As the old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.
- Choose lodging wisely. Consider a family friendly hotel if the candidate is bringing children—such as one with a pool or other activities. This isn’t the time to pinch pennies. You want everyone comfortable and satisfied.
- Think about childcare. Consider hiring a service, or paying for another relative to join the physician on the site visit to help with childcare. Also, ensure everyone involved knows the entire family is coming and to be prepared. For example, when going on community or real estate tours, make sure a car seat is available for young children.
- Bring toys or arrange a play date. Keep the children occupied and happy by planning ahead. Have a few toys available in your car or office, or arrange a play date with children of other physicians who will be involved in the process.
- Purchase gift certificate or gift baskets. Every little personal touch goes a long way. Put together a basket of goodies or gift certificates for the spouse to enjoy while the physician is in meetings, or items special to your city for the whole family!
- Arrange for school and community tours. Show off your community by taking tours through school districts, neighborhoods and your best attractions. By now you should know what activities and hobbies are important to the physician and their family, so make sure you highlight those as much as possible.
- Help with the real estate search. Work with a realtor to discuss the family’s needs and show them around. My suggestion would be to plan this for the second day (assuming it’s a 48-hour visit). Doing this the first morning of day one could be too much, too soon.
- Provide networking opportunities. Will the spouse need a job, too? If so, plan to connect them with local resources to explore the opportunities in the area.
- Plan a fun dinner and social outing. I emphasize the words “fun” and “social.” Allow for an informal setting where the candidates and their families can speak to other physicians and the families of those physicians candidly.
- Allocate downtime. Site visits are exhausting for everyone. Make sure to have periods of downtime for the candidate throughout each day and include some time for the whole family to relax, too. This is a major life decision; they’ll need some time to reenergize and digest everything.
- Send a thank you that lasts. Show the candidate and their family they’re valued and their time matters. Send a personalized “thank you” that serves as a tangible reminder of their visit, your opportunity and community. Be creative! If this is a physician you want on your team, send them a gift card or voucher for a two-night stay at a hotel or resort in your area. This type of thank you is beneficial to you both! You’re inviting them back to explore the perks of your community on their own time.
All of these tips speak to one main concept: personalization. For physician recruiters, this means moving toward more candidate-centric recruiting strategies. The “one size fits all” approach is dead and certainly has no place in physician recruitment where the talent pool is shrinking and competition is fierce. Physicians today have a whole new set of expectations, and the site visit is your opportunity to show them and their families your interest in bringing them on board!
