Mar 01, 2023
Does the healthcare provider shortage make it feel impossible to find enough candidates? It’s time to face reality—candidates have more options than ever when it comes to choosing an employer. For a lot of healthcare facilities, recruiting is starting to feel like an impossible task. If you search for advice, you’ll most likely hear that building a pipeline of candidates is the new key to success. But building a pipeline still requires a strategic approach. After all, qualified providers are difficult to get in touch with no matter what your strategy is. So how do you get started?
Start before you have an opening.
Employee turnover is an inevitable truth at healthcare facilities. But you can’t wait for a provider to quit to start speaking with new candidates. In the current climate, recruiters need to maintain a relationship with the candidate pool. Let’s compare recruiting to a service like a car mechanic.
When your car is running properly, you don’t pay much attention to repair shops. But once it’s time for a big repair, you find yourself researching countless mechanics in an effort to find the most reliable one. It usually feels overwhelming and uncertain, right? However, you may have seen advertisements previously for a mechanic with a promotion for discounted maintenance. Or you may have a friend who can share a referral.. Most people will choose these familiar businesses instead of guessing between random Google search results.
So how does this relate to building a pipeline? When a healthcare provider considers finding a new job, they’re inundated with job board listings and calls from recruiters. Wouldn’t you rather be the familiar employer they’ve already heard about? By continuously promoting your facility to candidates, you’ll stay top of mind when they make the decision to switch jobs. Then, when you have an opening, you won’t be making cold calls—you’ll be speaking with candidates who already have interest in your facility. Once you get in touch, screening candidates is a breeze with our pre-screening checklist!
Take advantage of networking.
You know those friends that you never hear from until they need a favor? That’s the tone many healthcare recruiters have set with providers. They enter a job search, and suddenly everyone wants an interview. If you want to build an effective pipeline, you need to network with candidates before they need a job. With resources like LinkedIn, you can connect with providers as an industry expert instead of simply a ‘recruiter.’ Part of your workday should include connecting with candidates online and regularly publishing valuable content. It’s as simple as sharing an article or posting a poll to your page. You need to create opportunities to interact that don’t involve selling a job opportunity. As mentioned above, this puts you top-of-mind when providers eventually decide to look for a new job.
Create pipeline job postings.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, 66% of physicians are somewhere between casually looking for a job and not actively looking, but exploring what’s available. This means over half of providers might use their spare time to poke around job listings just to see what’s out there. However, if you don’t have an opening on your job page, they won’t see what you have to offer.
To create a true pipeline of candidates, maintain a pipeline job posting on your website. This should include all of the information you include in active job postings, as well as verbiage pointing out that they are applying for future opportunities with your facility. Once you actually need to hire for an opening, you’ll have a list of interested candidates ready to call.
No matter when your hiring needs change, the time to start connecting with candidates is now. Need more recruiting tips? Check out our ultimate guide to healthcare recruiting.