*As seen online at McKnightâs Long Term Care News*
In the current corporate climate, searching for new talent can be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately unproductive if the right candidate cannot be found. Those with experience using post-acute and senior living healthcare recruiters have found that a collaboration of a professional recruiting firm with an organization's human resources department or in-house recruiting team can make the process faster, easier and more efficient.
Experienced healthcare recruiters become allies in the candidate-search process. First, they get to know your organization's values, strategic objectives and culture. Then they will help your team identify exactly which qualifications and skills are must-haves for potential candidates, and help you develop a structured decision-making process that will build consensus among stakeholders. Some will even create a comprehensive document comparing the attributes of the candidates being considered.
The above services alone are beneficial to any organization looking to save time, money and frustration, but the most valuable service a healthcare recruiter offers is that of doing the legwork to create a short-list of qualified candidates. Recruiters who specialize in the healthcare industry already have an extensive network of potential candidates and may already have a few in mind before the job is even advertised. Once the job is advertised, the recruiter does the work of evaluating applicants to identify only those with the right qualifications, skills and career goals.
Professional recruiters do extensive background and reference checks before presenting candidates for consideration and will only short-list candidates that have the right qualifications and fit into the organization's culture. Healthcare recruiters get to know the candidates just as well as they know the client and often prep candidates pre-interview to highlight the area of their skills and experience that are of most interest to the client.
Altogether this saves a significant amount of time and effort and lets you spend your time with valuable candidates that will help your organization grow.
Remember that recruiting is not a one-way street. Recruiters also want to place the candidate in their dream job, which means they will be invested and stick around, which is to everyone's benefit. Experienced recruiters will be able to identify well-qualified candidates who are just testing the professional waters and not actually looking for a new position, and some will offer replacement services if the candidate leaves.
A healthcare recruiter worth the value will be involved in every step of the hiring process. Once your decision is made, they will advocate for your organization to a candidate that's on the fence and can also act as the middle-man in contract and salary negotiations that could otherwise be uncomfortable and create unrest from day one.
A good relationship with a recruiter has long-term benefits as well. When another position opens up in the future, a recruiter who knows you well may have a network of candidates that would fit in with your organization. An ongoing relationship with a seasoned recruiter gives the recruiter the benefit of feedback from previous interviews that helps them more fully define what you're looking for in a candidate and allows the recruiter to give guidance to the right candidate to maximize the interview.
Professional recruiters see themselves as their clients' partners and work with them through every step of the searching and hiring process. They define exactly what the client is looking for by finding them the right candidates and staying on task through a successful hire and beyond. The client saves money and time, avoids frustration and gets the right person in the right job.
Jordan Farmer is the Director of Interim Services at LeaderStat, a national firm specializing in interim management, executive recruiting and consulting for healthcare organizations.