How to Find Quality Candidates

Experiencing the recruitment blues? Finding quality candidates in today’s market can be particularly challenging, as hospital medicine programs grow increasingly competitive and the nationwide physician shortage becomes more severe.

Note: A shortage of 200,000 physicians across all specialties is predicted by 2020. Source: Cejka Search.

The successful recruitment of star hospitalists requires careful thought and execution through an organized search plan. However, a quarter of all organizations surveyed do not define what they are looking for in candidates before they begin searching.

First, engage senior leadership to help you define the core competencies (skills, motivations, and behaviors) of the position you are seeking to fill. Senior leadership can provide direction regarding the organization’s goals, which can then guide you in orchestrating a recruitment process. There are both short- and long-term organizational goals to consider, and they span multiple areas including:
▪ Clinical
▪ Operational
▪ Financial
▪ Cultural

Finding the right physician to match your organization’s expectations requires sensitivity to factors inherent in the position. For example, the greater the number of responsibilities of a position, the smaller the pool of candidates with the desired personal and professional qualifications will be.

Determining how a position fits your organization’s needs, critiquing the specifications and job descriptions, and ensuring that your team is properly trained to interview candidates can help your organization more successfully recruit top-quality hospitalists that fit well into your organization.