Over the years, I have spoken with hundreds of Healthcare Recruiters.  I am always amazed at the same mistake most of them make concerning placing a candidate.  That mistake is:  they stop the placement process once they have submitted the candidate to their opportunities.

Based on my conversations, a good recruiter will profile at least 10 candidates a week.  5 to 7 of those candidates will be quality candidates.  So, at the end of the month they have somewhere between 20 to 24 quality candidates.  Hey, that’s great news!  I find myself saying, “Certainly you place all of them; especially in a market with the candidate shortage the U.S. is experiencing”.   In reality, they are doing good to place an average of 2 candidates per month.  

So, what happens to the rest of those quality candidates?  The answer is they are placed in a database for future reference.  And then, off the recruiter goes repeating the same cycle again the next month.  Really! It looks to me like a lot of gold is being left on the floor……….

The problem is the recruiter is so busy profiling and placing the candidates, they don’t have time to put another step into the process.  I can definitely tell you, placing the candidate in your database for potential future placements is not the answer.  Broaden your horizon, modify your business cycle, slow down and re-think utilizing a network.  Yep, that is the additional step. You will make more placements than you currently do with minimal work once you have it in place.  

Did you know that if you are part of a good network, you should be able to post the candidate anonymously in a matter of minutes?  That network should have an opportunity matching process that pulls up all jobs that are a potential fit.  Then you should be able to email the other members in the network to confirm the job is still available and clear the name.   Wala, if you took 30 minutes per week, you should be able to get those left over 4 to 6 candidates in a network and get other recruiters working to place them with the clients they enjoy a relationship.

I used to recruit, and quickly found myself so busy with profiling candidates and speaking with clients that I could not afford to do what I called the “no brainer” work.  Hence, our company hired college students in intern positions.  The student worked about 10 hours per week, made a little money hourly, and got college credit for doing it.  It was a pleasure working with them.  They were in the final year of college so they possessed both intelligence and good vocabularies.  

All you need to do the same thing is a reliable network, and the patience to teach the student.  You will show them how to post the candidate, and hit the “match” button on the network site.  Then show them how to send a simple email asking if the job is available, or an email to clear the name of the candidate. 

Once the name is cleared you will need to get involved in the process.  Now it is time for you to shine.  You have the ability to present your candidate to another opportunity.  So, go make the placement! 

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to further explore this.  My name is John Frey, and I am the Founder of The National Coalition of Healthcare Recruiters.  I have spoken with hundreds of recruiters and would be glad to speak with you.  johnfrey@nchcr.com  Office 304-699-4-5426