Health Care Job Network Offers Employers Specialized Candidates

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While most industries have reduced headcount during the recession, the health care sector has continuously added new jobs that require specific skills and experience. Despite millions of job seekers, health care employers report having many challenges filling critical openings. Though advertising on general job boards can yield hundreds, possibly thousands of applicants, few have the credentials and background needed.

But now there’s a better alternative: the National Healthcare Career Network (NHCN), which links the job boards of more than 250 professional associations and trade societies, offering what Managing Director Carol Barber calls "the epitome of niche marketing."

The NHCN provides employers with the ability to target their advertising messages to the highly specialized members of those associations with ease and efficiency. Built on an integrated platform, the NHCN’s intuitive technology distributes job postings to relevant Network partner sites, thereby directly connecting employers with people who have the specialized skills needed. "Essentially, there is no guesswork for employers using the NHCN," Barber said. "With one click, their postings reach highly qualified professionals."

Since it was founded in 2008, the NHCN has grown to 256 association partners with two million individual members in 13 different specialties. Barber, who spent more than 30 years in professional recruitment before joining the NHCN, said that HR professionals don’t want to be inundated with applications, but instead want to choose from the best candidates in the field. In fact, she reports that many employers are hesitant to post jobs to general job boards because of the volume of unqualified responses they receive.

"From the employers’ standpoint it’s a time-consuming task to sift through all the resumes and it’s equally frustrating for the candidates," Barber said. "It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack." Employers using the NHCN typically receive a smaller number of resumes, but they come from highly qualified talent. "It’s quality not quantity that employers want," Barber added. "The NHCN offers a win-win for everyone. Employers can find the talent they need; job seekers have a better chance of landing a great position; and our Network partners generate revenue they can use to expand educational programs and services for their members."

One of the employers that has used the NHCN since its inception is Lakeland Regional Medical Center (LRMC), which fills more than 1,300 positions annually. Jeffery Payne, vice president of human resources for LRMC, commented, "Because of their impersonal nature and broad focus, using popular online job boards was becoming near-taboo for our HR team. The NHCN allows our team to cut to the chase and identify specialized health care candidates in clinical fields, such as nurses, aides, radiologists, and respiratory therapists, and non-clinical positions, such as technology, marketing, and finance."

Pertinent to Payne’s comments, Barber explains that in reviewing April 2011 data, employers using the NHCN had an 89 percent better hiring efficiency, averaging a hire for every 90 visits to their career sites. In contrast, based on current benchmarks, the average from all Web-based sources is 826 visits per hire. "For health care recruiters, that results in a lot of precious time saved to fill positions," she said.

A recent study by the Smith Institute also showed that professionals who join an association are more focused on career development than their peers. Barber said, "They understand that associations provide the tools, knowledge and networking to help them advance. Statistics also show that they are among the top performers within their organizations. In short, they are "A" players and in high demand by employers."

To help NHCN association partners build successful career centers, Barber and her team provide them with sales and marketing support, targeted use of social media, and customized event strategies. Barber said, "As an example, we help state hospital associations create and host hiring events. A recent career fair in Denver, hosted by the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA), brought in 300 job seekers. Participating employers reported that 85 percent of the people attending were qualified candidates. That’s huge!"

According to Michael Scott, Vice President of Shared Services for CHA, "We were proud to partner with the NHCN to host an event that brought tremendous value to our members and our community at large."

Barber added, "There are more than 100,000 job boards currently in operation. To stand out in such a cluttered landscape, it has to be about more than just job postings. It requires products and services that facilitate recruiting ease, efficiency, and ROI. That’s what differentiates the NHCN and it’s why we’re growing so fast."

The American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration is a proud member of the NHCN. To access more information: Click Here. 

Amy Goble
Vice President
AHA Solutions, Inc.
An American Hospital Association Company
Chicago, IL
Member, ASHHRA