Insights

By Ed Shihadeh, President, Infinity Search Group

Finding healthcare candidates in today’s demanding career market is especially difficult. With a number of challenges including the types of jobs, candidate qualifications, negotiating salaries and benefits and finding the right candidates in your location. This last part can take a lot of time and energy to find whether you are in a big city or in a rural area.

The challenge of geography for example can present difficulties no matter where you are located. For employers far from a city it may put you at a disadvantage as you may find a smaller pool of candidates. And the healthcare industry does not have the luxury of offering remote positions, so location for the position openings matters.

If your organization is in a rural area, you may need to find potential candidates several miles away and this can be time consuming. You can often be asking prospective candidates to drive far distances, which in turn may require candidates to consider commuting costs and wear and tear on their cars.

And in rural areas, finding candidates is like a needle in a haystack.

Nonmetro areas encompass rural areas where there is less population and less job opportunities. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, in the years between 2020 and 2022, employment in nonmetro areas actually increased 3.8% but did not recover to the pre-pandemic level of 2019. In metro areas, employment increased 7.4% in the same years. And in 2022, it surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic employment.

Conversely, when your company is located in a city or nearby suburbs you have more candidates to choose from but a lot more competition with different companies going after the same people.

It can be difficult to source candidates for healthcare positions no matter where you are. This is where the role of the recruiter can play a valuable role. The recruiter can understand the nuances associated with finding candidates and has strategies to do so.

Are you being challenged in finding candidates for your healthcare institution? Contact me and we can help you source qualified candidates in metro or non-metro areas. Email Ed at: [email protected]

What are your biggest challenges in finding candidates?