Hey there, in this episode of The Career Rx, we're going to talk about recruiters. Specifically using a recruiter as a physician.
For those thinking about working with a recruiter, especially for the purpose of getting a non-clinical job or a big leadership role, these are the questions I’m often asked:
Should you work with a recruiter?
Are recruiters helpful when you're looking for a new job?
How do you find a recruiter?
How much should you pay a recruiter?
In This Episode of The Career Rx We’ll Discuss:
Hey there, in this episode of The Career Rx, we're going to talk about recruiters. Specifically using a recruiter as a physician.
For those thinking about working with a recruiter, especially for the purpose of getting a non-clinical job or a big leadership role, these are the questions I’m often asked:
Should you work with a recruiter?
Are recruiters helpful when you're looking for a new job?
How do you find a recruiter?
How much should you pay a recruiter?
In This Episode of The Career Rx We’ll Discuss:
Hey there, welcome to the career prescription. I'm your host, Marjorie Stiegler. This podcast is all about the important stuff. They don't teach you in medical school, about how to treat your career, like the business it really is, and how to be strategic about your success. I'll show you how to use modern strategies to get ahead, create your own path and do more of what you love. Every episode is inspired by questions from listeners just like you. So be sure to subscribe. And of course, send me those questions, so I can use them on a future episode, so you don't miss anything. Be sure to always check the show notes on my website. Are you ready? Let's get into it. Hey there, in this episode, we're going to talk about recruiters. Should you work with a recruiter? Are recruiters helpful when you're looking for a new job? How do you find a recruiter? And how much should you pay a recruiter? These are all questions that have come to me from folks listening like you who are thinking about working with a recruiter, when they're considering a job search, either looking for a new leadership role, or maybe pivoting outside of their current field, going to do something non clinical, or something just different from what they're doing today. And I think it's really important to consider recruiters, especially when you're networking online, using LinkedIn and other professional tools, it's very important to decide how you want to handle being contacted by recruiters. And also it's important to decide whether or not maybe you want to proactively engage with recruiters yourself and network down that path. For whatever reason, it seems to me that a lot of physicians are not that keen about working with recruiters. And I'm wondering if they've just had some unsatisfying experiences, or maybe just have some preconceived notions that perhaps are not entirely true. So I'll tell you some things I think you need to know about working with recruiters in this area. Episode A now before I get into that, I do want to remind all of you if you are listening to this episode and you're considering a career pivot or non clinical career transition, I really want you to come and watch my free webinar. It's called transition to industry. 101. I'll link to it in the show notes or you can just go to Marjorie Stiegler md.com, forward slash industry 101. And grab that, of course, wait until you're done listening to this podcast, but go watch it. It's completely free. It's a full webinar an hour all about transitioning to industry and how you can pursue a non clinical career shift and answer all the questions you have about whether or not that's going to require more education, a pay cut and so forth. So again, Marjorie Stiegler, MD comm forward slash industry 101. Grab that free webinar. Okay, so what do you need to know about working with recruiters. The first thing you should know is that there are several types of recruiters different kinds of recruiters In different kinds of business models, and there's advantages and disadvantages to each of these, but most important, it's not that any are good or bad in and of themselves. But it's just important to know that there are multiple kinds and you should understand the kind of recruiter that you're working with at any given time because that will help you to understand how to best get results with that recruiter.
Unknown Speaker :One kind of recruiter is often called in house talent acquisition. This is the internal recruiter that works for a specific large company. They're employed by the company and their entire job is to recruit and fill roles within that company. They may recruit broadly across the business for all kinds of different jobs, or they might be focused on a specific job type within the company, a specific a specific skill set a specific type of position, maybe even a specific level of seniority. But the key here is that they're internal and they're specific to that company. So what this means for you, of course, is that they will be able to get you in the door, it's their door, they can absolutely get you in the door there. It also means though, that the opportunities that they can discuss with you or that they can help you with are generally limited to whatever is going on inside that company at that time, and of course, if you maintain a relationship with them, it's limited to whatever is going on inside whatever company they're working for, at whatever time in the future. So there are certainly benefits to working with in house talent acquisition folks, but realize that they are not going to have that breadth of opportunities, you know, perhaps geographically or cross different types of organizations or even specific competing organizations. They are working to fill roles within their own specific company, and that's their focus. The second type are what are called external recruiters. These are either individuals or firms that are that are getting paid by multiple companies for landing a successful hire and hiring organization. This working with them is also likely engaged with more than one external recruiting firm. So this is sort of the contingent upon hire model, meaning that the recruiter or the firm gets paid when they land a successful candidate into a role. So an advantage here is that the recruiter is again working from many, many different organizations or trying to fill roles across many different organizations. So they are going to have a lot more opportunities on their radar across multiple companies, and perhaps even a more broad sector of industry as compared to in house talent acquisition. A disadvantage is that they are sort of a numbers game right? They get paid to land any successful candidate into a role. So although they would get paid if they got you a job, so they are invested in that regard. They may also be trying to just put forth as many, you know, qualified, basically qualified candidates as possible, hoping that some of them get hired. And maybe they're trying to put as many candidates as quickly as possible. And so in a way that puts you in a position to be competing with other candidates that they are also helping. So while this is really true for all recruiters in house talent acquisition, we'll be looking at multiple candidates. The other kinds that we're talking about today, we'll also look at multiple candidates. When you think about external recruiters that are working for or placing individuals in a variety of firms and organizations. In some ways that numbers job is just more of an issue potentially with that kind of recruiter relationship. The third kind of recruiter is what's often called a an exclusively retained recruiter or firm. When they're exclusively retained, it means they're working one on one, they have a one on one relationship, sort of mutually accountable relationship with an organization. That recruiter or their firm is going to do all the vetting, they're going to do all of the sorting and sifting and they are going to present only a small few Highly selected, highly qualified candidates to the organization. And the organization in turn is going to be hiring one of those folks, they aren't working with other recruiters, they aren't pursuing other ways to fill that role. This can be really, really great to be working with one of these folks. But don't be surprised if if you're approached by an exclusively retained recruiter that they're going to want a bunch of information from you. First, they're going to want to really get to know you first, before they can commit to whether or not you're a good fit. They're often under privacy rules as well. So they aren't gonna be able to tell you a lot about the role until they've heard from you. And if they think you're a good fit, and they're ready to kind of go for go to bat for you, then they can tell you more, that you're essentially jumping through a hoop to impress that exclusively retained recruiter first. Now, don't be discouraged if that first meeting doesn't go well. I still think it's really advantageous to potentially develop relationships with some of these kinds of recruiters or their firms because when an opportunity comes up, that really is Write for you. And they can see that and I think you're a perfect match, they're going to be extremely motivated and effective
Unknown Speaker :in getting you into that role. Right? So although you have to, if you may have to feel like you're jumping through hoops in order to sort of impress them, or you're interviewing for them, basically, once they are excited and delighted and ready to put you into a role, they're going to really be doing a lot of work to try to sell you to an organization and there'll be your advocate there. And then the fourth kind is sort of the personal headhunter that actually works for you. So you've seen these on Google. I don't have any direct experience here. But I would view this to be sort of similar as the contingent model the external recruiter above, meaning that they could place you with a variety of companies, they probably have relationships with many companies and many opportunities. But the key difference is really who pays them and when. So unlike all the other models for the company pays, if you are paying, I would give this some really careful consideration. Especially if you are paying before you land a job, if they get paid after they land a job, then that seems Win win. And they'd be very motivated, just as motivated as you are. But if they get paid just to try to help you find a job without really any guarantee deliverable, I would have some caution there. So that's sort of a summary of what I think are the four main kinds of recruiter relationships so you can have an understanding of who you're working with. And what are some of the advantages and disadvantages there. So the second big bucket thing that you should know about working with recruiters is they're basically always better than a direct application. They're always better than a direct application if you do not know somebody at the company already. So do not submit online to some kind of a black hole where you can do it on LinkedIn or you can do it on the company's website, because literally what is on the other end of that for your resume and your cover letter is either a computer that may be doing an actual keyword screen. You've heard of this before. And of course, there are strategies to try to help you To improve your game there, but a computer who's going to be sifting you out or an HR professional who might not fully understand your job, your job experience as you have it, or how it's a transferable skill set to the current role. And so, if you submit into a direct application link, you very often will never hear anything back. And you will very often have your application dismissed before any real person with any real knowledge or decision making power has had a chance to even look at you. So the recruiter will put you in front of a decision maker, they put you in front of the boss. Throughout this podcast, I'll be talking about the hiring manager, and hiring managers Not to be confused with the HR, right the Human Resources screener. the hiring manager is your future boss, right? It's the boss of this role. And this is the person who knows who they want. They know what they want in the candidate, and they're the ones who could really think about you and sort of a 362 weigh in in your transferable skills. So the recruiter, if the recruiter thinks you're a good candidate, they will put you in front of the boss directly. They are not putting you in the same black hole as an application a direct application online. They will try to sell you and this is also why you have to know how to sell yourself to help them help you. So be sure if you're enjoying this podcast to check out the professional branding playlist for this podcast. It's right on my website. Marjorie Stiegler md comm forward slash podcast, you kind of just scroll down and you'll find some playlists. One of them is professional branding. And I think that will really help you here and how you articulate your transferable skills and really tell the story of your professional accomplishments as well as your professional aspirations. So that you can help someone like a recruiter do that on your behalf. Really important to keep that in mind. If If you do not know anybody at the company. try try try to find a recruiter and apply through that recruiter. If at all possible, much, much, much better idea than submitting a direct application where you go to that computer screen or just the HR screen. The third thing I think you need to know about working with recruiters is that they have rules about how they work with the companies they work with and how these might affect you in ways you can't see. So what although it might seem obvious, a lot of people sort of forget that because the recruiter gets paid for placing the candidate if you are simultaneously having direct contact with the hiring manager. And the recruiter might disqualify the recruiter from being able to earn money for your placement. And it might be that they're disqualified now from helping you with that company or with that division or perhaps just with that one particular hiring manager for at least some period of time. So it's important that you have awareness of that if you have a way to reach the hiring manager, your actual potential future Boss, I think That's a much more fruitful way to network.
Unknown Speaker :And I think that's an important part of your long term strategy. But if you're starting out and you see an opportunity, and you really want to pursue it, think carefully before you just start reaching out, because if you're reaching out to both, suddenly, you may be in a position our or wherever a recruiter is not able to help you, because you've been in contact with both. As an example, I don't mind sharing that earlier in my career, I was approached by a recruiter about a role under a person who I knew. So I actually knew the boss. And I reached out to them because they were a personal friend, and I asked about a nice set that's so exciting. you're hiring. What are you hoping to do with this role? This was when I just I was sort of unaware. And then when I answered the recruiter, I mentioned that I had spoken to the boss and how interesting it was. And she immediately replied back well, then she can't help me. So she which and fortunately in that case, I didn't need that help. Right. I wasn't I wasn't pursuing the role and I already had the other relationships. in hand, but it i think is an illustration of how you may inadvertently sort of sabotage your chances if you're trying to build a relationship that doesn't already exist by pursuing both at the same time. The fourth thing I think you ought to know about working with recruiters is that it's a really, really great idea to network with them when you are not actually looking for a job. This way you get to know them, you have the leisure of time to get on those phone calls, go over your resume, tell them what you want to do develop a relationship, keep in touch, and as you do this, then they'll be very ready to help you when you do need them. So if you are suddenly looking for a job, you'll have a few people to be able to reach out to, they'll already know you a little bit and they'll be interested in trying to help you to finally land that role for you. They'll also potentially have you in mind when an amazing opportunity comes up that aligns with your skills and goals. And that assumes that you've taken the time to get to know them and that they have a good idea of yourself. skills and goals. So, remember, you're not just networking with professional colleagues and with future bosses here, you should think about recruiters really to be leveraged as those professional matchmakers that they really are. And so when they know you well, and something comes up that they think would be perfect for you, they will let you know. And if it's a great match, of course, they get paid. So that's that they are truly invested in wanting those matches to be successful. It's just that they have to meet an awful lot of people just like a professional matchmaker would need to in order to have a big enough pool to start matching roles, opportunities and people successfully. Then the fifth and final thing we'll talk about on this podcast, I think that you should know about working with recruiters is how helpful they can be if you are not right for a role. Now, don't get me wrong, they're not going to sit down and give you a whole resume makeover or anything like that. They are not, you know, career change consultants so to speak, but if you listen Very well to their feedback and their questions. And if you ask questions, again, if you're nurturing that relationship, you're spending time with them on the phone kind of going over their needs or their their client's needs, as well as your skills, you will get a lot of insight as to what it is that you need to showcase in order to be an appealing candidate. So if you aren't getting anywhere, and you're finding that you're not really a good fit for a role, the recruiters are very often the ones who can give you the feedback about what you need either more experience that you need in a given area, or that you need to find a different way to communicate your transferable skills and value so that it does sort of match the experience needed in that given area. And again, the relationships are super important here. If you have blown off the recruiters when they want to get on the phone with you. I don't expect them to suddenly want to sit down with you and help you figure out how to do over your resume. But if you're having these conversations over time, you We'll be able to pick up on the things that they're mentioning. And you may be able to just do some direct asking and say you know, that you have a variety of things in your professional background, and you aren't sure what to emphasize, they may be able to help you with that. Because again, they have a professional interest. Financial, obviously, this is how they earn their money and also reputational, right, this is their professional reputation, how well are they matching great candidates into new positions. So they do want to help you get those roles. And they're going to want to be sure that they're putting your best foot forward for you, right, because that's what's most likely to land something. So the more open that you are to them and the more interested you are in nurturing this kind of network, the more you can really leverage their expertise not only for getting a role, but also for help in sort of knowing how to approach a role so that you will be a successful candidate.
Unknown Speaker :Before I go, I know I've mentioned a lot of resources in this episode and you're gonna want to check them out. But the number one thing you should go do right now is go get your hands on my on demand free webinar transition to industry. I already mentioned it's totally free. It's available to watch on demand right now, I cannot guarantee I'm going to have it up there forever though. So go and get it while it's still available. Again, Marjorie Stiegler, MD comm forward slash industry 101 if you are at all thinking about applying for some kind of leadership role, some kind of career change some sort of pivot, this is, I think, going to be a very eye opening hour or so webinar for you and answers all of the top questions that I get about making those kinds of career shifts out of clinical work into industry, healthcare industry, and understanding things like whether you need more education, whether it's going to be a pay cut, and all kinds of things like that. Okay, now you know a bit more about how to work effectively with three recruiters, you understand kind of what their business model is and you understand what they want to do and how they can help you. And you also have a few notes of caution of perhaps what not to do or where you want to have your antenna up to sort of decide that that might be a mistake. And now you're ready to make good decisions about how you decide to work with recruiters. So that's a wrap for this episode. Bye for now.
Unknown Speaker :Thanks for joining me on this episode of the career prescription. Be sure to leave me a review on Apple podcasts or whatever podcast player you're using to listen today. And definitely send me those questions so I can answer them and give you a shout out on a future episode. Bye for now.