Medical recruiters have an interesting job. On the one hand is a list of clients in need of doctors and nurses to fill empty positions. On the other hand are those clinicians capable of meeting client needs. The recruiter has to make both happy. Moreover, he or she has a fiduciary responsibility to look out for the client’s best interests. The recruiter also tries to look out for applicants as well.

The ‘middleman’ nature of recruiting work makes the job very challenging. As a doctor, you would hope that your recruiters are more than up to the task. Why? Because a recruiter has the ability to change the course of your career – for better or worse.

They Find the Jobs

The first thing to acknowledge here is that recruiters are the ones who find the jobs. Let’s say you, as a doctor, work with two separate recruiters employed by two distinctly different staffing agencies. Both recruiters will probably have access to some of the same jobs. But they also probably have access to jobs listings exclusive from one another.

Why is this important? Because the jobs recruiters have to offer you will determine the course of your career at any given point in time. If they are not presenting the kinds of opportunities you want, you may have to look elsewhere.

They Line up the Interviews

Just like your recruiters find jobs, they also line up the interviews. Ideally, you would want to work with recruiters who know you fairly well. They know your experience and preferences. They know your temperament. They know you would likely do very well in one work environment but not so well in another. As such, they line up interviews with potential employers they believe will be a good fit.

If your recruiters don’t know you all that well, they may end up getting you interviews that really don’t work for you. This could lead to you not finding the job you want or, even worse, settling for a job that would be detrimental to your career.

Show Your Recruiters Some Love

Recruiters have different ways of doing things within their ranks. It is like any other job. Not every recruiter follows the exact same formula or works in exactly the same way. But the one thing they all have in common is this: they are all human beings with their own successes, failures, goals, and dreams. Do not make the mistake of treating you recruiters like machines.

Realize that the commitment your recruiters demonstrate toward you will greatly affect the kind of work they do on your behalf. So if you want recruiters you can trust to positively impact your career, you need to show them some love. You need to make sure they know how much you appreciate their hard work and effort.

This is one of the hidden secrets of working with medical recruiters. The most successful clinicians know this. Rather than seeing recruiters as adversaries or mere tools of the trade, savvy clinicians nurture the relationships they have with their recruiters. Those recruiters return the love by going the extra mile for their favorite doctors.

Whether you work as a locum tenens physician or you are just looking for a new position, understand that your recruiters have the power to completely change your career. Choose who you work with wisely. Make sure your recruiters are given the chance to get to know you. Most of all, treat them the way you want to be treated. The better you treat your recruiters, the better they will treat you in return.