An OB waxes negative on the experience:
I now believe that most contingency recruiters just do not care. They sell, sell, sell and sell some more. They go for volume, they go for the numbers. The more emails they send out, the more people they contact, the more chances they may have to get an answer and sell one of their jobs. That is why they remind me of used car salesmen and telemarketers. Their ads are just the nice marketing face, and you have to read them with upmost suspicion.
Related posts:
- Primary care shortage and physician recruiters
- Physician recruiters, redux
- Malpractice and physician suicide
- A quarter of medical students don’t match in Air Force residencies
- Patients as customers
- A doctor who advocates no screening tests
- The worst jobs for a doctor
KevinMD.com on Facebook
{ 4 comments }
At the risk of “creeping” anyone out, yes indeed: http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2007/06/trolling-for-pediatricians-and-keeping.html
One problem with recruitors is not with them but the jobs that they are recruiting for. From 20 years of observation in my own specialty, I have found that in general, the good people to work for have no trouble filling the positions by old-fashioned networking. Usually the ones who hire recruitors have to do so because something is wrong with the position. Perhaps it is a very poor payor mix, or the institution’s management has a reputation of treating doctors poorly. Sometimes they want a physician compliant with their demands for unethical behavior but the local docs will not go along–and the local program directors knowing their reputation for sleaze will not steer graduating residents to them.
In short, most jobs with a recruitor attached aren’t worth having in the first place.
Yes, the good jobs and positions don’t need to rely on a recruiter. You need to be at the right place at the right time and/or know the right person.
I have always thought about returning to Oregon where I grew up so I scan the recruiting jobs out of curiosity. The exact same jobs have been advertised for the last 10 years. That tells me not to touch those with a ten foot pole
Recruiters cost real money, and those practices willing to spend substantially usually have obstacles to overcome in attracting candidates. Sometimes it is nothing more than a remote location where a generalist or specialist would likely have to practice without much support while taking lots of referrals. Sometimes the location has an undesirable climate or a poor socioeconomic atmosphere.
And sometimes recruiters are the agents of serial abusers or are the pitchmen for institutions that promise much but habitually dishonor those promises and just turn to new hires when their old hires get fed up and leave.
It always pays to call the last doctor who left to get the story.
I have chased some doctors across the country when doing due diligence on practices. I am convinced that there is a lot of valuable information that can be had no other way.
Comments on this entry are closed.