In everyday life, attention-seeking behavior may be considered a bad habit, but in physician recruitment, attention-seeking behavior is good—nay, necessary! You have opportunities to share and positions to fill, and you need to attract candidate eyeballs if you want to spread the word. 

If your postings aren't getting the clicks or responses you seek, try implementing a few of these tips to attract more attention:

1. Check your job posting headline.

Will your headline stand out from 20 others in a list? Its purpose should not be just to summarize the opportunity but also to get candidates' attention. Make your headline unique by conveying what sets your opportunity apart. Read headlines for jobs in the same specialty or area to make sure yours doesn't sound just like all the rest.

2. Add media.

Have you heard of the writing technique "Show, don't tell"? The idea is that, to engage readers, you must use words to insert them into a scene, not just describe an environment. Show the specifics, don't just tell in generalities. Job postings allow you to do this to an even greater degree through multimedia. You can quite literally show candidates your facilities, team, town and more by including slideshows and videos. If you're not making use of these features, you're losing a major opportunity to grab candidates' attention.

3. Curate the post.

Have you ever loaded an article or page on the web only to close the tab when you realize how long it is? Most of the time, people load web pages looking for certain specific details, not an encyclopedic overview of a subject. The same goes for job postings. If your job description is too long, it may actually overwhelm candidates and prompt them to direct their attention elsewhere. So cover the basics and the highlights in your job description, as well as any frequently asked questions (like call schedule or salary), but don't include the minutiae. You want to present just enough information to get a candidate to reach out for more details.

4. Make it skimmable.

• Bullets are so easy to read.
• Bold text and italics really draw the eye.
• See what I am doing here.

Job-seeking physician candidates don't have a lot of time on their hands. Help them out by using bullets, bold text and italics to emphasize the most important parts of your job postings, thereby encouraging them to read it.

5. Add it to your email signature.

You can also attract more attention to your jobs by adding them to your email signature. Whether you're emailing candidates or colleagues, this serves as one more way to spread the word. A colleague or a friend might see your opportunity and know of a great candidate to forward it to.

6. Highlight or feature. 

If you've tried all of these tactics and still want more attention for your job post, consider highlighting or featuring your jobs on PracticeLink. Highlighting your jobs makes them appear in bright orange among other search results, and featuring them makes them appear at the top of search results. That added boost may be just what you need to catch the eye of a candidate or show them you're serious about finding the right fit.