Healthcare job boards are a valuable resource to clinical and allied healthcare workers alike. But for some strange reason, data from 2018 shows that 75% of healthcare job seekers rely mainly on hospital websites as their main source of recruiting. This is truly unfortunate. Job boards have a lot of value, some of which is hidden.
To the naked eye, a healthcare job board is little more than a centralized marketplace where employers post jobs, applicants post resumes, and the two connect. Your typical job board does allow all of that. But there is a hidden aspect the adds a tremendous amount of value. It is something that most job seekers probably don’t think about – recruiting.
Healthcare recruiters use job board data to do what they do. They utilize job boards above and beyond scanning resumes and looking for employers. They use them as active recruiting tools.
Creating Another New Account
Using a job board to its maximum potential almost always requires creating an account on that site. Perhaps that’s why so many job seekers turn more to employer websites than job boards. They do not want yet another account to keep track of. But wait, there is value in that account.
When you sign up for a new job board account, you are providing valuable information that recruiters can use to find you. Bear in mind that it is in the recruiter’s best interests to present the best possible candidates to employers. Recruiters want to be able to find you if you are the perfect candidate for one of the jobs they are trying to fill.
First-Party Information
Recruiters will use any data they can glean from job boards. But they know that the best information is first-party information willingly offered by job candidates themselves. iMedical Data is a healthcare marketing company that compiles a physician database, as well as other medical specialites, for marketers and recruiters. They say the benefits of first-party data in healthcare recruiting our invaluable.
The company might sell a nurse’s database to a staffing agency looking to recruit for dozens of employers. Because that data was all supplied by job seekers, the agency can count on it being up to date and accurate. On top of that, the data probably gives them access to personal phone numbers and email addresses as well. That allows them the opportunity to contact recruits outside of the work environment.
First-party data is considered cleaner data. It is considered more reliable and more productive for recruiters. Here’s the thing: by signing up with a job board, you are supplying that first-party data a recruiter might use to find you. Why should this matter to you? Because it puts you in the driver’s seat.
They Are Seeking You
Every instance of you visiting a hospital website and leaving your resume is an instance in which the employer is control. That hospital establishes the basis for your communication. It controls how you communicate; it controls the narrative. When recruiters contact you, roles are reversed. Now you are in control.
A recruiter taking the time to contact you suggests that they think you are an ideal candidate for a particular job. The question is one of how desperate the recruiter and employer are. If they want you badly enough, they will do what it takes to land you. That gives you a tremendous advantage.
The real value in healthcare job boards isn’t really in the job posts themselves. Rather, it is in the fact that job board data can be used by recruiters to find you and offer you a job. Remember this the next time you hesitate to join yet another job board.