College football season is upon us, and with it comes a full breadth of fandom. I think you know what I mean—there are the fans, and then there are the FANS. There are those with a team T-shirt or two, and there are those who don’t need a T-shirt … because they paint their bare torsos in school colors. They may also don a wig and a foam finger.
I fall squarely on the first end of the spectrum. I enjoy the games (largely for the company), and I know enough of the rules to understand what’s going on. I look forward to football season as much for the chili and the crisp air as for the game itself.
My dad and my fiancé, however, fall closer to the second end of the spectrum. They’re not quite at the painted-torso level of fandom, but they know the season schedule by heart, and they make sure to plan their own schedules around it. They know all the details about recruits and rankings and rivals and injuries (and rivals’ injuries, for that matter, which are just as important for different reasons).
How football fans are like physician candidates
If football fans were physician job-seekers, fans like me would be the passive candidates, and fans like my guys would be the active candidates. We’re all fans. We’re all watching the same games. Some of us are just more into it than others.
Same with passive and active candidates. They’re both interested in the job opportunities that are out there; active candidates are just way more into it. Whereas passive candidates may simply be open to other opportunities, active candidates are actively seeking their next opportunities.
Where and how to reach active physician candidates
For physician recruiters, there is great value in reaching both types of candidates, but active candidates are usually easier to reach, primarily because their behavior is somewhat predictable.
Just as diehard fans flood college towns in droves on fall Saturdays, active candidates tend to congregate in specific places: online on job boards and at live events like specialty conferences and job fairs. For this reason, these are the places where physician recruiters need their jobs to be visible too.
Additionally, active candidates, like crazy football fans, crave information. If these fans aren’t watching live football, they want to be reading about it. Active candidates also want the scoop—on your jobs. The more specific your postings, the better. They read job posts like they’re game previews.
The number of football blogs on the internet, by the way, is baffling. Trust me, my guys love to talk about them. But I know from their discussions that not all football blogs are created equal. With seemingly unlimited amounts of football news in their pockets, they go for the sites with unique insights, consistently good commentary, and a proven ability to predict game outcomes. Both with football blogs and with job postings, well-written and thorough information is king.
The fan-candidate analogy breaks down at some point because whereas football is mainly a relaxing pastime (well, when your team’s not at 4th and goal), job-searching can be tough work. But this makes it all the more important for physician recruiters to make their jobs and themselves easily accessible to job-seekers.
Make sure that your job posts are not only thorough and specific but also contain your contact information. It wastes a candidate’s time to read an interesting job posting only to realize he or she has no way of contacting the poster. So make sure your job postings include easy ways for candidates to respond. Active physician candidates don’t have a lot of extra time on their hands. Passive candidates may, for time or privacy reasons, choose to browse job boards confidentially without logging in. Make things easier for them all by providing your phone number and email address or apply button so they can respond directly—and you can score the candidate you need.
Wondering which specialty is most difficult to recruit? Download the free infographic.
