Hiring for Healthcare Jobs

Find quality healthcare workers to fill your health service jobs openings and negotiate to get the best
By Lori Widmer, Editor/Writer The current shortage of viable candidates in medical employment is just one hurdle you’re likely to face when attempting a healthcare job search. Too many job openings versus the number of qualified candidates vying for careers in healthcare make things difficult for potential employers. Medical employment is the second fastest growing wage and salary employment growth occupation. So finding quality employees is challenging, but not impossible.
 

To hire the best employees:
1. Find candidates through search firms, e-recruiting, networking, conferences and associations.
2. Prepare for a successful interview by studying various interviewing techniques.
3. Do your homework on potential employees – companies can pay over $100,000 in damages resulting from incidents involving healthcare workers with criminal records.

Hire staffing agencies and search firms to help fill your healthcare jobs

Look for candidates interested in health service jobs through staffing agencies that specialize in careers in healthcare. The advantage is that the agencies can pre-screen your candidates and provide you with a short list of the best applicants, saving you time and money in the process.
Try: Try healthcare job search firms such as HCRNetwork.com. Find directories for healthcare staffing agencies, nurse search firms and physician search firms at Business.com.

Advertise your healthcare jobs online

Web sites and Web-based recruitment management software focussed on careers in healthcare can help you identify potential candidates and process their applications more quickly. This can also shave dollars off your search.
Try: Post openings at sites that specialize in healthcare jobs, including HCJobsOnline.com, MedHunters.com, Medzilla.com or MedicalWorkers.com. Save even more money by posting healthcare jobs on your own company website. Invest in e-recruitment software to help automate your selection process.

Take your healthcare job search on the road

Many healthcare events offer networking and meet-and-greet opportunities for medical employment recruiters.
Try: Hospitalconnect.com offers a searchable list of healthcare conferences. Find sources for more healthcare events at Business.com. Check with various healthcare-related associations and organizations, which often provide information on professional meetings and conferences where you can connect with members. Also, check with local nursing schools—you can search for schools near you at AllNursingSchools.com—to see about participating in Career Fairs that the schools may sponsor.

Advertise your healthcare jobs in industry publications

Many healthcare organizations have professional publications where employers can place advertisements for medical employment opportunities.
Try: Find a list of print and online healthcare publications at Pohly.com.

Medical employment interviewing tips

Hiring those interested in careers in healthcare requires a bit more diligence on your part. For example, when interviewing the healthcare job candidate, ask questions regarding interaction with patients and staff and make sure to listen for responses that would indicate the following: empathy; good work ethic; ability to prioritize and act quickly; likes/dislikes that may fit or not fit in with the current position; work experience and time spent in jobs with similar functions; any indications that the candidate will or will not follow procedures for health service jobs.
Try: Find sample interview questions for a variety of careers in healthcare at Job-Interview.net. Review the top 10 questions to ask candidate for health service jobs at CharacterBasedLeadership.com.

Negotiate salaries for your healthcare jobs

Medical employment salaries are on the rise, and candidates have the edge given the ratio of jobs to candidates. However, you can still negotiate a fair and attractive salary.
Try: Check Business.com for a directory of healthcare salary tools that can give you an idea of what is fair within the industry, within your region and even within your particular medical facility. Also, check with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and their wages summary for national and regional salary figures on medical employment.

Perform background checks before filling your health service jobs

Most basic background checks look only at drug testing, credit reports and employment histories. For just a few dollars more, you can have the company screen potential employees for healthcare sanctions, criminal records, work history, credit history, outstanding warrants, and more red flags for careers in healthcare. That’s critical for a healthcare job search. Medical employees, especially physicians and nurses, need to have clean records in order to reflect the values of your healthcare facility.
Try: Screen Now Employment searches for healthcare sanctions in addition to basic background info for health service jobs. Other background check firms include Intelius and Background Information Services.

• Ask current employees for recommendations to fill your healthcare jobs.
• Always check references for candidates seeking healthcare jobs, especially references from former employers.
• If you’re having trouble filling your medical employment openings, consider promoting from within.