The success of a health practice is closely linked to the team that works there, and building a great team starts with effective job listings. But, the growing demand for talented health professionals can make attracting suitable applicants difficult. Several elements are critical to the development of a good healthcare job post. When you know what they are and include them in your listings, you’ll attract the right hires and save yourself retention issues in the future.
Ready to get ahead with your recruitment?
Before You Begin
1. Define the Job Requirements and Position Title
Make sure you’re not just hiring someone because there’s too much to do at the clinic. It’s possible that when you start outlining tasks, you’ll find many things that could be automated or streamlined. Work out precisely what role the new hire will fill, so that you bring in the right person upfront.
When defining job requirements:
- Stipulate everything the person will be required to do – Without clarity, chances are that the day-to-day reality won’t live up to the person’s expectations, and you risk losing your candidate instead of seeing them become a long-term team member.
- Decide what experience level is needed in order to do the work (should it be a new graduate, a junior, or a senior?)
- Determine clear expectations regarding work hours.
When you choose a title for the position, it doesn’t need to sound fancy. Instead, use commonly accepted terms that everyone will understand.
2. Determine the Essential Skills and Abilities
Once you know what you expect the candidate to do, think about the skills and abilities that will allow them to do the job successfully. Including this information in the job post will help anyone interested determine if they’re the right fit.
3. Do Your Research
People searching for work scroll through many job listings before applying. Do yourself a favour and look at job advertisements by other practices hiring for similar positions. Get a feel for what will help your post stand out!
4. Get a Sense of Your Target Candidate
Think about what your ideal candidate would want in a job. How can the job meet their professional values and goals? What is it about the position that will make them happy? Prepare to make commitments in the job listing that will appeal to this candidate, but ensure this only includes things you’re able to offer!
Write the Job Post
Put It All Together
Five primary sections make up a comprehensive job posting. Let’s look at each of them and illustrate what it can look like with our example for a physical therapy job summary:
1. Headline
It should go without saying, but your headline should include the job title. As mentioned, state this in plain language to avoid confusion. Though brief, your headline needs to consist of some must-haves for the role. Also, be aware that the words people use to search for a job differ based on their experience level.
Example:
Junior Paediatric Physiotherapist: Available on Saturdays
2. Summary of the Clinic
The purpose of a clinic summary is to put the job into context for the candidate. Simply including facts like the clinic’s founding year and location won’t differentiate your advertisement. Briefly describe the clinic’s atmosphere, culture, and values. Highlight what makes it a great place to work and create a picture of the overall experience the person will have at the practice.
Example:
Our highly skilled physiotherapists work in Bristol and provide integrated first-class physical therapy services while teaching people how to maintain a healthy lifestyle proactively. In our quest to ease pain and facilitate freedom of movement, we’re ready to expand on more than 50 years of combined experience within the team to help patients on their way to full recovery. Being part of the team means you’ve got the support of colleagues collaborating to achieve the best possible patient outcomes. You’re also encouraged to maintain a healthy work-life balance so you can always be at your best, personally and professionally.
3. Job Description and Responsibilities
Place this and the next section strategically somewhere in the middle of the job listing and word them carefully to generate interest.
Example:
Are you a PT who always has the patient experience front of mind? Do you believe in high-quality, evidence-based care? Are you committed to problem-solving, collaborating with other practitioners, and consistent, precise record-keeping?
Apply for the position if you’re ready to:
- Implement transformative therapy for children up to 17 years to treat neurological and developmental conditions, which can include [XXX].
- Thoughtfully present evaluations, advice, and training to patients, their families, and other professional staff.
- Conduct most consultations at the clinic, some virtual consultations, and some at patients’ homes.
- Provide services from Mondays to Fridays during regular practice hours as well as one Saturday per month.
4. Skills, Training and Experience
Include all non-negotiable skills, training, and experience for the role in this section. There’s a delicate balance to strike: make the list too long, and you’ll intimidate potential candidates; make it too short, and you’ll encourage unqualified people to apply.
Example:
Required skills and experience include:
- Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy or equivalent
- A minimum of 2 years experience in a similar role
- Ability to self-motivate
- Strong time management
- Driver’s licence
- Technical and professional ability to conduct virtual consultations
- Ability to interact with a diverse population
5. Benefits
This is your opportunity to convince a potential candidate that it’s worth applying for the job.
Example:
We want to create a positive and supportive work environment. To achieve this, we offer the following benefits to team members:
- Wellness: Take breaks in our spacious practitioners’ lounge with comfortable recliners and a spectacular view.
- Food: Enjoy healthy meals at a discount and delivered to the office at no extra charge when you order from our organic meal partner just down the street.
- Flexibility: Feel free to conduct virtual consultations one day per week.
- Rest: 30 days of annual leave
Top Tips for Writing a Great Healthcare Job Post
- Ensure the post reflects that the clinic supports a healthy work-life balance.
- Remove any bias from the ad. It might not be evident to you, but words can unintentionally reflect gender-based, racial, and other biases toward a candidate.
- Ensure there are no typos or other errors in your job listing; professionals attract professionals!
Post Your Healthcare Job Description
Where you post your job listing is just as important as what it says, if not more. Attracting professional talent means you should start by posting the listing in places such as specialty job boards instead of where it might be easily overlooked, like the local paper.
Bonus Tip #1: Create a “Day on the Job” video
Recently, healthcare job descriptions have included videos showing candidates what a day on the job would look like. A video provides a frame of reference for aspects of the job that words might not be able to capture. It may sound like a lot of work to create a video. But imagine the headaches you’ll avoid by hiring the right team members for your practice! The video should reflect the realities the candidate will face, both the good and the bad.
Bonus Tip #2: Offer Your Team Referral Incentives!
One of your existing team members might have a contact who’s the ideal candidate to become your next team member. Incentivise team members to make referrals by offering a bonus to the person whose referral leads to a successful application.
Conclusion
Now that your job listing is ready, start gearing up for candidate interviews. Take a look at our interview guide to speed up the process! And remember that using practice management software like Power Diary means it’s a breeze to grow your team and roll out new services to patients. Whether they operate remotely or at the clinic, set up new user profiles, calendars, rosters, and more with a series of clicks that will have you up and running in no time. Sign up for a free trial today to see it in action!
The Ultimate Job Posting Checklist
Five primary sections make up a comprehensive job posting. Let’s look at each of them and illustrate what it can look like when you do a physical therapy job summary:
☐ Descriptive Headline
☑️ Keep it simple
☑️ Include the job title & non-negotiables
☑️ Use keywords
☐ Summary of the Clinic
☑️ When the practice was founded
☑️ Where you’re based
☑️ Culture and values
☐ Job Description and Responsibilities
☑️ Generate interest with strong verbs
☑️ Ask leading questions
☑️ Cover requirements of the job
☐ Skills, Training and Experience
☑️ It’s essential to include all non-negotiable skills, training, and experience for the role in this section. There’s a delicate balance to strike: make the list too long, and you’ll intimidate potential candidates. Make the list too short, and you’ll encourage unqualified people to apply.
☐ Benefits
☑️ Why your practice is the ideal place to work
☑️ What differentiates you from other group practices
☐ Final Check
☑️ Check that the wording of the ad reflects your priorities as a health practice.
☑️ Remove any language that may indicate a hiring bias on the basis of gender, ethnicity, or other differences.
☑️ Run a spelling and grammar check.
☑️ Get someone to check your ad and suggest improvements
