It’s a new year and a new decade, and we think it's the perfect time to dig in and learn how to improve and perfect your recruitment strategy. What are your recruiting resolutions for 2020? We have a few ideas on how to kick the year off right.

1. Think more like a marketer. The need for compelling, targeted recruitment messages is more vital now than ever. The vast majority of physicians are passive job seekers, which means they won’t come to you. You need to get in front of them, and that means you have to think like a marketer. Marketers think about driving new business to their company. To do that, they bring in leads that turn into contacts. As a recruiter, you’re doing the same thing; you’re building a talent pool and nurturing prospective hires so when they’re ready to make a change, you’re the recruiter they think of. Content marketing, in particular, plays a huge role in how physicians recognize and think of your company or brand. When you understand what candidates want, you can start to think about how to attract them with the right content. The Recruiter’s Guide to Content Marketing is a quick read to help you get started.
   
2. Build a more diverse candidate pool. How much have you focused on diversity in your pipeline? Diversity ensures you’re making a conscious effort to get a wide range of perspectives. It also means you’re likely to connect with a wider range of people. You might even check the language in your job descriptions to make sure it appeals to a broad audience. Research shows that the language of job descriptions often subtly adheres to gender stereotypes. And that deters members of the opposite gender from applying to those jobs per Forbes). There’s even a free online tool that automatically scans job descriptions for biased language.
   
3. Call everyone. Take the time to reach out to every candidate you receive a CV from and keep building (and reaching out) to candidates in your pipeline. You never know who you’ll meet and what you’ll learn. Once you get the conversation going, keep it going! Even if an opportunity doesn’t work out for a candidate now, stay in touch. Don’t write off unresponsive candidates either. They may not be in the right place or right time now to engage with, but at some point your persistence will pay off. Also, while you’ve got someone on the phone, don’t forget to ask them for referrals! 
4. Reassess your job descriptions. Before you find the right candidate – or even begin searching for the right candidate – you need to have a strong understanding of the job you’re trying to fill. Every job description is critical to attract not only the most qualified candidates, but the candidates who are the best fit. It can also help or hinder your diversity efforts. Job descriptions have the ability to attract or detract physicians you’re your opportunity. We recently asked our expert Client Success team about common mistakes they see when it comes to physician job posts. Read 11 things they say NOT to do in your job posts here.
   
5. Knowing what doctors are doing online will help your recruiting. Like great marketers, great recruiters understand what tools their audience is using, what they’re doing on those tools, and how to leverage them. Do you know what doctors are doing on Doximity, for instance? A great recruitment strategy is to use the social and digital platforms your candidates are already using. Knowing how these tools work and reaching physicians on tools they use on a daily basis is effective when recruiting because you’ll be able to speak their language. 

Interested in learning more about how you can source and recruit exceptional candidates this year? We invite you to sign up for Doximity’s free online Social Recruitment Course!