Keys to successfully working with staffing agencies

Not sure if you can find a job on your own or if you should work with a physician recruiting firm? Jim Stone, president and co-owner of physician recruitment organization The Medicus Firm, may have the answer.

"There's no question with the proliferation of internet job boards that a physician theoretically could find the type of practice they're looking for," Stone says.

If you are open to working anywhere and have few restrictions, a recruiting firm can help narrow-down your options, he added.

"A good recruiting firm will help provide counsel and insight as to what we're seeing in the market," he says.

On the flipside, physicians who know where they want to work and what type of job they want may not need any outside help.

"A physician needs to ask themselves, 'Do they have the time and information to do all of this leg work, and do I have all of the market data?'" Stone says. "I think for sure if you know exactly where you want to go and the facility you want to work at, it would be easy to place a call and find out if there's a position available."

For hospitals or practices in rural locations or small in size that are looking to fill positions, they could face a challenge.

"Generally speaking, we know physicians' preferences are to live in a larger city as opposed to smaller, to make more money as opposed to less, and physicians tend to gravitate toward single specialty groups and hospital employment," Stone says. "If (an employer does) not fall into all of those categories, it will likely be harder to find candidates looking for those categories."
The solution for employers- look for physicians who maybe could be swayed into choosing to work for your hospital or practice, Stone says.