As a former D3 athlete, I remember throughout high school being taught by coaches, teachers, and others that you are always being recruited. As a high schooler, I did not think much of this because I wanted to be recruited, but one thing I didn't realize was that they meant as a whole, not just for athletic ability. The same goes for physician recruitment. You are not just interviewing for a position based on your medical prowess, but also on you outside of medicine.
Physician recruiters are focused on finding not only the best physician for the opportunity, but also the best physician for the hospital, organization, and team. From the moment that you have your first conversation with the organization, you are being recruited.
So, what are recruiters watching for?
- Your social media presence. Social media is such a huge part of daily life and is a common way to get a glimpse into a candidate. Why is this done? To see how you speak about others, your current employer or training program, past employers, or what type of posts you create. This can present red flags to the employer to decide that you are not the best choice to represent the organization or that if you have a complaint about a coworker or patient that you are going to post it on social media and become a liability.
- How you treat and interact with others. Physician recruiters pay attention to this because this can be indicative of how you will be with patients and other coworkers in the future. They do not want to invest the time and energy into recruiting a physician who is not a good fit for the whole team. Treat each person that you speak with on the phone correspond via email, or interact in person with as a decision maker. They will see how you interact with staff when you come into for interviews or make note of how you treated staff on the phone.
- What you are saying. Oftentimes during site visits the physician recruiter will set up a meal or event with other physicians in the department to make sure that you mesh. This may not seem like part of the interview, but it is. If you go to dinner and bad mouth the interview, staff, or organization it will get back to the recruiter. You also want to make sure that you are not bad-mouthing your current employer or training program during the interview. You might think this will help solidify your examples of why you are applying to this opportunity, but it is sending a huge red flag to the organization that you will do this to them in the future.
The biggest takeaway from this article for any physician is to remember that there is more to choosing the right candidate than your medical experience. Physician recruitment is more than just 1 phone call or interview, so organizations try to make sure that they are going after the right candidates for the position and the organization. Looking for more recruitment advice? Check out the PracticeMatch Career Resources.
Hayley Woszczynski - Physician & Program Relations Manager. You can stay connected with me on LinkedIn for all of the latest PracticeMatch articles and upcoming events.