The Truth About Recruiters

Recruiters are great people... Paid to Source Highly Experienced and Skilled Executives.

And recruiters primarily base their decisions about skill and experience on the jobs and the job titles you've held. 

The Fact: 

  • You're in Practice or between practices or no longer practicing. 
  • You're probably not currently in an executive job and your CV probably doesn't list any executive job titles.

I know your expectations.

I recruited physicians for my hospitals for 20 years.   

What are executive recruiters searching for?

  1. Experience... direct experience... experience reflected in your current and past job titles.
  2. Resume... a document that tells them what you've done,, why you did it and the value of what you've done.
  3. The right job for you... you need to tell them the job you're searching for.

Why executive recruiters (and HR executives) aren't looking for you... The Facts.

You may have already contacted a few recruiters or replied to posted job openings. But if you're reading this, it's because they haven't responded to your inquiry or they've told you you don't meet their qualifications.

Is this some frustrating Catch 22? No... it's just a different process from what you're accustomed. I recruited physicians to my hospitals for 20 years. I know the physician recruitment process:

  1. You send your CV to three or four medical recruiters.
  2. They contact me (the hospital's recruitment executive),
  3. I say yes based on our physicians' review of your CV, I likely call you and invite you for a site visit.
  4. I send you plane tickets, I set up the meetings, and if you "pass" I hand you a contract.

Start to finish, you can have a job in a week or less. I've been there - I've done it more than 100 times.

The simple fact is non-physician recruiters are looking for very specific qualifications determined by their clients and "practicing physician" isn't usually one of those criteria. Why? Most posted job searches are either for a replacement position or for a new position whose criteria has been carefully crafted by both operations and human resource staff. And 'experience' is always a part of their qualifications. Organizations want to hire executives who will hit the ground running and bring new ideas and methods with them. They are rarely interested in mentoring or teaching a new recruit how to perform a high-level job. 

Hunting for an executive, nonclinical job, is a very different process. It's about building relationships, and it takes time. You build relationships through networking. And by networking, I don't mean hanging out at social gatherings. Networking is about meeting important people, about learning what they do, what they need and looking for opportunities to help them.

If you're frustrated by trying to find recruiters to help you or by HR departments that don't return  your calls, CONTACT ME, and I'll work with you to work around them and help you get the career you want.

Actual Emails From Executive Recruiters:

Bob,

You know better.... who's going to pay me to find them someone with no experience?

Your friend,

"John" - Founding Partner, National Executive Recruiting Firm

________________________________________________

Bob,

Currently we don’t have any clients who would consider an MD straight out of private practice or academia. I wish I could help more. It would make my job a lot easier if physicians would work with someone like you to present themselves better for the job market.

"Shirley," General Partner with a National Executive Recruiting Firm