A resume can tell you whether someone has experience with injectables, patient consultations, or the front desk.
It can’t tell you how they’ll respond when a patient shares a concern they didn’t expect.
That’s where curiosity matters.
Someone who wants to understand a patient’s questions, goals, and hesitation will ask questions and listen closely to the answers.
Matt Zimmerman, Regional Director of Sales for Synergy Midwest, has spent much of his 20-year career in dermatology and aesthetics. In a relationship-driven business, he pays attention to the people who want to know more.
Because the strongest relationships are built when staff ask thoughtful questions and care about the patients’ answers.
“You can’t really teach someone to be genuinely curious,” Matt says.
The Growth Playbook
How to Spot Curiosity When Hiring
Product knowledge, programs, and processes can all be part of training a new employee.
During an interview, pay attention to how a candidate asks questions, listens, and talks about other people. Those moments can tell you a lot about both curiosity and empathy.
Here’s how you look for both during an interview:
1. Find out what they do when they don’t know
Ask the candidate to walk you through a situation where they didn’t have the answer right away.
Listen to what they did next. Did they ask questions? Try to understand the situation? Seek out more information?
“A genuine curiosity leads to asking the correct questions and getting in conversations that are really meaningful and can help the customer,” Matt says.
The question to ask: “Tell me about a time a customer or patient asked you something you couldn’t answer right away. How did you handle that? What did you do next?”
What to listen for: Clarifying what the person needed, turning to additional resources to find a reliable answer, following up with the person to make sure they have all the information they need.
2. Ask about a time they helped someone else succeed
Have them tell you about a customer, patient, or coworker they were particularly proud to help.
Pay attention to what they remember about the experience. You’re looking for signs that the other person’s outcome mattered to them.
“Great candidates have empathy to the point where they really genuinely want to help a business and a customer grow,” Matt says.
For someone working directly with your patients, that investment in another person’s outcome matters.
The question to ask: “Tell me about a time you were especially proud to help someone. What were they trying to accomplish, and how did you help? How did you know you’d helped?”
What to listen for: Explaining the other person’s goals and the outcome beyond just describing their own efforts in the situation.
3. See how they demonstrate curiosity in real time
Leave room for the candidate to ask questions, too.
Notice what they want to know about your practice, your patients, and the role. Are they trying to understand how your practice works? What matters to your patients? What success looks like in the role?
Those questions can give you a glimpse of how they’ll approach your patients, too.
Someone who asks good questions and genuinely cares about the outcome is more likely to build the kind of relationships that keep patients coming back.
The question to ask: “Tell me about a time a patient was interested in a treatment you offered but you had concerns. What did you ask to better understand them? What happened next?”
What to listen for: Making room for their concerns, giving themselves space to ask thoughtful questions before offering a recommendation.
“What should a new hire focus on first?”
Start by giving them time to listen and learn.
A new hire needs to understand how your practice works, get to know the team, and learn about the patients they’ll be working with. Encourage them to ask questions and build that understanding before expecting them to have everything figured out.
— Matt Zimmerman, Synergy Regional Director of Sales
Resources, Support, and Upcoming Events
Want help reviewing your injectable mix or retention numbers?
Your Synergy representative can review your most recent quarter and help identify where margin or growth opportunities may exist.
Technology is already changing how much routine work falls to your team, from booking and appointment reminders to product ordering and information gathering.
Matt sees an opportunity for relationships to carry even more weight as that continues.
“It’s my hope that relationships will become more important as technology and AI help us with some of the more busy work in our industry.”
The next time you interview someone, notice the questions they ask and what they seem genuinely curious about.
You may learn something a resume could never tell you.
Until next time, thanks for being here.
— The Synergy Aesthetics Team