Should I use a Recruiter?

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Has anyone used a physician recruiter to find a job?

I assume they take a cut of your salary (through costing your employer money which would otherwise have been available for physician compensation). Does working with a recruiter drive down your salary?

If you have used a recruiter to find employment, would you recommend it for others?

Yes, using a recruiter will indirectly cut your salary maybe 10% or more. If you can find the job without a recruiter, you will do yourself a big favor.

If you are willing to work anywhere in the US, using a recruiter may help you find different possibilities you were unaware of. If you have a specific city or region in mind, I'd try to call and find jobs without a recruiter.

If you merely call places up, at least in my area, you'll get people leaping for a psychiatrist.

The more prestigious places to work will hire you if you've managed to make a reputation of being at least decent, but IMHO head-hunters don't help there. You simply have to have already been in the area to make the rep or you have to have a very good CV.

I remember a friend in residency needing a head-hunter, but the guy was a lame resident (and it pains me to say it because he's a nice guy, but not not so good doctor) to the point where he actually was ticking a lot of people off. Both hospitals associated with the program didn't want to hire him even though they needed doctors.

Originally Posted by TexasPhysician

Yes, using a recruiter will indirectly cut your salary maybe 10% or more. .

That would be only for the first year right? Still sucks though. Why would anyone use a recruiter? Arent these jobs posted somewhere?

I think the general gist is doctors tend to not know much more about things outside of practice. They don't know who to call for the jobs and get their name out.

My advice: call up all the local private practices, hospitals, dept heads, community mental health agencies, and mental health boards.

From those alone you're likely to get at least several job offers. Or you can have someone do it for you and charge you a lot of money.

Originally Posted by toothless rufus

That would be only for the first year right? Still sucks though. Why would anyone use a recruiter? Arent these jobs posted somewhere?

Incorrect assumption. Say company X has $250k to spend to find a new psych doc. The recruiter costs $50k. The doc starts at 200k. In year 2, do you think company X turns around and gives the doc a 50k bonus? No. The doc may receive very slow increases in salary from his/her starting point.

Originally Posted by whopper

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My advice: call up all the local private practices, hospitals, dept heads, community mental health agencies, and mental health boards.
.

What would you recommend saying when we make such a call? Who would we speak with, and what is the usual flow of events, from first cold call to being hired?

Also, does anyone have any resources for writing a CV as a physician?

"Hello. My name is Doctor X. I'm a new doctor in the area and was wondering if you need a psychiatrist. If so I can fax, e-mail, or mail my CV."

From this alone you'll likely get people literally jumping to get you to work there. Now this might not be every single area of the country but it would be the overwhelming majority.

They'll likely ask for job references as would anyone in any place of employment.

As for a CV, you don't have to ask us. If you're a resident ask the faculty in your program. In this stage of the game you should already have good CV experience.

During fellowship, my PD looked at my CV and gave me several ways to correct it, but that's different. If you're a forensic psychiatrist, you could have a cross-examining laywer try to destroy you on the stand simply based on your CV even though there's nothing wrong with it. E.g. they might try to make you lose credibility simply because the font didn't look good. I'm not joking. During a mock trial, the cross-examining lawyer told me my CV should be thrown out because the pages weren't numbered. Of course it wasn't, but that's how BS these things can get.

I'm digressing but I had one case where a lawyer tried to have me taken off as an expert witness when he asked me how many competency evaluations I did, thinking it woudl've been on the order of just a handful. I sat there, told the judge I would need to calculate it becuase I lost track, and I said something to the effect of...

I don't remember just how many, but based on the fact that I've done at least 2 a week for one year and did about 15 before that, I'd say at least 120.

But if you're very worried about this, several famous doctors including my fellowship PD have their CVs online. Just get their CV and use it as a template for your own.

I had some VERY good luck with recruiters, both as a candidate and as an employer. The employers considered that paying for the recruiter was simply a cost of doing business and reduced the $ spent advertising (it did not reduce the pay scale, because that was set by the county), and they considered it money well spent because so many of the docs who just "call up" don't end up staying long. Using a recruiter (one who really tries to make a good fit, not one who just sends you every listing in the country hoping something will stick) worked out well for me on both sides. Like just about anything else, it probably matters more whether you've got somebody good than any "brand" or specific company.
Unfortunately, the one I used the most (and previously recommended to people on this board) is no longer recruiting for psych.

What I did in residency was fill out all the "response cards" I could get from different recruiting services in late 3rd yr and early 4th. I would complete them all, but with no phone number - only email. Then, when each sent me an email, I would respond with a letter I'd written about what I want. The letter included my entire wish list:
- practice type
- public vs private
- climate
- city size
- access to various recreational, cultural activities
- salary range (after doing some research on my own)
Everything I could think of.

Then I sat back and waited for responses. If the responses didn't reference my letter, I told them that I'd already made other arrangements and to please remove me from all lists. (that was probably 90%) The few who took the time to read it and ask me more questions, got my attention. Probably 5-6 did that. Eventually two really took the time to try to make the right fit. They ended up calling me about the same position on the same day - the one I took.

You have to be careful with recruiters. I know a head of a community mental health organization said upfront that they preferred to be contacted directly and would typically not hire from recruiters given the additional expenses given their tight budget.

They tended to pay much better than the academic, VA, or other community mental health organizations, so I could see her point.

It has limited by willingness to engage with some of these recruiters, which may be to my determinent, as I'm looking to move to region where I haven't lived to this point.

Originally Posted by freaker

You have to be careful with recruiters. I know a head of a community mental health organization said upfront that they preferred to be contacted directly and would typically not hire from recruiters given the additional expenses given their tight budget.

They tended to pay much better than the academic, VA, or other community mental health organizations, so I could see her point.

It has limited by willingness to engage with some of these recruiters, which may be to my determinent, as I'm looking to move to region where I haven't lived to this point.

You could do both.
If you contact places yourself (and keep track of those contact dates), you can use the recruiter in hopes of finding postings you did not find on your own. If the organization that offers you a position has a contract with the recruiter, but you made first contact on your own, the recruiter is not eligible for any payment. It would be nice to be honest with the recruiter and tell him up front that you've already made contact with X, Y, Z employer and you don't expect the recruiter to be involved in those.