Posted by Stephen Leggitt
While we live in a digital age dominated by social media, there is still tremendous value in face-to-face networking. As a physician recruiter, what steps can you take to help your candidates as they navigate the ongoing and prevalent networking space that exists in the healthcare industry? Here are some strategies you can use when helping physician candidates network:
Educate candidates on the importance of networking
There are some physicians who believe once they receive their diploma and finish residency, their time of rubbing shoulders with their peers has come to an end. However, a successful recruiter, much like a successful physician, is aware that any chance to build meaningful relationships with others in the healthcare field should be taken and exploited as much as possible. Share stories with your candidate of other physicians who have received jobs through networking events or simply by reaching out to colleagues. Also, try to showcase the sheer amount of networking opportunities that will arise each day, month or year for the average physician.
Share the important details
With your physician recruit hitting the job market, they will initially be spending the majority of their time searching for open positions and making future plans for themselves and/or their family. Their schedule will leave little time to seek out networking opportunities, so as a recruiter, you can help your candidate by letting them know the plethora of places and times to network with others in their peer group. Whether it’s a medical conference, events held specifically for networking or relevant professional associations or seminars, by providing candidates with the specific dates and times of these events, you will increase the odds that they will consider attending.
Provide networking tips and strategies
While physicians have received endless training on how to have clear discussions with their patients, the odds are strong they have not received the same training regarding how to effectively communicate in a networking scenario. Offering tips and strategies on how to actively listen during conversation and ask relevant questions to a peer, in addition to approaching the networking arena in a genuine and authentic way, will help your recruit enter any networking event with the confidence to successfully expand their professional network.
Introduce peers and mentors
What if your physician candidate is not able to attend a networking event in person yet they still wish to expand their network and meet others in their community? Use your vast knowledge of professionals in the industry to pair them with a specific person that would be interested in meeting for a discussion, whether virtually or even over a phone call. If a peer is not available, is there a potential mentor they could meet with who would be willing to provide guidance, not just in terms of networking but also for overall career advice?
Set the foundation
Helping your candidate take those initial steps to become an active member of the networking community will not only help them in the short term, but it will set them on a positive pathway to lifelong networking that will last throughout their entire career. Once they begin their new job and start entering the world of conferences and seminars, it will be up to them to continue to build upon their networking journey. However, knowing that you as the recruiter have provided your former recruit with a foundation to build upon will be just one more example of your day-to-day success as healthcare recruiter.