As physicians retire, demands for NPs and other healthcare professionals are growing exponentially. Thus, it is imperative that hiring managers of various institutions are a step ahead of their competitors in attracting and keeping the best candidates.
1) Be appealing yet honest in your job description.
It is important to be accurate in your promotion of the benefits as well as the challenges of a position. You want to be prepared to sell your position and the benefits of working for your group, but a candidate’s misunderstanding about the degree of the responsibilities of a position could result in short-term employment. The ideal candidate will be committed to the role despite its difficulties because he/she is passionate about the work and has the ability to commit the necessary time and energy.
2) Simplify the application process as much as possible.
Some candidates may not even finish applying for a particular position if the application process is too confusing or time consuming. Design your application in a way that it will not require the candidates to fill out the same information multiple times. Using an online applicant tracking system that allows applicants to save their work is also a plus.
3) Use a Specialist Recruitment Agency
Using a specialist recruitment agency can be a tremendous help in finding the ideal candidate. They can help speed up and simplify the hiring process by finding qualified candidates for you and filtering out those who would not be a good fit. Most specialist recruitment firms will also pre-screen the candidates for you, which will insure that any fake qualifications are exposed and that the suitable candidates they recommend to you will stay with your group long term.
4) Don’t be afraid to ask difficult interview questions.
API Healthcare shares a few challenging interview questions that are specific to nurses:
– What do you do if a patient refuses care at the risk of his or her own safety?
– How do you create a great patient experience?
– How many patients do you feel comfortable providing care to at one time?
– What would you do if a physician questions the accuracy of your work?
5) Communicate regularly with the candidates throughout the process.
When you are narrowing your search for potential employees, you should be communicating with them about where they stand. It is good to interview more than one candidate at a time to give yourself options, but it can be easy to neglect communication while interviewing multiple candidates. If a candidate thinks that he/she is not being seriously considered, they may write off a potential employer. Intentionally communicating with the best candidates could move you to their #1 choice for employment.