Medical Employment Service
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Working With a Physician Recruiter
When a recruiter calls, or when you call a recruiter, a process is set in
motion that can sometimes be overwhelming. You want to find the best situation
for your family and yourself. The recruiter wants to find the best possible
physician candidate for the client (which is usually a hospital, HMO or clinic.)
An outside recruiter or "search consultant" is paid
a fee by the facility to (1) locate, screen and select appropriate candidates,
(2) to present the facility to candidates and (3) to work with the candidate
and facility through the recruitment process, smoothing the way and facilitating.
If the search consultant has no appropriate facility for you at first, they
may work on your behalf to locate the specific kind of opportunity that fits
you needs. Our firm, like most, would never charge the physician a fee for
services in the recruitment process.
As a physician making a major change you may want to see several facilities before making a decision. On the other hand, if the first facility you see is terrific and you have about 85% of your needs met there, don't be afraid to listen to your intuition. Your consultant can help you screen facilities with answers to such questions as:
- Is this a group or solo practice? What is the call coverage? What does call mean?
- How many patients are seen each day?
- What types of procedures are performed in the office?
- What is the compensation? Salary? Guarantee? Fee for Service? Is there a production bonus? A signing bonus?
- What is the community like? Geography? What are the schools like?
- Is there a job for my spouse?
- Is there recreation in the area that we will enjoy?
How We Work
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| The recruiter's credibility and income rests on the ability to satisfy
the client's needs as well as pleasing physician candidates. This means that
you likely will not be the only candidate that is presented on a specific
opportunity. If you are interested in moving to a desirable location or even
if you are interested in exploring possibilities, here are some tips to help
you become a more attractive candidate to both the facility and to the recruiter.
Know something about the people you will be working
with in this process. View their literature, visit their web site and ask
them about the length of service with their firm and how long they have been
in physician recruiting.
Work with a firm that has both expertise in your specialty
and the professional staff that enables them to cover the market. Many firms
do not have the resources needed to effectively cover the marketplace. The
industry is saturated with "mom and pop" shops that are not capable
to handle even one specialty, much less other fields.
Return calls promptly. The consultant needs to have appropriate access to
you when facilities express an interest in you or if the recruiter wants
to present a facility to you. In finding a job, timing is everything.
Be polite. You need to sell yourself not only to the staff at the facility
but also to the recruiter. Recruiters are gatekeepers and if you don't make
a favorable impression with your recruiter they can't represent you appropriately
to the facility. If you really blow it, you won't get presented at all by
the best consultants. |
Work With Us
If your situation changes, notify the recruiter. Perhaps you have decided
not to move, or have obtained a new certification or you family situation
has changed. Perhaps after looking for a while, you've decided to broaden
you geographic preferences. Perhaps you've married and your new spouse needs
a job. It is important to let your recruiter know so that effort is not wasted
and that you are not presented to facilities that are inappropriate for you.
Don't call five or six recruiters and then send them
your CV. This can create a large amount of pointless phone calls and unwanted
confusion. It is better to work with one or, at most, two recruiters with
whom you have developed some trust. If you decided to work with more than
one recruiter let them know about each other. Seldom does a recruiting firm
have an exclusive arrangement with a client. Most contingency firms will
have some of the same positions that the other firms are representing.
Give us the good with the bad. If the job is not right,
let us know as soon as possible. Life goes on and so does the search.
Involve your spouse.
Manage the process. To do this, you need to keep track of where you CV is,
whom you have talked to and what facilities have been presented to you. Don't
give permission to publish you CV or send it out without your approval. This
will reduce the likelihood of several people presenting you to the same location,
creating embarrassment and making you look disorganized. The best way many
physicians have found to control the process is to keep a notebook with dates
and results of calls, e-mails and contacts.
For a free copy of our interviewing guide, "Effective
Presentations", call Diffenbaugh & Associates, Inc. at 800-538-1568,
email us or FAX
757-622-4259.