As the demand for credible healthcare professionals is on the upswing, the industry is facing a combination of problems – lack of skilled workforce, high turnover rates, and an aging workforce. According to a study done by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the healthcare industry will face a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians, 46,000 surgeons, and whooping million nurses in the next decade. It’s imperative for organizations to upgrade their recruitment technology to meet the demands of this sector. With an average of 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day by 2029, the industry will have to focus on attracting younger people which means having a robust employer brand will be important. These are the 4 channels that your company should focus on if it’s serious about healthcare talent acquisition.

1) Specialist Healthcare Job Boards

Specialist job boards are really useful as you get many unique candidates that are not found on generic career portals. When using these job boards it’s important to curate job descriptions that highlight you as an employer of choice. So make sure your job description includes benefits, salary information, company bio, and vision. Also, ensure that your descriptions are diversity-friendly and bias-free. Some of the popular job boards that you can use include:

• Health eCareers
• Medzilla
• Med Jobs Cafe
• JAMA Career Center
• Medical Jobs.org

2) Digital Recruitment Strategy

Digital recruitment is not just about having a careers page and social media presence, it’s a cumulative effort that includes multiple spheres including SEO, content marketing, mobile-optimized site, and email marketing. For your healthcare talent strategy to work, it needs to focus on digital. Make sure you invest in content marketing and create useful eBooks and guides for job seekers. While this may not be useful in the short-term, it will project you as a reputable employer brand. These are some of the practices that you should follow:

• Well-indexed careers page
• Rank for related keywords on Google
• Mobile-optimized site
• Create compelling long-form content (Guides, eBooks, etc.)
• Targeted social media advertising

3) Employee Referral Solutions

In an industry with such a high turnover rate, employee referral solutions are just too good to miss. Apart from running internal employee referral programs, you can also use 3^rd-party referral solutions like TalentDome, Zalp, Role Point, and many more. These referral solutions not only extend your reach, but some of them also offer one-click job distribution to local websites and career portals. By targeting candidates through both email campaigns and social media, these solutions land quality referrals for the healthcare sector. Another advantage of using these tools is that you get access to private talent pools which can be really handy for your healthcare talent acquisition efforts. Most of these tools offer free demos so make sure you enroll for one.

4) Community Partnerships

If you want to stay ahead, you’ll have to create a pipeline for the future. Have a dedicated team that is entrusted with the responsibility of collaborating with different communities. Partner with local universities, state employment agencies, minority organizations, professional healthcare groups, and health departments. Make it a responsibility to share your openings with different minority organizations. You can also introduce internship opportunities for freshers straight out of universities. Creating community partnerships requires strong commitment but the results are well worth it. So if you want to acquire top healthcare talent, invest in communities.

Lastly, you can also partner with staffing agencies that specialize in healthcare recruiting. The biggest advantage is that you can concentrate all your efforts on running smooth operations rather than worrying about your recruiting initiatives. Just make sure you research well about their sourcing technology, screening process, and previous experience. Make these practices a part of your healthcare talent strategy and you are bound to see some positive results in the future.