Discover how Search Consultant Tatum Geller helped an FQHC hire two pediatricians despite below-market pay by targeting mission-driven candidates, highlighting work-life balance, and keeping every candidate engaged from first contact to start date.
As easy as our recruiters make the job look, physician recruiting isn’t always a slam dunk. More often, opportunities come with pluses and minuses that a recruiter must balance between compensation, call schedule, community, and a candidate’s motivations. A pair of recent pediatrician placements in Monterey, California, vividly illustrate how a talented recruiter can harmonize the highs and lows by sourcing candidates whose needs meet the opportunity, while coaching clients to give the candidates the care and attention that money can’t buy.
Monterey is known for its dramatic coastline and rich fishing history. Appropriately, this placement came with a catch: a Federally Qualified Health Center offering a salary far below market in a city where the average home price exceeds $1MM. Because the government sets compensation, there was scant room for negotiation. The role required a mission-driven individual who wanted to work with an underserved population and wasn’t motivated by money.
“I began my search by targeting candidates who had ties to the area,” Search Consultant Tatum Geller explained, noting that she focused on the position’s favorable work-life balance, including a four-day workweek, no call, no weekends, and flexible hours to offset the low compensation. She also prioritized pitching prospects seeking visa sponsorship while being judicious about engaging immigration attorneys who billed by the hour and faced challenging immigration policies.
Work with What You’ve Got
“In this situation, you have to be patient and be willing to work with what you have to overcome the obstacles rather than trying to maneuver them,” Tatum advised. “The last thing I wanted to do was to over-consult and ask the client to make allowances they had no control over.”
One aspect they could control was how well they treated candidates. “I explained to my contacts at the FQHC that we need to be very personable, very likable, and very responsive to keep the candidates engaged,” Tatum shared. “They were hyperaware when we had a great candidate, and they did everything they could to keep them as engaged as possible.”
It was a sound strategy that resulted in two placements.
Leveraging the Value of Visa Sponsorship
Tatum reached the first hire, Dr. H, through an email campaign on Health eCareers. She was working in Texas but wanted to relocate to the Monterey area to be closer to family. She was drawn to working with underserved communities and, as an immigrant from Syria, needed visa sponsorship, which she saw as a fair trade-off for the compensation. Tatum forwarded her profile to the FQHC’s team, who were eager to interview her and willing to engage their immigration attorneys on her behalf. She signed within weeks of getting the offer, but that was just the beginning. Tatum kept Dr. H interested and engaged as the FQHC worked on securing her visa, which took nine months. Tatum diligently provided updates, maintaining Dr. H’s confidence in both the process and the FQHC’s commitment to her until her visa was ultimately approved and she was ready to start.
Responsiveness Gets Results
Tatum’s pitch promising a slower pace of work in a beautiful corner of California was just what her next hire ordered. Dr. K was wrapping up her residency at a busy practice in Texas, where she typically treated 40 patients a day, when she saw Tatum’s email. She was looking for opportunities in California, as her husband was finishing up his residency there as well. Dr. K was tired from her intense training program, but still wanted enough on her plate to keep busy. The workload sounded like the perfect balance, and the thought of a four-day work week with no call, weekends, or newborn rounding was very appealing. She was especially excited that she could spend her spare time with her family that lives in the Monterey area. As it turned out, she had plans to visit them and called Tatum to ask whether an onsite interview could be arranged while she was there.
The client moved quickly to schedule the onsite and get her booked for meetings. “They kept her continuously engaged,” Tatum shared. “If she had any questions, they responded to her within a couple of hours. I think they showed her a lot of commitment from the jump.”
After the interview, Dr. K’s mind was made up. Despite having more than 10 offers to consider, her search was over. “She had no interest in looking anywhere else or shopping around. There was such a strong mutual interest between her, the role, and the team. She was the perfect puzzle piece.”
Dr. K started ten days after signing and would do her orientation at the same time as Dr. H. Despite the challenges to the role, Tatum found many physicians whose motivations matched the opportunity and ultimately placed two pediatricians who saw nothing but the sunny side of continuing their careers on the California coast, where they could serve a community in need.
If you have a tough-to-fill position, the team at Jackson Physician Search has the strategy, tools, and expertise to secure the right candidate. Reach out today to learn more.
