With healthcare worker burnout and shortages across the country, it’s a great time to be a healthcare recruiter. Because of the demand for medical professionals, including travel nurses, agencies like AB Staffing are seeking recruiters to fill the positions that are available. The fact remains that there are still patients in hospitals who need the quality care of our providers. If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a healthcare recruiter, we’d love to talk to you!
Below, we explore why it is a great time to be a healthcare recruiter.
Let’s start with what the role of a recruiter is for the healthcare industry.
As with other industries, the healthcare recruiter role includes finding candidates to fill open positions. At AB Staffing, we contract with hospitals, community healthcare organizations, and Indian Health Services facilities across the country. We support nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers every step of the way from the first phone call through the end of their contract. As a healthcare recruiter, you are the point person for our providers, helping to answer any questions they may have.
Growth of the Healthcare Industry
Healthcare and travel nurse recruiting is in high demand due to the state of the healthcare industry. According to STAT, prior to the pandemic, one-third of nurses reported burnout and the turnover rate was 17%. Since the pandemic, burnout is approximately 50% with a 20-30% turnover rate. That’s just for nurses, not doctors, respiratory therapists, allied health professionals, and others. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the growth for healthcare worker demand will be up 16% from 2020 through 2030, the largest growth of any industry in the same period.
There is high demand and low supply for travel nurses and others which results in staffing shortages. The solution is for facilities to bring in travelers to fill the void and currently there are thousands of openings.
Rewards of Being a Healthcare Recruiter
As a recruiter, you are helping people find work in a geographic place they love. It is important to understand why someone wants to be a traveler and what their goals are, whether a career goal, living in a new place or a combination of the two. Not only that, you are supporting hospitals in need and communities in need of medical care. In some areas, medical personnel is needed for simple patient care like annual physicals and vaccinations, while other areas need additional help because of pandemic surges.
AB Staffing healthcare recruiter Jessica tells us, her “favorite part of being a healthcare recruiter is when I can fulfill a dream of a travel nurse. I have seen people purchase things they’ve always wanted or taken trips to spend more time with family and friends. I have had them tell me they have been able to pay for the child’s college because they have worked with us. My favorite story is when I was able to place a Cardiac Nurse Practitioner in a dream job at Johns Hopkins. It had been on her bucket list, and it was a great feeling to be able to deliver the news to her. Helping people make their dreams come true makes the hard work worth it.”
We’ve had recruiters join us from retail, from the restaurant business, and several that wanted to get into healthcare because of family members that were nurses or other healthcare professionals.
Whatever your WHY for becoming a recruiter, we appreciate you and compensate accordingly. While your office hours may be more than the usual 8-5, it will pay off when you start to put clinicians to works. Providers may reach out to you outside or normal business hours on the evenings and weekends because they need you and it is your responsibility to help them through any issues they may have. Along with the excitement of hiring, there will also be times when you must fire someone too.
How much can you earn as a healthcare recruiter?
In the beginning, your focus will be on making connections and building a group of healthcare providers that are interested in traveling. After your first year, earnings will be roughly $90,000 + based on how many people you have working for you. We pride ourselves on giving our recruiters, and the rest of our team, the tools they need to effectively work. With these tools and your networking experience, the earning potential is unlimited. We currently offer our recruiters a high base salary and uncapped commissions.
The time to consider becoming a healthcare recruiter is now. With the high demand for medical professionals, earning potential for yourself, and the need for providers across the country, it is an exciting time to shift to healthcare.
