By: Having the right amount of detail to begin a physician search is critical. That detail is what enables us as physician recruiters to effectively describe the position to prospects and candidates.
Many of us are sending questionnaires and repeated email requests to internal stakeholders to get enough background information to tell the practice opportunity’s story. And, too often, we don’t get quite what we need.
Maybe we should become more like journalists. By that I mean, learning and using the skills and techniques that journalists use to research a story. Here are a few that come to mind:
- Identify the Right Interviewee – This often involves multiple people with each person offering unique knowledge or perspectives. While the practice administrator or service line leader makes the search request. It may also be important to meet with the medical director, a practicing physician in a similar position or a new recruit to get the details needed to pitch the position.
- Conduct Your Own Research – Using basic web resources, what can you learn about the practice, the community or the specialty that you don’t already know? If you reviewed advertisements and web postings of similar positions, you might uncover some additional questions to ask your interviewees. Then when you meet with internal team members, you exhibit some knowledge about the specialty or the practice that helps to build credibility and get more of their attention.
- Send Some Questions in Advance – For anything in which specific facts and figures are needed, send a note and let your subject matter expert know more precisely what details are needed. But, be careful not to send too many as it could make the resource feel that you’re asking for more of their time than they thought they needed to give.
- Purpose, Process and Payoff – When you start the interview, tell them what you want out of it, what you will do with the information and why it’s beneficial to them to spend time with you in this way. This technique can be particularly effective with practices reluctant to share compensation or other financial details. Explain how you will guard that information and share on an as needed basis only.
- Use a Variety of Question Types – Just like when interviewing candidates, different question types will help to get you what you need. While closed questions will confirm what you already know, open-ended questions will encourage the interviewee to elaborate and explain further. For more on interview question techniques check out our latest course at BMc Academy – Physician Recruitment Interviewing Best Practices.
- Let the Interviewee Review What You Learned – To be sure that you have captured everything correctly, and to help all of the internal parties be comfortable in sharing these details with you, provide them with a final copy of your “sell sheet” or practice opportunity description plus any additional notes taken.
While questionnaire forms and email requests save you time, they will likely fall short in providing the real insights that will help you tell the story. By interviewing them, you continue to practice your interviewing skills while at the same time get the information you need. And with a comfortable and conversational approach, you have built another internal ally for the physician recruitment effort as well.