Perusing the hundreds of résumés your company receives each time you publicize an open position is hard enough. Discovering and filtering out any fraudulent CVs also strains the resources of your human resources staff. Their extra effort remains important, however, because hiring someone who falsified their work or educational history is a risk no medical company wants to take.

A survey by the Society of Human Resources Managers noted that nearly half of all résumés contain falsifications. Let’s take a look at a few techniques to help your healthcare firm avoid the risk of résumé fraud.

A Deliberate Hiring Process is a Must

Once your HR team does its first sweep through a collection of new résumés, make sure any candidates who pass that first eye test get a thorough onceover before selecting any for interviews. If someone claims experience with medical software or any other piece of medical technology before it reached the market, there are probably other falsehoods on their CV.

While running a complete background check makes sense before extending a job offer, take the time to contact universities to verify any candidate’s educational background before the interviewing process. Remember, it takes time from your HR and managerial team to interview candidates, so only bring in anyone able to pass verification on some of their basic résumé information.

Reference and Background Checks remain a Vital Part of the Hiring Process

No matter in which part of the hiring process you perform them, reference and background checks remain a vital weapon in combating résumé fraud. Consider conducting quick reference checks before interviews to simply verify basic information. Weeding out false candidates is definitely possible earlier in the process, saving valuable time typically used to conduct interviews.

Once an offer is ready to be extended, make it contingent on the applicant passing a background check. An extensive check of the candidate’s work and educational history along with verifying the lack of criminal background (if alluded to on their application) is simply a must for any medical company. Make sure you use an accredited company to perform any background checks — you want the most thorough analysis of candidate’s history as possible before making a final hiring decision.

If your healthcare organization needs additional insight on the hiring process, speak with the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the nation’s top medical staffing agencies, we offer the vetted candidates able to contribute to your company. Schedule a meeting with us today!

A one-to-one interview with a recruiter isn’t as stressful as meeting face-to-face with a potential employer, but that doesn’t mean you should treat it lightly. Recruiters play an important role in ensuring your medical industry career stays on an upward trend, so it’s important to put yourself in the best possible light.

With a successful meeting in mind, here are a few tips to consider when interviewing with a recruiter.

Treat a Recruiter Interview just like Any Other

The most important tip when interviewing with a recruiter is to treat your interview just like you were interviewing with a company. Business dress is a must, as is clean hygiene. Don’t slack off on your mental preparation, and present a professional demeanor throughout the interview.

If you fail to treat this meeting seriously most recruiters won’t treat your candidacy seriously. Your job search efforts end up suffering as a result. A recruiter committed to you is a great ally in the employment market, so don’t waste their time by slacking off on the interview.

Be Honest about your Work History

Make sure you are upfront about your work history, especially the reasons you left previous jobs. Get any potential skeletons in your closet out into the open.

Honesty is vital, because the recruiter will be going to bat for you when talking with possible employers. Don’t leave them in a bad spot if a pre-employment background check gets a job offer rescinded.

Use a Recruiter Interview as an Opportunity for Feedback

An interview with a recruiter is a great chance to get feedback on your interviewing techniques, professional dress, and more. Even your résumé and cover letter template benefit from perusal by the experienced eye of a staffing professional. This helps makes sure you are truly prepared for when you actually interview with a medical company.

Leverage this opportunity for a dress rehearsal and take any advice from the recruiter to heart. Remember your professional success remains the ultimate goal for both of you, plus their reputation relies on presenting truly qualified candidates to companies. This gives you a better shot at quickly earning a job offer.

When searching for an experienced recruiter to partner with in the healthcare industry, look no further than Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we can help take your career to a new level. Schedule some time with us today!

When it comes to sharing valuable information in any industry — healthcare being no exception — an official mentoring program works wonders. It allows the transfer of knowledge from your most experienced workers to those first entering the field. When it comes to newer technology, sometimes this flow of information even gets reversed from younger nurses to your older staff.

Mentoring programs definitely help to close any skills gap at your healthcare organization. Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to begin a mentoring program for your nurses.

Encourage Senior Nurses to serve as Mentors

First off, gauge the interest your senior nursing professionals hold for serving as mentors in your organization’s program. Encourage participation by explaining to them how a mentorship program improves the level of patient care across your entire staff. Remind your veteran nurses that serving as mentors bodes well for their chances at advancing in their own careers.

Once you have a pool of nurses willing to be mentors, make sure they are able to cover a good cross-section of the nursing disciplines typically used in your medical office or hospital. Providing a high standard of patient care is your ultimate goal.

Organize and Schedule Mentorship Activities

It is important to fully organize the mentorship program. Schedule times convenient to both the mentors and those being mentored that won’t conflict with their regular work schedule. Consider making mentoring sessions a lunchtime activity to encourage higher participation.

Track attendance at each session, leveraging the use of a spreadsheet or simple database for reporting purposes. This lets you compare the performance of your junior nurses against the mentoring they’ve received. Improving the efficacy of your mentoring program is something worth aiming for.

Publicize the Mentoring Program Internally

Once everything is in place for the mentoring program, it is important to publicize its availability and remind your newer nurses that their participation in the program is encouraged, especially on sessions covering their areas of weakness. Either one-to-one sessions or one mentor working with multiple nurses are possible, although in the latter case, ensure mentors are able to use AV equipment, like projectors, for the best possible session quality.

Your new mentoring program will soon improve the quality of your nursing staff, while developing a sense of camaraderie and teamwork.

When your organization needs additional insight on building a top notch nursing team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we offer the quality candidates able to make a positive impact on your healthcare company. Talk with us as soon as possible!

Your company has a hiring need and is spending the time and resources to bring in a new employee or two. After a few weeks of publicizing the open position, the number of résumés received by your human resources team remains paltry. If you are encountering difficulty in finding enough quality candidates, maybe your job postings aren’t truly effective?

With that in mind, here are a few tips to help improve your company’s job postings.

Clear Job Titles are a Must

Clearly state the job title at the top of the job posting. Additionally, stay away from clichés like “Rock Star.” Healthcare workers looking for a job probably won’t use “rock star” in a search string.

Leverage Bullet Points to make your Posting easier to Read

If your job postings only include paragraphs, some potential candidates might simply skip them. Be sure to use bullet points with clear, quick-hitting phrases so a reader can see if the job is right for them at a quick glance. Highlight the job requirements, roles, and your company’s benefit package using bullet points.

On the other hand, don’t write the entire job posting using this style. A mix between bullets and paragraphs works best.

State “Must Have” Abilities

Be sure to state all the must have abilities in a bullet point in the job listing. Include the amount of necessary experience as well. This helps to narrow down the number of résumés from unqualified candidates.

Don’t forget the Graphics and Company Logo

HR industry statistics show that job postings with a company logo or other graphics receive around 20 percent more applications compared to postings with only text. Be sure to add your company logo to any job posting — online or print. Consider video as well for online postings; they boast a 34 percent higher application rate.

Use Search Keywords in your Post

Quality search keywords are a must for online job postings. Perform keyword research before authoring the job ad, and make sure you include them in the post. It is important to put yourself in the shoes of a job seeker and use any keywords they would search for.

If your organization needs additional help in finding the top healthcare industry talent, reach out to Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the nation’s top medical staffing agencies, we offer the vetted candidates able to make a difference for your firm. Schedule some time with us today!

Your company went through the hiring process, perused hundreds of résumés, interviewed the best candidates, and thought you made the right hiring decision. After a few months, your new employee doesn’t appear to be working out. Maybe it’s absenteeism, a bad attitude, poor performance, or some other issue?

Let’s take a closer look at the typical kinds of bad hires and what your organization can do to ensure it makes the right choice when interviewing for a new position.

Some Typical Poor New Employees

A myriad reasons factor into the poor performance of a new hire. Maybe the person feels their job is only a stepping-stone to a better position elsewhere? Some new hires arrive with their own prima donna complex, making them difficult to work with in the team environment vital in the healthcare industry.

Other bad hires exhibit different and disturbing sides of their personality your HR team never saw when interviewing them. These kinds of employees are simply bad for any medical organization. Other more inflexible workers won’t take any advice or suggestions to improve their performance.

The bottom line is poor hires are bad in any industry, but especially so in healthcare. There has to be a better way to spot them during interviewing before the hiring decision gets made.

Your company went through the hiring process, perused hundreds of résumés, interviewed the best candidates, and thought you made the right hiring decision. After a few months, your new employee doesn’t appear to be working out. Maybe it’s absenteeism, a bad attitude, poor performance, or some other issue?

Let’s take a closer look at the typical kinds of bad hires and what your organization can do to ensure it makes the right choice when interviewing for a new position.

Some Typical Poor New Employees

A myriad reasons factor into the poor performance of a new hire. Maybe the person feels their job is only a stepping-stone to a better position elsewhere? Some new hires arrive with their own prima donna complex, making them difficult to work with in the team environment vital in the healthcare industry.

Other bad hires exhibit different and disturbing sides of their personality your HR team never saw when interviewing them. These kinds of employees are simply bad for any medical organization. Other more inflexible workers won’t take any advice or suggestions to improve their performance.

The bottom line is poor hires are bad in any industry, but especially so in healthcare. There has to be a better way to spot them during interviewing before the hiring decision gets made.

Improving the Decision Process to filter out Bad Hires

Even when your company has an urgent need for a new employee, it is vital not to rush the hiring process. Make sure to dig deeply into the work history of every candidate. Check references and research their social media history to get a better reading on their potential performance on your team.

Make sure you look closely at the job responsibilities of your open position and question any candidate whether they performed similar duties in their career. This is another topic worthy of a deep discussion with their references. Don’t assume a candidate can do a task they’ve never done previously.

Personality inventories are a useful tool to truly find out what makes a candidate tick. Consider leveraging them during interviews and when the final decision arrives. Ultimately, you need to ensure the candidate is a good fit for the position no matter the urgent nature of your staffing need.

If your healthcare organization needs help in growing a top notch team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. One of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we provide the vetted candidates able to get the job done. Meet with us at your earliest convenience.

Improving the Decision Process to filter out Bad Hires

Even when your company has an urgent need for a new employee, it is vital not to rush the hiring process. Make sure to dig deeply into the work history of every candidate. Check references and research their social media history to get a better reading on their potential performance on your team.

Make sure you look closely at the job responsibilities of your open position and question any candidate whether they performed similar duties in their career. This is another topic worthy of a deep discussion with their references. Don’t assume a candidate can do a task they’ve never done previously.

Personality inventories are a useful tool to truly find out what makes a candidate tick. Consider leveraging them during interviews and when the final decision arrives. Ultimately, you need to ensure the candidate is a good fit for the position no matter the urgent nature of your staffing need.

If your healthcare organization needs help in growing a top notch team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. One of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we provide the vetted candidates able to get the job done. Meet with us at your earliest convenience.

When building your professional network, don’t forget to reach out to any of your college classmates working in the same industry as yours. This rule especially holds true in the world of healthcare. Fellow alumni — even if you didn’t attend school at the same time — are a great resource for finding out about open positions or new innovations potentially affecting your career.

Interested in finding an alumnus willing to serve as your professional mentor? Let’s take a closer look at how to use alumni to take your career to the next level.

Professional Insight through a Shared School History

Alumni working in the medical history are especially useful in a mentorship role since they probably went through a similar experience in college as you — maybe even the same classes and professors. A shared scholastic connection definitely helps them feel a measure of empathy for your career efforts. The bottom line is alumni can make up a vital part of your professional network.

Finding Alumni for your Professional Network

It is easy to reach out to any college classmates for professional networking purposes, assuming you’ve stayed in contact with them over the years. Reaching out on a social network like LinkedIn or Facebook usually works. On the other hand, finding alumni who didn’t attend college at the same time as you takes a little more legwork.

Check with your college’s career center to see if they maintain a database of previous graduates. It definitely helps if the data is searchable by degree, current industry, and location. This gives you a great starting point for finding potential candidates to help your career prospects.

Additionally, your school’s alumni association probably maintains a similar database of graduates if the career center wasn’t helpful. Maybe the information is hosted online for convenient searching? Check to see if the alumni association has any chapters located close to you, and attend a meeting to do some face-to-face networking.

Finally, check LinkedIn to see if there are any Groups for alumni from your college. Once you’ve made the right connections, use these alumni as sources for career advice or even news about medical companies hiring in your location or elsewhere if you are willing to relocate.

If you need any advice on career development in the healthcare industry, talk with the knowledgeable recruiters at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we can help you grow as a professional. Meet with us today!

Considering the cost of both the hiring process and onboarding new employees, it is vital to make the right decision when it comes to candidates in the medical industry. On the other hand, if your firm strongly feels it picked the right candidate in the first place, does any failure indicate a problem with training or management? The operational efficiency of any medical company depends on new employees quickly making a positive impact.

With trying to prevent this kind of mistake in mind, here are a few reasons why new medical employees fail unrelated to their own capabilities.

Recruitment didn’t match Needs of the Organization

In some cases, the hiring process moves too quickly, without enough communication between the team with the staffing need and the HR personnel responsible for placing the ad for an open position. The new employee arrives with a different set of abilities than what is needed by the company. Before the end of their probationary period, it is obvious a mismatch happened.

Poor (or Non-existent) Training Program

Inadequate training is another common reason for the failure of new employees. Medical organizations need training programs to be tailored for each position in the office. This includes valuable time spent on software applications and newer medical technology.

Encouraging your employees to become certified in the variety of technologies used in the office helps to mitigate any skills gap at your firm, while helping new hires come up to speed as quickly as possible.

Confusing Reporting Lines and Communication

Some new employees fail simply because the reporting lines at their company were unclear. A new worker trying to deal with different managers each focused on their own priorities becomes frustrated quickly. It is important to develop (and enforce) a clear management structure, and ensure new workers report to only one manager.

No Encouragement or Constructive Criticism

If, after a few weeks, a new employee is struggling to carry their weight around the office, they need to be encouraged and receive a measure of constructive criticism. Simply terminating a worker at this point wastes the entire hiring process to date. Once again, a training program is a vital aspect of any new employee’s probationary period.

If your company needs assistance building a top notch team, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we offer the vetted candidates able to make a positive difference for your company. Speak with us at your earliest convenience.

Whether you are just starting out in your medical career or if you boast years of experience in the industry, maintaining an online professional profile is a must. When it comes time to look for a new position, interested hospitals and other healthcare organizations use the Internet to find qualified candidates. Those without a significant professional presence suffer compared to those who are active online.

With boosting your career prospects in mind, here are three tips for developing your own online medical professional profile.

Leverage your LinkedIn Account

Of course, you need to treat your LinkedIn profile as an online version of your résumé. If, for some reason, you don’t have a LinkedIn account, go create one now. It is the preeminent social network for professionals, including those working in the medical industry.

LinkedIn offers you opportunities to take your profile beyond simply a virtual CV. Become active in the variety of LinkedIn Groups related to your medical specialty; this gives you the opportunity to network with other professionals beyond those with whom you’ve worked. Endorse your connections’ abilities and write recommendations for exemplary coworkers in the hopes they return the favor.

Finally, write interesting and relevant articles on LinkedIn to begin to position yourself as a thought leader in the industry. This is a great way to help your career take off.

Start your own Medical Industry Blog

If you enjoyed writing articles on your LinkedIn profile, consider setting up a blog related to the healthcare industry. This gives you the opportunity to enhance your online reputation as an industry expert. Be sure to share your articles on LinkedIn and other social networks, like Twitter and Facebook — using a Facebook Page instead of your personal account.

Maintain a Professional Air Online

As the final note on the previous tip mentions, setting up a Facebook Page related to your online medical profile is a smart call, as you don’t want your personal Facebook activities to influence your professional reputation. The same point applies with Twitter. If you already have a Twitter account, create a second one specifically for your medical industry postings.

Following these three tips helps develop a professional profile to put your healthcare industry career on an upward track.

If you need any additional insight on developing your career prospects, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the top staffing agencies in the medical industry, a partnership with us makes perfect sense. Schedule some time with us as soon as possible.

One great way to position yourself as an expert in the healthcare industry is by publishing your own medical articles. You don’t necessarily need to be a Hemingway-level writer, as the ability to clearly communicate concepts and ideas is the essential requirement. You are able to publish your insights on your own blog or even on social media sites, like LinkedIn.

Once you grow your readership, post your availability for a position in the medical field, and watch companies fight over your services. Interested? Let’s see how to make it happen!

Hone your Writing Skills

Before setting up a blog, write a few articles about industry topics of interest to you. Have some friends proofread them for grammar and overall readability. When you are ready to publish your blog, it helps to have a small portfolio of articles for its “grand opening.”

Choose a Blogging Platform

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform. If you know how to use Microsoft Word or similar word processor, you won’t have a problem publishing with WordPress. You are able to host a blog for free on WordPress.com, or if you want to pay for your own domain name and website, the WordPress software installs easily; giving you more control over features, layout, and even advertising revenue.

If you enjoy a large professional network on LinkedIn, publishing your articles there is another option, especially if you want to be noticed in the medical industry. Sharing your own blog articles on the site is a must if you decide on using WordPress or another blogging platform.

Promote your Blog

Once you are publishing blog posts, be sure to promote your activities on medical industry specific websites and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Learn how to intelligently use hashtags, SEO, and other social promotion techniques to help your articles get noticed.

When it comes time to look for a new position in the healthcare industry, post your availability on your blog and make sure to put the blog’s URL on your résumé and cover letter template. Now interested medical companies are able to learn more about your skills by reading your articles and other posts.

If you need additional insight on finding a great job in the healthcare industry, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. One of the top medical staffing agencies in the country, we can help further your career. Schedule a meeting with us today!

Considering the increasing complexity of the medical industry — advancements in technology and patient care being two obvious examples — hospitals and doctors offices want nurses with a higher level of clinical expertise. Clinical ladder programs are helping nurses improve their skills by becoming more involved in aspects of healthcare normally reserved for those professionals in a leadership role.

These types of programs are a great way to improve the quality of care at your medical establishment. Let’s take a closer look at some ideas to make clinical ladder programs successful and how they help nurses — and their employers — advance the practice of healthcare.

Let your Nurses run Educational In-Service Programs

If any of your nurses recently received relevant training, have them host an in-service program where they present that material to the rest of your staff. The other nurses benefit from exposure to the content, while the presenting nurse gains additional experience in public speaking and preparing the course material.

Make it a point to hold these in-services regularly, while letting any interested nurse present their own topic of interest. This is great way to improve the overall knowledge base at your hospital or office.

Encourage your Staff to acquire Certifications

Achieving a national certification in a specialty helps a nurse’s career as well as the level of patient care your team provides. This also nicely ties into previous point about in-service programs. Encourage recently certified nurses to mentor their coworkers and host in-services so all your staff are also able to earn certifications.

Project Improvement Initiatives are a Plus

Continuous process improvement is a goal of nearly all companies in the business world. The medical industry should be no different. Create a quarterly project improvement initiative at your medical establishment and let your nursing staff play a key role in its development, implementation, and after the fact analysis.

Creating a clinical ladder program and leveraging these three ideas as part of the program helps your nurses do a better job, and more importantly, patient care improves as a result.

If your medical organization needs additional insight on building a winning team focused on quality patient care, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. As one of the nation’s top healthcare staffing agencies, we offer the vetted candidates able to contribute to your team. Schedule a meeting with us at your earliest convenience.