It’s one thing to ask for feedback from a physician you’ve worked with; most doctors have a good story or two to tell and in a recruiting scenario those stories can turn into powerful testimonials that supercharge your physician recruitment game. But are you reaching out to the physicians you’ve worked with for referrals?

A good referral program can be the lifeblood of your recruitment process.

A referral program can net you the best candidates. The quality of the candidates is higher for applicants recruited through referrals than it is for doctors recruited through other means. Retention rates for referral hires are higher, too. Plus, it costs far less to recruit a doctor who comes to you via a referral. If you haven’t implemented a referral program, consider these statistics (from Jobvite):

• Employee referrals have the highest applicant to hire conversion rate – only 7% apply but this accounts for 40% of all hires.
• Referral hires have greater job satisfaction and stay longer at companies – 46% stay over 1 year, 45% over 2 years and 47% over 3 years.
• 67% of employers and recruiters said the recruiting process was shorter, and 51% said it was less expensive to recruit via referrals.
• Referral candidates are 3-4 times more likely to be hired than non-referral candidates.
• Referral programs can save your organization $3,000 or more per hire.

Don’t forget to reach out to physicians who didn’t get hired for previous jobs.

Not every candidate you work with gets the job, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a positive experience – which means they’re likely to speak highly of you and offer referrals, too. This could include applicants for previous jobs who weren’t the right fit for another position.

Applicants from previous opportunities can be a goldmine, too.

These are the candidates who did get the job, but may not be working in the same job today.

Keep in mind, too, that referrals don’t come entirely from physicians and physician candidates. Referrals can come from anyone close to you and your organization, including retirees, colleagues at healthcare facilities, and even families of current employees. People who know high-performing doctors are likely to refer them as candidates.  

Are you using Doximity Talent Finder to source great physician candidates? Over 700,000 physician members log in to Doximity to find jobs and connect with other physicians for virtual consultation and to expand their professional network, among many other things. These physicians are often happy to extend a referral for a position they think is right for a colleague, so adding Doximity Talent Finder to your recruitment toolbox could be the beginnings of a great referral program.

If you're ready to give Doximity Talent Finder a try, start a physician search now: