each instance, you will need the applicant's signature and understanding that you will have a third party conduct a background check as a condition of employment.

Create a job fact sheet for applicants. This sheet should cover your basic job description, expectations, and hiring process.

Create your training program. Whether a detailed manual or one-on-one training for a specified period of time, make sure you have a written outline. Your training program should include all aspects of the job you expect your new-hire to complete. Many misunderstandings and frustrations occur simply because a new-hire didn't understand the expectations of the job.

Ask about long-term goals. The question, "What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?" is a probing question designed to determine how long a potential employee might stay at your facility. While honesty is usually the best policy, there's no law that says the employee has to work in the same place forever. Interviewees will not let you know if their goal is to attend college at night so they can switch careers and become a lawyer in 5 years. They should state goals that are in line with their physical therapy career and that show they are a good candidate for long-term employment.

Seek specific examples of prior work successes. It is important to find out about a potential employee's current position and how they faced particular challenges, as well as an insight to their day-to-day work experiences. Interviewees should be ready with some specific examples of challenging cases and provide some examples of how they were able to get a particular task accomplished under unusual pressure or a short deadline. Listen up for examples of teamwork skills and how well they communicate ideas with coworkers and supervisors.

Hire the best candidate. Be careful to hire the best candidate for the job—not merely the most talented job-seeker. In other words, just because somebody has a more polished-looking resumé or is more articulate at the job interview doesn't mean that he or she is necessarily a better worker. Some people, for example, become very good at job hunting because they or their employers are never happy about their work.

Double check references. Be leery of putting too much weight on positive references. Virtually everyone has some positive references. Sometimes people even give positive references for people they have fired because they fear legal action, want to get them off unemployment because their company is indirectly paying for it, or just want to "help out" the job candidate.

Conduct second interviews. Conduct at least two interviews with a candidate before hiring him or her, especially if the position is very important. Candidates often relax and let their guard down somewhat during a second interview. This will give you a chance to "meet" the real person. It is entirely possible that you will get a different impression of a candidate during a second interview. Sometimes, a candidate will even respond differently to the same questions asked at the first interview!

Consider two interviewers. Just when I think I've been doing pretty well at hiring people, I make a big hiring mistake that, in retrospect, I should have realized in advance. It happens to everyone. Hiring is not a perfect process. It is highly subjective and based on a good deal of soft information. So, whenever possible, have at least one other person carefully interview the final candidates for a position. You may be surprised with a fresh perspective.

Set questions ahead of time. Although it will take a time investment, you should have a strong list of questions ready before you begin interviewing a candidate. When interviewing multiple candidates for the same position, ask the same questions of each prospect in exactly the same manner. This will allow you to fairly compare candidate responses.

By following these tips, you are well on your way to a happy and productive working relationship with all your new help.

Jennifer Steele, PT, is a manager at a multisite privately owned physical therapy company in Seattle. Steele manages more than 30 employees, from senior PTs to front desk staff. For more information, contact .