There is a common misconception among residents, fellows and doctors looking for jobs that physician recruiters are free. They’re not.
While it’s true that a recruiter will not charge an initial up-front fee to the doctor for the job search, there are many hidden costs that need to be considered before trusting a recruiter to find you a job.
Lower Salary - recruiters charge, on average, a recruiting fee of $25,000 to the hiring group or practice. That is money that can’t be spent on things like equipment and supplies. It is also money that must come out of the physician staffing budget, often money that would normally be paid to the newly hired doctor in the form of a higher salary, moving expenses, loan reimbursement or sign on bonuses.
Even if the new physician only earns $5,000 a year less than what they would have been able to negotiate without a recruiter, over the course of 2-3 years spent working in that physician job at a lower salary, that’s a loss of over $10,000.
Higher commuting and living expenses - recruiters notoriously place physicians in jobs that are in remote locations, miles from amenities and conveniences like night life and major airports. Often times a physician is forced to work miles from where they choose to live, resulting in lost time and money spent commuting each day.
Even if a physician only commutes 1 hour each way, on a weekly basis that’s more than 10 hours spent driving to and from work. That represents not only a potential loss of income, but quality of life. Do you have any colleagues who have to work miles and miles away from their spouse because a recruiter told them that there were no jobs close to home?
Not Working. The biggest financial cost of relying on a physician recruiter is the high likelihood of never finding a job. According to the American College of Physicians, at least 80% of physician jobs are found without the help of a recruiter. Physicians recruiters only have access to approximately 5% of the total physician job market!
How long can a doctor afford to go without working? Can a new doctor afford to wait 6 months to start earning a salary? What about 1-2 years? Relying on a recruiter for your physician job search can literally end up costing a new doctor hundreds of thousands of dollars in unearned income.
The savvy physician understands that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Everything in life has intrinsic costs, and whether it’s a direct cost to you or an indirect cost over a few years, it is important to see the big picture and make choices that will affect you positively for the whole of your career.
31 responses so far ↓
1 Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC // Jan 16, 2008 at 9:43 pm// View all comments by Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC//
Britt,
Seems to me you are not looking at the “Big” picture of what a recruiter does and does not do.
1. Lower Salary. True, we do get paid very well for what we do. But keep in mind the majority of the searches we do are on a contingency basis. If we do not find a physician interested in the position then we do not get paid anything. The $25,000 you quote covers the cost of not only the one successful search but also the one that the client decided to go with another candidate, the second one where the physician decided at the last moment not to accept, the third one where the physician decided not to show up because he found a better deal and did not tell his recruiter. This is the most difficult sales scenario I know of. not only do I have to sell my service to the client and again to the candidate but also on each of you on the other. At an point in the process the deal can go south for any reason. That is one of the reason I enjoy what I do…never two days the same.
If your implying that the physician would get a increase of $25,000 in salary because he did not go through a recruiter, you are sorely mistaken. I have found generally most positions follow the MGMA guidelines wether or not a recruiter is used or not. Many of my clients depend on my services WHEN they have needs, knowing that they do not have to pay a staff recruiter regardless if there are needs or not. They are saving tens of thousands of dollars of not only salaries but support costs as well.
2. Higher commuting and living expenses. I am not sure where your comments are coming from on this one. I do not force anyone to accept an assignment anywhere. Because of Equal Employment Opportunity laws, I am required to present every opportunity that the physician is qualified for. It is not my fault that they accepted a position that ends up being a hardship on the family. I go to great lengths to ensure the physician is definitely motivated to take the position. the worst thing for my reputation with my clients is to place physicians into positions that end up leaving in four to six months. It seems that your implying that a physician candidate is counting on the recruiter as their sole source of a good job. If that is the case, then that is the physician error, not the recruiter. Using a recruiter is only one tool in a physician’s arsenal to use in locating a position. the physician need sto use all the tools available to find that ideal position relying on noe of them solely.
3. Not Working. This one point where I do agree with you . We do not have a corner of the job market by any steach. If that is true they why would any physician rely solely on a recruiter then. Perhaps because they are so busy in their residiency that they do not have time to do the search themself.
There is nothing wrong about utilizing the services of a board certified physician recruiter as one of the tools a physician can use to find an excellent opportunity, again it is only ONE tool of many to achieve a successful search.
2 Britt // Jan 17, 2008 at 10:43 am// View all comments by Britt//
Bob,
Please don’t misunderstand - I don’t blame the flaw in the recruiting model on the recruiters. What you guys do is very difficult! And in some cases, a recruiter is a good fit. I’ve referred clients to recruiters before who have very limited preferences as far as location, job type, etc. - they just want something ‘if it comes up’.
I absolutely believe that a recruiter should get paid for what they do.
I just think it’s important for the physicians themselves to understand how the system works - and that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE is paying for that work to be done on their behalf.
In regards to the location of jobs - again, I did not mean to imply that you forced doctors to take jobs in remote locations. I tell my clients all the time that it is NOT the recruiters’ fault that the jobs aren’t located in major metro cities. You can only present them with opportunities you’ve been hired (on a contingency basis) to represent.
I completely understand that. It’s not your fault that 80-95% of employers don’t choose to hire recruiters. It’s not the fault of the recruiter that you don’t have access to unadvertised jobs.
It’s just something that again, doctors should be aware of.
You’re right - recruiters are ONE tool.
Sadly, so many physicians don’t realize that it is only ONE tool. And for the hundreds of physicians that you are NOT able to help, I think it’s important for them to know they have other resources available to them too.
I hope that clarifies things for you!
3 obgynthoughts // Jan 26, 2008 at 1:54 pm// View all comments by obgynthoughts//
Good post, Britt. The biggest cost of getting a job through a recruiter is one that is not readily visible. It is the fact that you will end up in a less desirable job, in a less desirable location, in a job that could not be filled through word of mouth, in a job where the employer had to pay to have it filled, in a job where there was nobody waiting for it to finally become available, in a job that others have looked at and rejected.
In general, you will end up in a second rate job. That is the real price you pay. There is no free lunch!
4 Alan Franklin // Mar 11, 2008 at 9:00 am// View all comments by Alan Franklin//
I found my job through a recruitment firm and didn’t have any costs (even during my interviews - flights, meals, etc.).
I had a hefty sign-on bonus and didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket other than my time.
My previous job was also through a recruiter and didn’t have any cause for alarm that I was being cheated.
The two firms I worked with were Cejka (http://www.cejka.com) and Delta Medical Group (http://www.deltamedcon.com).
5 Nimish // Mar 11, 2008 at 9:49 am// View all comments by Nimish//
Dr. Franklin,
Thank you for your input. We definitely don’t want to say that recruiters are cheating you - that’s not the situation. We’re also making it explicitly clear that there are no out-of-pocket expenses - you’re not paying a recruiter directly. All of the costs are indirect.
In our experience, if you compare two equal jobs in the exact same location, the one that is available without recruiters will pay more, almost every time, simply because there is no recruiter’s fee.
This means that while you’re not paying out of pocket for anything, you will be paying for it indirectly with a lower salary and a lower sign-on bonus.
Recruiters can be helpful, especially with desperate employers who live in remote locations. But by limiting yourself only to recruiters, you’re eliminating 90% of the jobs in your area, and that’s shortsighted.
6 Ken // Jul 18, 2008 at 4:24 pm// View all comments by Ken//
Recruiters are paid to find the best people, the top 5 percentile. People who are not looking. Positions that attempted to be filled without their help, but had to resort to a firm for help. You’re paying top dollar, and you’re getting top candidates. Otherwise, you’ve got the wrong firm….and hiring manager.
7 Bob Eskridge // Jul 18, 2008 at 4:32 pm// View all comments by Bob Eskridge//
Amen Ken!
8 Adam // Jul 18, 2008 at 4:34 pm// View all comments by Adam//
Ken, so you mean that recruiters are helping the desperate employers, right? And ignoring 95% of the other candidates while you do it?
That proves our point completely!
9 Ken // Jul 24, 2008 at 8:57 am// View all comments by Ken//
Adam, its called survival of the fittest. If you can’t get a job, or fit the requirements of a recruiter’s search, go back to school or get a job at McDonalds….
10 Adam // Jul 24, 2008 at 9:11 am// View all comments by Adam//
So you must consider the services of The Doctor Job to be useful - we help the 95% of the physicians that you don’t help, and we help them find jobs with the employers who don’t hire you.
I’m sure your group turns physicians down all of the time, right? They probably reject almost every physician candidate who contacts them!
11 Bryan // Sep 3, 2008 at 1:41 pm// View all comments by Bryan//
I am a Physician recruiter in South Florida.
I found the articles here about recruiters very interesting.
We actually have excellent Physician openigs all over the U.S. and in major cities.
Our problem is we are having a very hard time finding Physicians. There is no charge for us to get a Physician a position and all travel etc is paid by client. We make no money unless we get the Physician the position they want with compensation wanting and location and benefits.
But like any industry there are good recruiters and bad ones, good docs and bad ones.
I have actually gotten Physicians more money than they were asking and got them more perks than they could have dreamed of if they would have applied directly.
Keep in mind, Hospitals are a business and will try and pay low if they can even to Physicians.
12 Adam // Sep 3, 2008 at 1:50 pm// View all comments by Adam//
Bryan, thank you for the comment. We definitely don’t think that all recruiters are bad or that recruiters don’t have their uses, but the fact remains that there are plenty of physicians that recruiters can’t help, especially those who have very specific geographic preferences in an area where a recruiter doesn’t have a position.
And while I’m sure that you have gotten your candidates excellent salaries, if a client has 15-20 groups in one city fighting over him or her, they’re going to walk away with the highest salary in the city just by supply and demand. That’s a benefit to someone using the services of The Doctor Job.
Thanks again for visiting our site!
13 Joachim Kriegel // Sep 30, 2008 at 10:46 am// View all comments by Joachim Kriegel//
I think there is a misconception that recruiter fees are avoidable and only represent costs. We live in a society that specializes in many areas. To find a physician and to match it with the right job is no easy task, it is time consuming, costly, because you have advertising, manpower, and other business associated costs. A recruiter has many opportunities for various jobs at a time, he can offer the physician in demand offer different choices and he will in the end save the employer or hospital costs and they can concentrate on the core business of providing medical services.
A good recruiter will have a view for the physician, his desires and career aspects and for the employer and match both.
I have twenty years recruitment experience and I can say, that we have got they physician an better job and compensation that if they would have negotiated on their own.
For a physician to start looking at thousands of jobs on the internet could be a full-time job. I think a recruiter will be more than helpful and resourceful in particular for domestic and international jobs.
14 Adam // Sep 30, 2008 at 11:01 am// View all comments by Adam//
Joachim,
Thanks for the input. Recruiter fees are completely avoidable. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of practices that hire every year without using a recruiter.
A physician who is looking for a job intelligently needs to realize that many of these groups will offer higher salaries because they don’t have to pay your fees.
Looking at thousands of jobs on the internet is also a waste of time. The best effort a physician can make for his or her job search is to identify their priorities. Is geography the most important? Then identify the groups in the area and make contact. The physician will find a job without ever talking to or needing a recruiter. That’s the beauty of our approach.
15 Joachim Kriegel // Sep 30, 2008 at 6:50 pm// View all comments by Joachim Kriegel//
Adam
You are totally wrong, if a practice has the time to waste in searching and screening than they are in the wrong job. There prime effort should be patient care and productive work that does not entail HR work or Recruitment. Fees are never avoidable, there may be a few physicians who get the job they desire on their own, but my 20 years experience shows different for the majority of jobs. The difference is the person and the job. Professional recruitment will bring these together and the end you have a happy practice and a grateful physician.
16 Adam // Oct 2, 2008 at 6:50 am// View all comments by Adam//
If you’ve been doing this for 20 years, then you already know that there are areas of the country where you have fewer jobs than others. Do you think that those areas just don’t hire physicians?
Of course not. Some of the most popular markets in the country - areas like NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc., are difficult for a recruiter to access, but there are thousands of groups within those areas who hire physicians every day. And a physician who uses your group and wants to work in NYC is going to walk away very unsatisfied.
17 Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC // Oct 2, 2008 at 8:59 am// View all comments by Bob Eskridge, CPC, CTS, PRC//
Adam,
Interesting comment. I must be doing something wrong then. I have placed four physicians so far in New York City and the surrounding metro area. Two with one client and one each with two other clients. Two were private practices and one with a hospital system of over 100 beds. When I asked why they want to use our services the main reason I get is speed. The return on investment of my fee is quickly recovered for them once they have a physician in place realizing revenue for them. Although one of the private practices was due to a retiring physician who did not what to deal with all the sourcing of candidates.
18 Adam // Oct 2, 2008 at 9:04 am// View all comments by Adam//
Bob, that’s great! I’m glad you were able to help physicians find jobs in locations where they really wanted to live. Do you think that there are more than four jobs in the entire NYC Metro Area, though?
Just to give you some perspective - in a six-month period, we will help over 100 physicians find jobs in the NYC Metro Area.
Once again, I don’t want to discount the benefit that recruiters have - they provide a benefit in some situations. But the commenter before you apparently thinks that the only jobs out there are the ones he has. And I think you definitely know the truth about that.
19 Kevin // Dec 20, 2008 at 6:52 pm// View all comments by Kevin//
As the spouse of a physician currently seeking a job, I see more value in the recruiter model than I do in the Doctor Job model. My wife is extremely busy and doesn’t have the time to manage her job search. Unfortunately that left the burden on my shoulders. My first call was to a physician recruiter because it was my hope that they would know more about the market that we were looking into and that they would be willing to help us learn the process…not to mention the time savings. Now one month into the process I had seen both the good and bad of physician recruitment. I’ve had to fire one recruiter for sending my wife’s CV to a practice that we did not authorize while we were already working with another recruiter on the deal. On the good side though, they know their clients (at least the good ones) and when the job advertised is not exactly what my wife is looking for, they negotiate with the practice to see if they can alter the position or know of any other opportunities that might fit with our needs. It’s a slow process at times, but we have several high quality interviews lined up for the end of January.
The Doctor Job model is the model that has a huge cost…directly to our checkbook. We don’t have a lot of time, so obviously the gold package is most appealing. At a cost of $3/contact and a minimum of 1000 contacts, that adds up to quite a pretty penny that isn’t necessarily available to us since my wife is still in residency. At this point, the indirect cost of using a recruiter is much financial feasible than the “do it yourself” approach that requires a large direct cost and time.
The way I see it, I could look up the name and address of every practice in my market and mass mail them all my wife’s CV for far less than you’re charging and possibly find hidden jobs. Even if I chose to do that (which would be a huge time commitment) I still don’t think I would find something as good as what we have lined up.
Not that both models don’t or won’t work, but in my opinion, the physician recruiter is a better deal if you find a good one. That’s the challenge.
20 Adam // Dec 20, 2008 at 8:00 pm// View all comments by Adam//
Kevin,
Thank you for the input. You are missing two very large variables, though.
The first variable is that there is a large percentage of employers who will never work with recruiters, whether they’re good or bad. They only hire by doing their own thing, whether it’s just word-of-mouth, networking, placing the occasional ad - whatever. So you are missing out on those opportunities.
The second variable is that our approach typically allows our clients to find EVERY job in an area, so you don’t have to guess whether or not you’ve found something as good. Additionally, if you have 20 or 30 groups in one location who are making offers, you are typically in a position to negotiate a salary that will be $15,000-$20,000 higher than any salary in the market. That’s why the investment of $3-4,000 of our service is even more worthwhile.
Recruiters have their use, but in many situations the jobs that are found may feel superior but are in fact not the best jobs in the market. That’s the whole reason that The Doctor Job exists - we were started by a physician to help other physicians. We’ve worked with thousands of doctors nationwide and are able to help almost 100% of them find jobs that they never would have found otherwise.
However, good luck to your wife, and hopefully her interviews end up in a great position. If they don’t, however, please contact me personally at 1-800-591-4842, ext. 300, and I would be happy to talk frankly with you about job searching.
21 Kevin // Dec 20, 2008 at 8:36 pm// View all comments by Kevin//
I do appreciate your follow-up, but you are missing the biggest variable. We are not in a position to spend $3-4K at this point. I like the idea, but with my wife’s residency salary and me finishing up vet school and a one year old in the house, we live paycheck to paycheck.
What makes your service more valuable than just mass mailing the market ourselves? I’m sure I could do that for a couple of hundred dollars and get them same results. Yeah it is more time and effort on my part - but I don’t see the value. Your value is just getting the CV out. We could do that.
Sorry I am not trying to devalue your service, but I just don’t see it for the price you are requesting.
22 Adam // Dec 20, 2008 at 8:45 pm// View all comments by Adam//
Kevin,
That’s exactly why we offer packages that are structured for a couple in your financial situation. Our Bronze Package starts at $1750, for example.
To market directly to the same comprehensive physician market that we would, with the same level of quality that we have, you’d need to do the following:
1. Buy the data. Physician data is very valuable and this would cost you several hundred dollars, depending on the specialty, accuracy, and location.
and
2. Print your documents. The cost of paper and toner would be around $100-200.
You’d also need a professional resume and cover letter, which tends to be difficult for many clients, because they’re just not sure what makes a good resume and how to write a cover letter that doesn’t sound poorly written.
Is the total cost for all of this the same as the cost for our service? Of course not, but the added value we provide with the career counseling, resume writing, and 100% guarantee that you will find a job or receive a full refund makes it worthwhile for our clients.
Our service isn’t for everyone, of course. But for someone who comes to us and is able to take advantage of what we can do for them, the benefits they reap are outstanding.
23 Kevin // Dec 20, 2008 at 9:28 pm// View all comments by Kevin//
Well your $1750 package doesn’t include postage and requires a lot of time. I guess I still don’t see the value. Sure you could buy data, or you could just do your own research on the internet for free.
I realize there are different options for different people. I just think your service is overpriced…at least for us and thus I find the title of this blog a little ironic.
24 Adam // Dec 20, 2008 at 10:08 pm// View all comments by Adam//
Like I said, unfortunately, not all physicians are able to take advantage of our services. The ones who can, though, usually have a huge return on investment with the salary that they are able to find, which makes it not only reasonably priced for them, but a steal.
With recruiters’ fees ranging as high as $30,000, groups nationwide have to seriously consider whether they want to invest that much in hiring a physician, which is why the quality of jobs that are unadvertised is usually much higher.
It’s all about opportunity costs, but it sounds like your situation has worked out well for you, which is excellent. Finding a good job, no matter how you end up doing it, is always the perfect result.
25 Kevin // Dec 20, 2008 at 10:33 pm// View all comments by Kevin//
Adam,
You keep bringing up recruiter fees and implying that by using your service those fees should go directly into an increase in physician salary or other benefits. While theoretically this makes sense, but do you have any actual data to back up these claims? Do you also have any data to back up your suggestion that groups will not hire a recruiter based on their fees? Do physicians really get higher salaries by using your services over a recruiter?
It’s really easy to make all these marketing claims and while it sounds good, you do not have any published research to justify the claims. It’s a tough sell when you are playing in an industry that is taught the importance of using research to verify claims.
I’m not defending the use of recruiters versus your program - I would just like to see some peer-reviewed research to back up all these claims that are flying around.
26 Adam // Dec 21, 2008 at 1:47 am// View all comments by Adam//
Kevin,
Recruiter fees will not go directly into the physician’s salary. However, a group that no longer has to pay a $25,000 recruiter fee has more income to offer the physician. And when our clients have 20 or 30 groups contacting them, they have the negotiating power to demand a large portion of that extra revenue.
It’s not a tough sell - it’s simple statistics and logic. If we help a physician network with every group, hiring contact, and networking contact in a geographic area, they are going to find every single available position, advertised or unadvertised.
Before The Doctor Job was created, the owners commissioned a private study of over 1,000 private groups in the country and found that 90% of them would not use recruiters to fill a position. However, don’t use our data as an example. Just think about it intelligently.
First, read blogs like The Recruiter.com. They openly admit that many groups don’t use recruiters. Many recruiters will discuss openly the fact that they can really only work with about 5-10% of the physician population. So the recruiters are already admitting what you’re asking.
Secondly, does it make sense that there are more jobs advertised in rural areas than the suburban and urban areas? A recruiter will tell you that there are little to no jobs in places like NYC or Chicago or Los Angeles because they’re “saturated”. Does that make any sense to you? The largest, busiest markets in the country are saturated? With the amount of transition and the sheer number of population, the number of jobs recruiters have in those areas should outnumber rural areas 10 to 1 at least, but they don’t. It’s not hard to understand that there are literally thousands of groups that are hiring physicians without using a recruiter.
The logic of our service is unassailable. We have program directors around the country who recommend us to all of their residents. We even have recruiters who recommend us to physicians who they can’t place, due to location or other reason.
We don’t claim some magical solution. We very clearly explain what we do, how much it costs, and why it works. And it all boils down to logic, numbers, and using proven marketing methods in a job search forum.
27 Kevin // Dec 21, 2008 at 10:40 am// View all comments by Kevin//
Again, I’m not saying that your approach doesn’t work. All I am saying is that you use figures that don’t seemed to be backed up with any verifiable research. For example - in your last post you quoted that your clients will get 20-30 more offers than someone using a recruiter. Are you implying that in the weakest market with the weakest candidate that you are guaranteeing at least 20 offers by using your service? Because that is what you are saying. I would just like to see some research to back up these numbers. I doubt you can provide that because you are just throwing out marketing pitches - that’s why it is a tough sell.
So when you ask me to think about it intelligently, please give me some intelligent data.
28 Adam // Dec 21, 2008 at 12:24 pm// View all comments by Adam//
The weakest candidate would never be represented by a recruiter in the first place. Some recruiters would say “Yeah, let me see what I can find” and then the physician would never hear from them.
And if you’re in a market where you have one or two interviews from a recruiter, there are absolutely 20-30 more groups that are going to be interested in you who aren’t advertising positions.
Without repeating myself, our service consists of taking the concept of marketing and applying it to a job search.
Go research any basic MBA marketing class and you will find that for any advertising campaign, you only expect to get a response from interested consumers from 1/2% to as high as 4%. With many campaigns, it never exceeds 1%.
If we send out 1500 resumes for the weakest possible physician, and they get 1/3% interested response, that’s still 5 calls. If they get 1%, that’s 15. If they get 4%, that’s 60.
The data that you’re asking for is our record with our clients. We’ve worked with almost 5,000 clients over the last five years and that’s how we’re able to tell you that a response of 1%-4% is typical for any physician looking in any location.
Since we’re the ONLY company that provides this service, there’s no second source that you can rely on. Our average client gets at least 20 positive, interested responses from employers. The lowest anyone has gotten who found a job was 1 response and the highest anyone has gotten was over 100.
We don’t ask someone to take our word for it. We are a member of the Better Business Bureau with a spotless record, and if we were just “throwing out marketing pitches” without performing, we would have numerous complaints from unhappy consumers. This, combined with our full guarantee and our reputation among many program directors and physicians in the community, results in physicians being able to use our service confidently.
While I’d hope that this would help to clear up any confusion, there’s really nothing else I can offer you.
29 obgynthoughts // Jan 3, 2009 at 11:13 am// View all comments by obgynthoughts//
Kevin, you seem too willing to compromise your personal success in order to save a few dollars.
First, the cost of recruiters, as I have mentioned in a short post above, is that you get the “left-over” jobs. The best jobs as well as the good jobs fill very easily before any recruiter is needed and before any recruiter is ever contacted. This is my personal experience looking for a job in Boston and Miami. When recruiters continued to tell me “the areas are oversaturated” I kept on hearing from my fellow residents and colleagues that they got jobs in those “oversaturated” areas. Physicians know the attractive hospitals and practices in the area. They feel them out and if a job opens, they are right there and take it. Jobs at Harvard hospitals in Boston never, ever go through recruiters. have you heard recruiters calling you for jobs at Yale, Duke etc? HA!
The jobs at the highly successful, moneymaking practices in Boston, Manhattan and Miami never go through recruiters - and here I cannot tell you numbers, but I have heard it over and over again in the last 5 years that I have been following this. Other doctors nearby know about these jobs and call the offices and hospitals as soon as there is a rumor or hint. In addition, most of the large attractive cities have medical schools and residency programs and the employers stay in touch with the residency program directors and call them regularly to hire the promising candidates.
This is called “the hidden market” and this hidden market is huge, actually larger than the obvious market. Recruiters do not have access to this market and therefore, those of us who are uniformed enough to trust recruiters, which seems to include you, do not have access to these jobs. Young physicians sadly are often unaware of these facts and are blinded by recruiter marketing and actually believe that the recruiters have not only “many jobs” but also “good jobs”.
Recruiters overall have the left over jobs.
Second, to your cost problem. Yes, the Doctor Job costs a few thousand. That might seem a larger sum to you, but it will be dwarfed by the downsides of recruiter jobs.
There is a way of doing this yourself and i have been blogging about the method used by the Doctor Job very very extensively in my blog “A Physician on Job Search and Practice”. I describe all the details, down to the smallest comma, on how to do it yourself. there is a link to my blog from this website , by the way.
And, I have tried it myself and have succeeded. using my method and the Doctor Job method I got multiple offers in “oversaturated areas”, and I got the really good ones.
In defense of the DoctorJob I have to say that doing it yourself may be cheaper, but it also a bit of work. If you have the time, go ahead and do it yourself. If you are pressed for time, the DoctorJob is a great alternative, a great service, a great value.
And, I am in no way affiliated with the DoctorJob nor related nor in any other way associated with this company. nevertheless, having run against walls with recruiters to no end and then seeing what the Doctor job is doing and doing it succcessfully myself, i can only recommend their method and applaud their work. The DoctorJob is a phantastic service and method and deserves to be widely known. recruiters are essentially obsolete and the fact that they are still in business is based of the lack of information of candidates, the sad belief that saving a few thousand after residency is of any benefit at all and the fact that there are many, many employers who have suboptimal jobs and have to pay for recruiters to fill them.
30 Will // May 2, 2009 at 10:26 am// View all comments by Will//
As someone who spent years as a recruiter, although not in the medical field, and now publishes publications with corresponding job board for physician and medical professionals, I don’t think there’s one right answer here. One thing I am certain of, however, is the vilification and negative hyperbole about recruiters is completely unwarranted and offbase.
The Doctor Job’s business model is intrinsically opposed to the recruiter model, so I understand why TDJ would promote their model’s strengths against the weaknesses of the recruiter model. Others that have commented here, just seem to have a long standing beef with recruiters for some unknown reason.
If you look at this from a job seeker’s prospective, it’s easy to see that all methods can be useful at different times, under different circumstances and for different reasons.
First of all, it’s true that many hiring authorities are willing to pay big bucks to a recruiter to deliver pre-screened, cream of the crop candidates, because they don’t have the time or inclination to do the initial legwork. For candidates, a recruiter’s representation is often the key to getting their foot in the door. Another benefit to using a recruiter is that they can be representing you and your skills while keeping your identity confidential up until the interview — very handy if you’re trying to keep your search on the down-low and out of the view of your current employer.
On the other hand, sometimes hiring authorities just will not pay recruiting fees, so recruiter representation is useless in that case. It is also true that many jobs are filled via referral before they are ever publicized, which a recruiter may or may not be helpful for. The Doctor Job model is potentially effective in either of those cases. If you’re actively looking for a job in a specific geographical location and you don’t care who finds out you’re looking, then TDJ is a great model.
There are also job boards to peruse and respond to and/or post your CV on as well as doing your own direct mail/ call campaigns and just networking in your sphere of influence.
The bottom line is there are no absolute right answers and no magic bullets when it comes to this stuff. As a hiring authority you should use what ever tools you have time and budget to use in order to recruit the best possible candidate for your position and make a hire. As a physician, or any job seeker for that matter, you should use everything at your disposal to find the best position and negotiate the best salary you can.
Any and all methods touched on can be appropriate and effective, it’s all dependent on other circumstances and objectives and all this tit-for-tat about it is counterproductive to the overall objective that we all have - connecting caregivers and medical facilities. If we all remember that primary objective and work to achieve that, there’s money in it for all.
Will
31 Adam // May 3, 2009 at 4:19 pm// View all comments by Adam//
Will, thank you for the comment.
We definitely admit that recruiters have benefits in certain circumstances. The problem lies with recruiters who aren’t ethical or who try to shop candidates around blindly and unsolicited but make their candidates think that they have a position.
Any job seeker should just be informed to make sure that their job search works out for them, not for the recruiter.
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