Qualities Physician Recruiters Consider When Recruiting Healthcare Professionals

by Patricia O. Urquiaga | Apr 17, 2020 | physicianqualities, demandforphysicians, hiringmethods, physicianqualifications, Physicianrecruiter, physicianrecruiters, physicianrecruiting, physicianrecruitment, physicianshortage, recruiter, recruiting, recruitingmethods, recruitment
Qualities Physician Recruiters Consider When Recruiting Healthcare Professionals

In an era when 70 million baby boomers are readying to leave the workforce and, by 2025, millennials will make up 70% of the workforce, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) anticipates between approximately 41,000 and 105,000 too few doctors in the country by 2030. This creates a huge demand for physicians that requires physician recruiters to refine their methods of finding the right talent. With that in mind, the following are some of the qualities physician recruiters consider the most when evaluating candidates today.

1. Professionalism

One of the most important qualities physician recruiters consider in a candidate is a professional demeanor and record of demonstrably professional behavior. This can come across in both your resume and interview process. Your resume is your first opportunity to demonstrate your competency to a recruiter, which means you should make sure it represents you effectively. That starts with having no typos or grammatical errors, but it also extends to ensuring there are no unexplained employment gaps in your work history or too many jobs held over too short a period of time, especially in several different states. If your education seems suspect or fails to match your work history or stated specialty, those can also cause concerns. As for how you demonstrate professionalism in your interview process, that requires returning phone calls or emails promptly, arriving on time for appointments, dressing professionally and presenting yourself in a friendly, approachable and down-to-earth manner. Remember, the first impression you make on a recruiter should be the same that you intend to make on your patients.

2. Communications Skills

Recruiters understand that, as much as a physician’s medical knowledge and skill, his or her so-called “bedside manner” is equally instrumental to his or her success in a position. Many physicians have the clinical expertise but lack the ability to usher their patients through the examination, treatment and recovery process in a way that supports the patients’ optimum progress and continued health and wellness. Recruiters look for a physician who can be empathetic yet straightforward, who can engage with a patient and listen to and address his or her concerns without being dismissive or talking down to the individual. A physician must show he or she respects his or her patients as individual human beings by balancing this receptivity with an openness, honesty, directness and forthrightness about the facts of their case and the best path forward.

3. Flexibility

As the new-hire at any facility, you will be expected to be flexible and adaptable in your scheduling and availability. If a recruiter can detect from the outset that your availability will be too restrictive and inflexible, you are unlikely to get far in the recruitment process.

4. Red Flags

Your negatives are every bit as important to physician recruiters as your positives, if not more so. Recruiters are trained and conditioned to notice red flags in a candidate’s resume, training, background and personal presentation that would disqualify them from consideration for a position. Such red flags can include past or pending terminations, resignations, reprimands, investigations, legal actions or settlements or disciplinary actions.

5. Spousal (Familial) Support

One consideration many physician recruiters make that might surprise many candidates is the impact of a given position on the physician’s spouse and family at home. Recruiters want to know that the physicians they hire have the full support of their spouses and families to take on the position and are able to successfully handle the responsibilities of the job without conflict with their home lives. The job of a physician is extraordinarily demanding, and recruiters need to know that those demands will not cause strife in the household that could eventually interfere with a physician’s effective performance of his or her job. Many recruiters will even ask to include the spouse in the interview process before deciding to hire a physician, especially if the hiring will require a significant move.

6. Passion

All else being equal in terms of qualifications, a recruiter is more likely to choose a physician who shows passion for the job and the field of medicine than one who is strictly more clinical or, even blaze about the role. One way to demonstrate your passion for the job to a recruiter is to ask active, interested and engaged questions relevant to the position you’re seeking. This shows that you’re already thinking ahead to how you might fit into the role and, even, envisioning yourself in the position.

Want more blogs like this? Explore our free physician recruiter 101 online resource to view similar information, all in one place.

CONTACT US

One of our specialist will reach out to you.