Staffing Robot - Healthcare Staffing Technology, Design & Marketing Blog

Healthcare professionals: Applying for a job in 2009 with a resume from 1999?

When was the last time you looked at your resume?  Still using the skills you learned in school – 1 page, 3 bullet points per section, use words like “responsible?” 

Today, when it comes to screening healthcare professionals, recruiters for hospitals and staffing suppliers alike deal with a constant stream of information.  Even though there is a shortage of healthcare professionals, competition for nursing jobs and other healthcare professions can be significant for popular locations and hospitals.  So, how do you stand out and stay relevant?

Of course things like format and style of your resume are important, as well as the basic content about your credentials, skills, qualifications, work history, and education. 

However, for many recruiters in the healthcare staffing industry, the days of reading resumes off of a fax machine are over.  Most of these people now rely on job boards, social networking sites and make use of applicant tracking software.  This means that there is a new item critical to making a successful resume:

Keywords.

What are keywords?
In this context, keywords are specific words or terms used by employers to find the right candidate match in the same way you perform a search on Google with specific words.  When recruiters are making use of such technologies mentioned above they are searching for resumes with keywords appropriate to the skill match of the candidates they are looking for.  Therefore, the more keywords you use and the more accurate those keywords are, the more likely it is your resume will come up in the searches performed by these potential employers.

For example, if you search on the word "nurse" in any job search engine, you will get an overwhelming number of results returned.  However, if you search for the phrase "registered nurse intensive care unit” you're results are much fewer and more specific.

Who’s got the keys?
Knowing what keywords to use is easy.  Just look at a diverse sampling of job postings from employers posting jobs similar to the one you are looking for.   Each of these postings will have keywords for skills, qualifications, and types of credentials for the specific heatlhcare professionals they are looking for.  Make a list of all the keywords you see in each job posting and start keeping track of the duplicate ones.  The more commonly used words are most likely your most valuable keywords.  This will give you a good idea of a common set of keywords to use when creating your resume and cover letters.  Yes, you do need a cover letter and you need to use keywords in there as well.

Stay current.
Additionally, keep up with industry trends and topics by reading relevant healthcare blogs and publications.  Follow specific thought leaders or organizations and be sure you are keeping up with the latest hot topics, policies, changes and lingo in your industry.  Doing this will also keep you up to speed on current keyword usage.

Getting noticed in the stream of healthcare professionals looking for jobs can be a difficult task.  However, following tips like this will help you stay on top of the game.

Twitter your staffing events

It was great to see that the Staffing Industry Analysts experimented with Twitter for keeping their members informed as to the events happening at the Executive Forum last week.  I wasn’t able to attend but I appreciated getting bits (140 characters) of information via Twitter by following different SIA employees.

Today, Hinda Chalew of the SIA posted a blog about the Executive Forum’s Twitter experiment.  In this post she talked about some of the benefits and some of the difficulties of the process.  Having seen Twitter effectively deployed at several other conferences I felt it might be helpful to post some tips on how to improve the process and inform others of how to use twitter at their event.

Hinda suggests that it was difficult trying to “tweet” all the appropriate sound bites and keep everyone informed.  There's an easier way of sharing information via Twitter without taking the task on alone. The whole purpose of social media is to allow all the members to participate and add content.

1. Have a Twitter page dedicated to the event.  For example "execforum" and have people follow that page in addition to following individuals putting on the event.


2. When people "tweet" have them tweet with hashtags.  Hashtags allow people to follow tweets associated with a specific event.  What’s a hashtag?  It simply means you put the # sign in front of key words or the title of the event.  So, you could have everyone begin their tweets with “#sia exec forum.”


Example tweet: #siaexecforum Barry Asin's keynote on staffing and the economy is awesome right now!

Then, using Twitter Search, you can search for #siaexecforum and you will see all associated tweets.

3. Create separate event titles for each session.  For example “Exec Forum Keynote” or “How to sell against the giants.”  During each session have people in the session tweet their comments (with hashtags in front of the event title) about the session.  Make sure you have the speaker or moderator inform everyone in the session about the process.  In addition, you can even have twitter search displayed from a projector with the appropriate hashtags and conference title so everyone can see them in real time.


4. Finally, don’t forget about the social parts of the event.  People can tweet (with hashtags) about the cocktail party or where groups of people are going to dinner or even where the after party might be.

Twitter can be very effective for engaging your audience and members at any event in the healthcare staffing industry.  It’s great to see the SIA getting in on it.

Vendor Management Services (VMS) – What’s in a name? [pt. 1]

Vendor Management is certainly nothing new.  However, being a consistently growing segment in healthcare staffing and watching the dust recently settle from the bankruptcy of Chimes, there is still plenty to talk about. 

VMS:  Vendor Management Services?  Vendor Management Systems?  Does that include Managed Service Providers?  What about Group Purchasing Organizations?  Exactly.

Wikipedia defines Vendor Management as:
Vendor Management System (VMS) is an Internet-enabled, often Web-based application that acts as a mechanism for business to manage and procure staffing services – temporary, and, in some cases, permanent placement services – as well as outside contract or contingent labor.

Personally, I prefer to refer to VMS as Vendor Management Services.  The reason being there are several models of VMS, some of which have nothing to do with systems, but all of which have to do with services.  These varying models all still play an active role in the healthcare staffing industry and each provides their own value proposition.

VMS refers to a single channel of management services that make working with outside staffing suppliers more efficient.  A VMS company streamlines client communication with these vendors, improves the quality of staff they receive and automates overall workflow functions involved in the staffing process.  Such services began to appear in industries outside of healthcare staffing in the late-1980s to the mid-1990s.  However, VMS only started showing up in the healthcare staffing industry in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s.

Technology VMS solutions emerged in this industry soon after as evolutionary steps beyond the Master Service Provider (MSP) or Vendor-On-Premise (VOP) models, offering technology as the basis of their solution.  These days, when speaking with hospitals in regard to VMS, I find the question isn’t whether or not they will adopt a VMS strategy – the question is which one.

Vendor Management in the healthcare staffing industry has had its successes and its failures and there are just as many people who think Vendor Management is the best thing to happen to the industry as there are those who would gladly push such proponents into any nearby large body of water.  My intent with this 5 part series is to summarize the four primary models of VMS strategies currently being adopted by hospital and discuss some of the opportunities and challenges of each model, their adoption rates and provide a space for additional conversation on the topic. 

The 4 Models of VMS strategies that I will cover include:

1. Managed Service Providers (MSPs)/Vendor On Premise (VOPs)
2. Group Purchasing Organization (GPO)/Hospital Association (HA) Management
3. VMS – Technology Solutions
4. Internal Resource Pool Management

Related Posts:
Vendor Management Services (VMS) – What’s in a name? [pt. 2]
Vendor Management Services (VMS) – What’s in a name? [pt. 3]
Vendor Management Services (VMS) – What’s in a name? [pt. 4]
Vendor Management Services (VMS) – What’s in a name? [pt. 5]

Trying To Find A Business (Or Just Any) Use For Twitter? [pt. 2]

In my post earlier this week I showed you how to set up a Twitter account.  Now I’ll show you how it can benefit you as a hospital or staffing supplier in the healthcare staffing industry. 

First, like all marketing efforts you have to think about your objective and strategy regarding how you will promote yourself or your company on Twitter.  You need to also consider how you will provide some kind of value to the community. 

Twitter is a social networking site that can certainly be used for business/marketing purposes.  However, many people using Twitter aren’t on there for business reasons.  Therefore, coming off as simply trying to promote your business without any strategy will ensure you’re treated like the guy at the party who won’t stop talking about himself.

Here are some goals/strategies you might want to consider:

• Build Brand Awareness
• Gain new customers
• Improve or expand upon your company image
• Monitor the activities of your competitors
• Measure customer satisfaction

Here are some suggested promotional ideas:

• Post linked items to articles on your website or other relevant sites
• Create surveys on how to better your business
• Share new job openings or opportunities
• Address customer complaints
• Offer discounts or rewards
• Show people how to use/benefit from your service
• Answer business related questions
• Promote company events
• Announce new product/service lines

Essentially, just because you heard about Twitter from your kids first doesn't mean that the fundamental rules of marketing don't apply.  The most important thing to do is to listen to your followers and respond with content that is relevant, engaging and meets a need.   If you do this correctly you will build relationships and gain followers.  Ultimately this will result in the promotion of your business by not just you and your company, but also your followers!  What better promotion is there?

The following video will show you how to get some business use (new leads, recruiting healthcare professionals, etc.) out of Twitter for your hosptial or staffing agency by making use of another application called TweetDeck.  You can get similar functionality from other apps like Twhirl but I think Tweetdeck is the best.

Related posts:

Trying To Find A Business (Or Just Any) Use For Twitter? [pt. 1]

Are you prepared for the next downturn?

Unfortunately I could not make the Staffing Industry Executive Forum this year.  Having a 3 month old has grounded many of my travel plans (he’s worth it).  After speaking with a few of the attendees it sounds like it was a good conference.  I’m sure there were many interesting discussions surrounding the economy.

This morning, the SIA sent out an email summarizing some of the highlights of the event including Barry Asins keynote address where he informed the crowd of an expected decline in total staffing industry revenue of 12.5% in 2009.

Another event mentioned was a panel on the history of staffing.  During this panel discussion, William Stoller, founder and vice chairman of Express Employment Professionals, advised that staffing suppliers need to start planning for the next recession after the next uptick.  While other people disagreed with this suggestion I actually found it quite profound.

Over the years I’ve noticed that companies in the healthcare staffing industry always seem a bit shocked when there is a downturn.  For many of them, I’ve found that their strategy during these times is to simply hang on.  Then, once everything has magically righted itself – they’re back to business as usual.

I would suggest a better strategy than simply hanging on.  Something more in line with Mr. Stoller’s comment.  Instead of just preparing for your business to pick back up again, it seems prudent to have plans in place to better weather the next storm.

Such plans may include:

• Diversify your business.  Offering new products and services.
• Finding other niches and establishing a foothold, particular those that do well during downturns:  <hint> Direct Placement </hint>.
• Remain nimble. Ensure your processes are flexible and allow you to move and adjust with the changes in the economy.  Automation is key here.  The more you automate the quicker you can understand trends and make necessary adjustments.

Are you preparing for the next downturn or just waiting out the storm?

Trying to find a business (or just any) use for Twitter? [pt. 1]

I’m guessing you never thought you would use the word “tweet” when referring to any aspect of your business.  But for many of us this word has become part of our everyday vocabulary. 

For those of you that haven’t heard of Twitter (no it is not the cool new electronic toy your child wants for Christmas), it is a service that lets people communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages that are limited to 140 characters.  You can post these messages directly on twitter or with a text message or mobile app through your cell phone.

Seems strange yes?  I thought so at first too.  It took me about 30 days to figure out Twitter but once I did it became an indispensable part of my life.  It’s all about connecting to a community or group of friends and participating in order to ask questions, share information or advice, post news articles, self-promote, communicate your whereabouts or activities, or make new acquaintances. 

Here is a good beginners guide to Twitter if you want to understand more.

I’ve been using Twitter for several months now but have been recently intrigued by the potential business opportunities for the healthcare staffing industry that exist with Twitter.  Business opportunities with 140 character posts?  Yes.  Read on.

I created a Staffing Robot Twitter Page only a few short months ago and already I'm following 235 members and have 128 followers.  Many of these people are participants in the healthcare staffing industry – hospitals, staffing suppliers, healthcare professionals, etc.  By connecting with these people I’ve been able to get helpful industry information such as: learning about innovative hospitals, finding suppliers posting job openings for healthcare professionals and finding nurses frustrated with trying to find a job.

Sounding more interesting?  I hope so.

So your next question might be how did I find all of these members on Twitter?  The answer is I’m magic and not going to tell you.  At least not until part 2 of this post so stay tuned.  For now though, I will show you (in the video below) how to set up a Twitter account for your hospital, medical staffing agency or for yourself.

Related posts:

Trying to find a business (or just any) use for Twitter? [pt. 2]

Company Soundbite [Tech] - Amistaff Healthcare Technology

Amistaff Healthcare Technology
High Point, North Carolina
Ron Gonzalez – CEO

Company Sound Bite:   
Software solutions provider to healthcare industry improving employee workflow.

Q&A:
How do you feel your technology helps the healthcare staffing industry?   
“Our products automate the mundane tasks recruiters and staffing employees perform everyday.  They also standardize and apply high quality assurance features to daily work flows.”

What unique/innovative solutions do your products provide?   
“Competency testing for screening Healthcare Professionals and scheduling software that helps automate the on-boarding process of staff by allowing candidates to electronically sign their documents.”

How do you see your product offerings in 5 years?   
“We will place an even higher focus on our testing products and expect our testing platform to have significant adoption by hospitals across the country.”

How do you see the technology itself evolving and changing?   
“I think user interfaces will become increasingly easier to work with.  In addition, I think we will have much faster technology and improved communication abilities as Internet speeds continue to improve."

How Does Technology Affect Your Day-to-Day Business?   
“Today’s business technologies give business owners great insight into their business.  You don't have to wait for weeks or months to get necessary and relevant information.  You can now access this information in real time and start forecasting and trending your business data in a more accurate and efficient manner.”

How do You Use Social Networking Sites to Further Your Business?   
“We have pages on Facebook and Twitter but we haven't yet tapped into the full potential of social networking sites.  We recognize the need to do so, however and we're making plans for it.”

What Events/Trade Shows Will You Attend in 2009:   
AONE, ANCC Magnet Conference, Staffing Industry Analysts Executive Forum, Healthcare Staffing Summit, Staff Development Educators, NurseTesting 2.0 Developer Summit

Stats:
Date Started:    September, 2004
# of Employees:    36

Products Delivered:    
NurseTesting.com, Blue Sky Medical Staffing Software, eSig Tek

Services Offered:   
Training, Support

Products/Services Sold To:   
Hospitals and Healthcare Staffing Firms

Product Platform(s):    Cold Fusion & .Net
Exclusively Healthcare?:    Yes
Regions Serviced:        USA, India, Korea

Technology Systems Used Internally:   
SalesForce.com, SuccessFactors, Quickbooks

Favorite System Used:    SalesForce
Why?:               
“The Dashboard feature is the best.  It gives you a snapshot feature of how your business is running. I even have it running on my Iphone so I can access it whenever I need to.”

Favorite Personal Technology or Website:     Facebook

Not participating is NOT the answer

I don’t know Gregg Dourgarian and I’ve only recently heard of his company TempWorks.  I applaud him for getting out there with a blog and his video tutorials to promote his company.  These are great examples of how to further technology and participation in the healthcare staffing industry.

But I stop there with the props.

In his post titled “How to Fix the Monster Problem of Candidate Poaching” the suggestion made is antithetical to all current theories about openness and participation in the web. These types of suggestions actually take us backward in our industry's much needed embrace of technology – not forward.

Let me explain.

The post mentioned suggests the equivalent of saying that Jim the farmer shouldn’t sell his food to the local market because the market is also selling the food of other farmers.  Further, by doing so, the market is enabling other farmers to “poach” customers away from farmer Jim.  It suggests that farmer Jim should only sell his food to the people who show up at his farm to buy it. 

The problem?  People don’t buy food at farms – they buy food at the market.  Not participating is NOT the answer.

If you only learn one thing about marketing your business take the best advice I ever got, which happened to be from my current CEO.  He told me “It’s not about us – it’s about them.” 

However, the post mentioned above suggests you do the opposite – focus on yourself and your business, not the needs and desires of your potential candidates. 

Think about it…. 

When you’re looking for a job you’re thinking about what job best suites you – job type, location, compensation, benefits, conditions, skills required, hours, etc.  You are most likely not thinking “I wonder what jobs Company X has for me today.”  Why? Because Company X only has a limited set of jobs that may or may not meet your preferences and desires.  In addition, if Company X doesn’t have the jobs you’re looking for you now have to go look at the jobs available from Company Y and repeat this process until you find a job you're looking for.  This is a very time consuming effort.

Therefore, when conducting a job search, your best option is to go to an aggregated source and view all possible jobs available based on your needs – not hop around from webpage to webpage of all the staffing companies you could potentially work for. 

The strategy put forth by Mr. Dourgarian may help staffing companies with their loyal followers but fails if your company's goal is to gain new candidates.  However, Mr. Dourgarian seems to also suggest you can overcome this fact with some ninja like SEO skills.  Not to shoot down your dreams – but even if you do have such skills, chances are companies like Monster, Career Builder, Dice, and Indeed are also skilled in such secret arts and will still be listed ahead of you.

Openness = good.  Participation = good.  Not participating is NOT the answer.

Go to the market. Sell your food.

Oh where oh where have all the jobs gone?

If you’re in the healthcare staffing industry I’m sure you’ve noticed something missing lately.  All those job orders you had last year.  Yes, it appears that our industry is not immune to the affects of the economy.

During economic downturns people lose jobs and losing jobs leads to no insurance.  No insurance = Not going to the hospital. Not going to the hospital = lower patient census.  Lower patient census = lower need for staff.

Of course there are other factors affecting the business of healthcare staffing – budget cuts, tighter credit markets increasing hospital borrowing costs, lack of hospital expansions, contingent workers looking for the security of full time work and benefits, etc.

I recently conducted a survey of 35 staffing suppliers across the nation, the results of which show these companies are seeing a 15-40% decline in hospital job requisitions from last year.  These results led me to look further into the reasons for such a dramatic decrease.

So I went to the source and participated in a survey of 26 medium to large health systems across the nation that asked that very question.  Here are the results of that survey:

What does this data suggest a company should do to survive this current storm?
2 things:

1. Focus on retention
2. Connect to all available job sources

Focus on retention.  Right now, with so many people looking for jobs recruiting should be easy.  Make the best of that and streamline your recruitment efforts as much as possible.  However, don’t make that your main focus.  In regard to your existing staff, your primary objective should be to retain your top employees. 

• Identify those people and do whatever you can to keep them happy and working for you. 
• Make them top priority in job placements so they stay content with the work they are getting. 
• Make sure their pay and benefits stay competitive and do something extra so they feel valued, and stick with you during this time.

Connect to all available job sources.  During an up economy jobs are plentiful and recruiting staff is a challenge.  Now, however, the opposite is true. 

• Nearly every job out there has increased in value so increasing your access to every job you can is key. 
• Be sure to focus on your clients and ensure you are meeting their needs.  Maintaining clients is more valuable than getting new ones.
• Think different.  Are you checking multiple job boards?  Client job posting pages?  Are you connected to all the VMS providers in your industry?  Are you plugged in to social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter?

Like all storms, this one too shall pass.  In the meantime, keep your focus, think different and hang in there.  For a ray of sunshine check out this article on the new government healthcare plan being a boon for hospitals. 

Related Events - March

March 1 – 3
Demo 09
Palm Desert, CA

March 4 - 7
National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists Conference
St. Louis, MO.

March 13 – 17
SXSW Interactive 09
Austin, TX.

March 25 – 26
7th Annual Conference of Nursing Workforce Leaders presents:
The Changing Context of Care in an Aging Society
(Nursing Workforce Centers) 
Biloxi, MS

March 30 – 31
Nurse Testing 2.0 Development Summit
High Point, North Carolina

March 31 – April 2nd
IDN Summit & Expo
Orlando, FL.

March 31-April 3, 2009
Web 2.0 Expo
San Francisco, California

= I'm attending.