It’s your job to get candidates to sell you on why they’re the right physician for the job.

When you’re working with a candidate who really wants the job (whether it’s for professional or economic reasons), you’re in the buyer’s seat. The candidates will sell themselves to you as the right person for the position. Recruiting is definitely selling, but recruiting expert Lou Adler (CEO of the Adler Group) says the process is far more effective when recruiters play the buyer. You can read the full article by Adler on Inc.com 4 Ways to Get Job Candidates to Sell You (you can also subscribe to the full Adler Group article library here), but we’ve included a quick synopsis of how Adler’s “staying the buyer” process works here.

 Start by listening 4X more than you talk. Asking tough, detailed questions about the person’s accomplishments is the easiest way to do this. If you preface each question with a description of what you need accomplished and why it’s important to the company, the best and most worthy candidates will naturally get excited and try to convince you they’re qualified. The key to this is to ask details about the person’s most significant accomplishments in relationship to the actual performance needs of the job.

Make the candidate earn the job; it has more value this way. If a candidate can’t sell himself on the merits of the job, he won’t be able to convince anyone else, either. Don’t accept superficial answers. Peel the onion about each accomplishment cited. Since top candidates never make the decision to switch jobs alone, this is a critical step you must address in the recruiting process. When the candidate is the seller, they’ll go home and tell their family, friends, and co-workers why the job represents a great career.

Create the career gap. Jobs that represent a career move need to offer both stretch and growth. Stretch represents the difference between a candidate’s current job and the job you’re offering. Growth is the future. It represents what the person can become if the job is handled successfully. You need to prove your facility’s claims of growth opportunity; otherwise you’re pulling a ruse that will lead to disappointment, underperformance, and turnover. Ask the candidate to describe something he/she’s accomplished that’s most comparable. Good candidates will not be deterred or offended, and strong candidates will likely want to better understand the challenge involved and ask a series of appropriate follow-up questions.  

Convert jobs into careers. Small differences can represent a big career move. Make sure the candidate understands clearly why the job represents a possible growth opportunity versus a short-term perspective on something like a compensation increase.

The more you know about a candidate, the more value you add to the recruitment and hiring process. We wrote about the 7 Questions You Should Be Asking Physician Candidates (But Probably Aren’t), but Adler says if recruiters were allowed to ask only one question it would be this: "Please think about your most significant accomplishment. Now, could you tell me all about it?" What do you think?

Are you using Doximity Talent Finder to find physician candidates who will sell you? We invite you to download our white paper with great tips on using it more effectively.