| It’s not raising people from the dead. But recruiting is all about raising lives – this means especially medical recruiters have the solemn responsibility to endeavor to be great. Average, just getting by, merely eventually filling jobs, isn’t good enough for their employers or the patients. This is a multi-entry blog regarding the examination of what is needed of today’s employer medical recruiters to excel in today’s dynamic and competitive marketplace: I: Claiming you love your employer and your community, and showing up for work every day, and eventually filling your open jobs, IS NOT ENOUGH. Because your work impacts lives, you owe your employer and its patients that you must want to be the very best you can be, and continually push yourself by growing your knowledge and skills – you have to keep growing and improving in this dynamic market where there is intense competition. This leads to your commitment that: II: You must grow your marketing and selling skills and commit to the fact that you are a real “sales professional” – you also need to know the difference between marketing and selling. You need to understand the competitive component - that you must not only sell candidates, but OUTSELL your competitors. You must understand that being efficient carves out tremendous waste, and actually improves your results. Your sincere commitment to be a “pro” will lead to: III: You must acquire and use the best possible tools to complement your efforts. All great sales professionals have great selling tools to help promote their message and make their entire sales protocol more efficient and effective – better tools add to the competitive advantages you MUST have. And finally, being a sales pro means: IV: You must commit to being a team player. The entire recruiting process requires your working with many personalities, and making the right connections (in and out of your company) to help you succeed – and often with people you may not like or choose to socialize with. In particularly the medical field, where there are acute shortages of certain professionals along with competition, being “average” is actually losing. Just filling a job isn’t necessarily doing it well. And staying isolated and not working with others nor seeking to improve by looking “outside the box,” is a recipe for failure. You also may not personally like some candidates. But it’s not about them, or you, is it? It’s about your patients, first, and then the lives you are also impacting whom you are recruiting, as well as for your employer’s long term health. Even if you think you are “successful” and your boss may be patting you on the back regularly, this is why you still need to focus on growing and getting better: In my sales training and consulting days, one of the first things I always came across when I arrived at my new assignment were the generally better sales professionals asking “Why do I need this guy? I’m already doing well.” First of all – I love that mentality, and I generally make friends with those people. The analogy I always used was to ask them if they were a great golfer and playing with wooden clubs, imagine if they never knew others were using today’s modern equipment – that person, despite their skills and championship mentality, would not be able to compete. Thus, a “champion” sales pro needs first to lose that mentality, and then these classic steps above, to become great, and with that a certain sense of humility, which is also needed to be the best in this business. I can promise you that following this series will provide you with what you need to succeed in today’s medical recruiting marketplace. Stay tuned for Part I! | 
