Originally published on October 31, 2018. Edited on October 27, 2020.
Intrigued to learn how Healthcare Executive Recruiters Work? Finding a job is a real struggle for many of us. A challenge not only linked to our ability to sell and promote our skills in order to fulfill specific job requirements but also linked to performance expectations from employers in our future workplace. Healthcare organizations often complain about the difficulty of finding good employees, in virtually every department. One thing is certain: it’s a struggle for both sides of the spectrum – people looking for jobs and healthcare organizations looking for employees.
And it gets even tougher at the executive level, where the big players are. Every healthcare organization that wants to find high-performing candidates for their executive, senior and high-level positions will go through an amazingly difficult process. Top talent is hard to find, no matter how you look at it.
They are tough to find and you will need a professional to discover these precious gems. Healthcare executive recruiters are your best bet to find top talent in the healthcare industry.
Let’s have a deeper look at how healthcare executive recruiters can add value to your next search.
We begin with what six things to look for:
- How Executive Healthcare Recruiters Work
- Types of Healthcare Executive Recruiters
- How to Engage with Healthcare Executive Recruiters
- How Executive Healthcare Recruiters Get Paid
- How Healthcare Executive Recruiters Find Candidates
- Who Are the Best Healthcare Executive Recruitment Companies
Good healthcare executive recruiters use their contacts to find ideal candidates for new positions. They often have connections in the industry, know who works for which company, who is looking for a new job, or which companies want to expand. They also conduct in-depth interviews with possible employees before presenting them to employers.
Another way to attract suitable candidates is to draft an attractive job offer and company description.
To sum it up, good Healthcare Executive Recruiters have an extended network of other recruiters, healthcare organizations s and professionals, and can quickly gather enough information to start the recruitment process.
Types of Healthcare Executive Recruiters
In order to understand how Healthcare Executive Recruiters Work, first, you’ll need to know that there are two types of executive recruitment companies:
- Retained – Retained executive search firms these companies are exclusively hired by a client company to fill a specific position; they are often used for a high-level position, with salaries above $150,000; have strict in-company restrictions (you can only work with them, for instance)
- Contingency – Contingency executive search firms are typically used for mid-level positions, with salaries up to $100,000; they do not work exclusively with one client and get paid when the position is filled; they work faster and may not travel or offer additional services.
How to Engage with Executive Recruiters
Here’s how to approach healthcare executive recruiters:
- Find out what niche the executive recruiter works in and which companies they have worked with before.
- Carefully layout your open position and know exactly what you are looking for, know the industry and what it can offer in terms of candidates.
- Contact the search department of the executive healthcare company. You can go directly to a senior recruiter as they are often on the lookout for emails and communications from candidates and clients alike.
How Do Executive Recruiters Get Paid
All executive healthcare recruiters, no matter if they are external (on contingency) or internal (on retainer), get paid by the healthcare organization that wants to fill an open position. Candidates or future employees never pay for this service. The difference is that internal recruiters get a monthly or yearly fee according to a long-term contract, while external recruiters receive a placement or recruitment fee. There is a third type of executive recruiter, called contained – these recruiters get half of the fee paid before they start work, and get the rest after any successful placement.
Let’s go over the basics of what you can expect when engaging with an executive healthcare recruiter:
- The fees are always paid by the company that wants to hire, not by the candidate.
- External recruiters often have multiple clients and they receive their fees whenever the recruitment was successful.
- The amount of each recruitment fee can vary a lot, depending on the size of the company, industry, type of position, timeline and many other factors.
For example, an external recruiter who charges 20 percent for placement, will get $20,000 for an IT consultant job that pays $100,000. An internal recruiter, on the other hand, will have an average yearly salary of $45,000.
How Do Executive Recruiters Find Candidates
Good healthcare executive recruiters often start their search for candidates by creating a plan. This starts with studying the industry, the niche, the healthcare organizations that work in a certain geographical area and their personnel. Often, executive recruiters have inside information on the senior employees that are looking for new opportunities. The next step is creating a list of relevant candidates. Researching this list can sometimes be time-consuming and it often involves finding references, doing background checks, organizing interviews and face-to-face interactions. After this vetting process is complete, the successful candidates are presented to the client company, and the actual hiring process can begin.
Who Are the Best Executive Recruiters
Healthcare executive recruitment is a massive industry in the United States. There are a lot of large healthcare systems and organizations that rely heavily on their services to expand and diversify. Finding top talent is not for everyone, there are several healthcare executive recruitment firms but only a few that can find the perfect match for your organization.
What Makes a Good Healthcare Executive Recruitment Firm?
Transparency and understanding of internal processes: One of the main objectives of a healthcare recruiting firm like Kirby Bates Associates, is to be transparent and hands-on through the entire search process and beyond. Not only is it important to understand the culture and the details of the operations within a certain organization, but we also use this information to provide a tailored experience that includes an elite cache of candidates specially chosen for your leadership needs.
Nationwide Pool of Candidates: Spearheading searches to identify experienced candidates can be done at a local level. When the requirements are not being met, it is important to expand the search to other counties and even other states. Tyler and Company lead a national search to connect with executives who will lead and thrive in your organization’s unique cultural environment.
Interim Management: Your organization may well choose to pursue an interim alternative because the position currently offered to candidates isn’t permanent or may morph or change according to your organization’s needs. When this happens, your executive recruiting firm needs to be able to find and recommend individuals who are willing to help healthcare organizations while they are undergoing major changes or while critical strategies are being put into play to address management needs.