As any physician practicing today will tell you, the physician recruitment market is competitive and determining the good from the bad can be overwhelming. Most physicians, especially residents, can be bombarded with dozens of calls and emails daily. Choosing the right physician recruiter can be the determining factor between landing your dream job and accepting the worst physician job of your career.
The key to finding a quality physician recruitment firm is asking the right questions. Much like interviewing a candidate for a new job, physicians need to take the time to engage their physician recruiters with important questions to determine their worthiness to represent them. Asking the following questions will give you an insight into the quality of a physician recruiter.
How long have you been in business?
It goes without saying that the physician recruitment market is competitive and while new firms are venturing into the game every year, experience is important when seeking a positive experience. A physician recruiter should have a fair amount of verifiable experience in the specialty you practice in to represent you in a worthy manner. Asking for references that will vouch for good ethics and practices is always recommended.
What affiliations are you associated with?
Ask the physician recruitment firm you are considering if they are a member of NAPR for permanent recruitment or NALTO for locum tenens recruitment. While these associations have little jurisdiction in overseeing the operations of the staffing agencies, it does not bode well for them to receive negative feedback. Both associations have a code of ethics that are mandatory for their physician recruiting members to uphold.
What is your success rate?
A good question to ask your physician recruiter is, How long have your physician placements remained on their contracts? If the physicians placed by the staffing agency do not remain with the clients they are contracted with, it is a good indication the recruitment firm is not making good matches. A good physician recruiter will spend time with you to find out your requirements and skills ensuring a valid match.
What are your firms policies on submitting CVs?
It is imperative to make sure that the physician recruitment firm you are working with will not send your physician CV to any client without your approval. Physician recruiters should only submit a CV after presenting the opportunity and you have agreed to move forward with the process.
How frequent will our contact be?
Make sure your physician recruiter has an understanding of what your needs and schedule are. You want to hear from them of course, but fielding unproductive calls on a daily basis can be annoying. A reputable physician recruitment firm will let you know they are working on your behalf and will not contact you unless they have valid physician jobs to present.
While you may have a list of additional questions to ask physician recruiters that directly correlate to your needs, it is important to gather as much information as possible about the physician recruitment firm and its practices. Having a bad experience can be detrimental to your future physician job opportunities.
