| Recruiting Physicians Today is an advertising service of the publishing division of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Distributed six times per year, the free newsletter features articles by physician recruiting firms and other independent groups involved in physician employment. The content that appears here should not be construed as coming from the New England Journal of Medicine, nor does it represent the views of the New England Journal of Medicine or the Massachusetts Medical Society. |
Recruiting Physicians Via the Internet
September - October 1999
NOTE: Calvin Bruce, the author of this article is Senior Staff Writer at J&C Nationwide, a physician recruitment firm based in Atlanta, specializing in permanent and temporary placement for physicians and allied health professionals.
The development and widespread growth of the Internet have dramatically impacted the health care industry, including physician recruitment. As a result, hospital-based recruiters are challenged to be creative in their usage of the Internet to post position openings and attract the most highly qualified prospective candidates.
“Physician recruitment will always be a ‘people business,’ built on establishing quality relationships,” mentions Susan Moore, vice president of J&C Nationwide, a physician recruitment firm based in Atlanta, specializing in permanent and temporary placement for physicians and allied health professionals.
“Our business was started, and continues to grow, through use of the telephone. The Internet is a natural and valuable extension of the telephone and has complemented our business tremendously. In particular, the Internet is helpful in connecting doctors with the right people who understand their career goals and are willing to develop those valuable relationships,” she adds.
Physician-related web sites make it convenient for prospective candidates to job-hunt confidentially. With armchair convenience, physicians can scan dozens of career opportunities in different practice settings throughout the country. After selecting the most appealing job listings, prospective candidates can e-mail their curriculum vitae to recruiters or human resource specialists, who stand ready to put the hiring process in motion.
Web sites that get results. It’s estimated that over 76 million Americans are online, and Internet usage is expected to double by the end of 2000 (Electronic Recruiting News, May 1999). The growth and competition of medical web sites is intense. Hospitals, large health care systems, and agency recruiters are all vying for the same pool of physicians who are eager to investigate attractive employment options.
Some physician-related Internet sites are more successful than others in terms of the number of “hits” they track, as well as the number and quality of prospective candidates generated and actual hires made. What is key to successful web design and maintenance?
Kelly Clark, J&C Nationwide’s marketing director and webmaster, advises, “The best web sites are organized in such a way that they practically lead visitors to the most useful or relevant information. A clear and simple design makes a site ‘user friendly,’ which any Internet-savvy user appreciates.”
Jay D’Lugin, M.D., Senior Project Manager with WebMD in Atlanta, offers similar advice: “A clean intuitive user interface is essential. If the users can’t figure out how to view job listings within a minute or two, you’ve lost them. The applicant must be able to specify search criteria for positions they’re interested in, such as medical specialty, geographic location of the practice, etc.” It is also critical to monitor the quality and quantity of jobs posted, as well as how often they are refreshed or rotated.
Practical tips. Compared to other communication media, the Internet offers users instant, personalized access to a virtually unlimited body of information. The most popular web sites are visually appealing, offer fresh content, and heighten user interest through various interactive features such as forums and professional “chat rooms.” How appealing is your organization’s web site in this regard? Here are some tips:
Enhance visual appeal. Only imagination and creativity limit designing an effective web site. Visual appeal can be enhanced through creative use of graphic art and color photos — such as including shots of the facility and key administrators. Similarly, including photos of recent physicians hired in different departments contributes to the overall recruitment endeavor. One caution: The Internet is relatively new to many physician subscribers. Thus, your web site should not be so visually alluring and complex that it detracts from easy navigation through the site or affects the time it takes to conduct searches.
Vary the content. One of the biggest turn-offs to Internet users is viewing the same content on a given web site all the time. When the same job listings or other information appears repeatedly, users quickly lose interest. What’s the solution?
“The trick to maintaining an effective web site is not merely attracting visitors initially, but getting those visitors to come back for more information,” Kelly Clark explains. “Therefore, updating a web site on a regular basis with fresh content and interesting features is the key to maximizing a web site’s value,” he adds.
Specifically, try rotating job openings that take a long time to fill. Similarly, think about how you can modify the content of other features on your site, such as public relations “boiler plate” information about the organization. Varied content will spark sustained interest among the target audience you aim to attract.
Interactive features. Web sites that invite user interaction have additional drawing power as a recruitment tool. Perhaps your site has not evolved to the stage of featuring professional forums and chat rooms. An alternative approach to heighten user interest is to include such things as: an e-mail question-and-answer feature, timely surveys of interest to physicians, and electronic submission of candidates’ curricula vitae. Getting viewers actively involved in the exchange of information is the first step in building a successful relationship.
Keep in mind, busy job-hunting doctors who interact with web sites appreciate prompt response to their questions and credentials submission. Providing speedy feedback communicates serious interest in working with them in their search effort.
Susan Moore discusses another reason why timely response is beneficial. “Usually there are emotional components to a person’s decision to make a major career move,” she observes. “Because of the sense of urgency involved in acting on such decisions, recruiters who have already established a good relationship are naturally the ones contacted for placement assistance. Our recruiters believe, in fact, that they are developing lifelong relationships in the work they do.”
Intranet recruitment. A parallel approach to successful physician recruitment involves smart usage of a company intranet. An intranet is a web site designed for an organization’s internal usage. Internal users can access a wide variety of current information related to any function of the company, including its recruitment program.
One way to use an intranet for recruitment purposes is to post job openings for which current employees may directly refer potential candidates. Perhaps a monetary bonus or other incentive can be provided for persons who refer physicians who are ultimately hired.
Valued-added service. Like other consumers, users of the Internet expect the highest quality of service from any company with which they choose to do business. Physicians who scan the Internet for outstanding job opportunities are no different. What attracts them to one web site over another is service that exceeds their expectations.
“A great looking web site is not enough; it’s the service that’s provided after the applicant applies online that’s crucial,” states Dr. D’Lugin. “Like the telephone, the World Wide Web is a tool, not a solution. If the recruiters who run the site don’t provide accurate information, aren’t readily available to answer questions and to mediate the application process, or don’t follow up with both the candidate and the practice after the candidate is placed, they’re not doing their job.”
How can you design your organization’s web site to be more service-oriented? Here are some suggestions:
- Provide a current list of CME courses offered in your area.
- Include a “Physician News” feature with the latest information on topics such as state licensing requirements, for instance.
- Provide information on residency and fellowship programs that your hospital or affiliated hospitals offer.
- Include photos and information about the community and/or benefits of working at the organization
As more physicians surf the Internet regularly, the pool of prospective candidates that hospital-based recruiters can potentially attract increases dramatically. By the same token, as hospital web sites become more sophisticated, physicians will become increasingly selective in determining which web sites to visit for timely employment and career-enhancement information. The web sites that are most appealing, informative, and offer value-added service will win in the competition for cyberspace recruitment.
Back to Top
