As of 2022, there are 33,128 Optometry businesses in the US, but only approximately 162,791 Optometrists are employed. Due to consistently exceeding demand, there is a shortage of qualified candidates, resulting in increased competition among practice owners to hire an associate OD.
As a result, practice owners may find themselves in a tough position when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. They may need to offer higher salaries and other incentives to compete with other practices and attract the best candidates. Additionally, they may need to devote more time and resources to recruiting efforts and retaining top talent, which can be costly.
However, there is a win-win situation for practice owners. The answer is to take a proactive hiring approach. This approach involves identifying the skills and qualifications needed for a particular position and actively seeking out individuals who possess those qualities. This helps avoid employing candidates who are not a good fit and ensures that the right people are hired from the start.
Proactive Hiring for Your Optometry Practice
Hiring is a continuous effort that necessitates an understanding of current hiring challenges as well as the capacity to adequately articulate the ROI (return on investment) that a practice can provide to new team members. This is crucial because generating revenue requires time, and having more time means generating more revenue – thus, time is money. Therefore, time is of the essence in the hiring process.
Thus, achieving a high success rate in finding the perfect candidate for your practice is important. To be proactive in your hiring approach, there are various tactics that a practice owner can adopt. These may include:
Put in more effort in Networking
Networking involves building relationships with professionals in your industry and connecting with potential candidates through industry events, professional associations, and social media.
Best practices on Networking
- Identify industry events and professional associations that are relevant to your practice and likely to attract potential candidates, such as conferences, trade shows, and local chapter meetings of professional organizations.
- Attend these events, engage with other professionals, share your expertise, ask questions, and build relationships with others in your field. By doing so, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and build a network of contacts who can help you find potential candidates.
- Utilize social media platforms like LinkedIn to connect with other professionals and share information about your practice and job openings. LinkedIn is an excellent resource for finding qualified candidates and promoting your practice to a wider audience.
- Consider joining relevant LinkedIn groups or professional associations that offer job boards or other resources to find and attract candidates.
The Benefits of Networking
- Building relationships: Networking enables you to develop relationships with other professionals in your field, which can help you identify potential candidates and receive referrals from trusted colleagues.
- Enhanced visibility: By attending industry events and engaging in social media, you can increase the visibility of your practice and job opportunities, which makes it easier to attract top talent.
- Access to a wider pool of candidates: Networking provides you with an opportunity to tap into a broader range of candidates who may not have learned about your practice or job openings through conventional channels.
Invest in Advertising
Your advertisement may (or may not) just be one of the many out there online across all job sites or social media platforms, but how do we make it stand out?
Best practices on Advertising
- Select Relevant Outlets: Choose job boards and publications that are relevant to your field and are likely to attract the type of candidate you are seeking. For instance, if you need a specialist Optometrist, consider advertising on a job board designed explicitly for Optometrists or in a professional association newsletter.
- Create an effective Job Ad: A well-written job ad can draw the attention of suitable candidates and make you stand out from the competition. Ensure that your ad includes a catchy headline, clear job title, salary and benefits, a detailed job description, required qualifications and skills, community details, information about the practice’s technology and equipment, and lastly, details about the company culture.
- Include a Strong Call-to-Action: Encourage candidates to apply by including a compelling call-to-action in your job ad. This might involve requesting a resume and cover letter or providing a link to an online application form.
- Monitor and Review Responses: Keep track of the responses to your job ad and review them carefully. This will help you identify the most qualified candidates and determine who to invite for an interview.
Benefits of Advertising
Advertising can be an effective tool to attract a wider pool of qualified candidates and enhance the credibility of your practice. Below are some of the key benefits of advertising:
- Increased visibility: By advertising, you can expand your reach to a wider audience of potential candidates, which can help you to attract a larger pool of qualified applicants. This is especially important in a competitive job market where finding the right talent can be a challenge.
- Targeted recruiting: You can target specific types of candidates and reach out to qualified professionals who may not have heard about your practice or job openings through other channels.
- Enhanced credibility: Advertising can help to enhance the credibility of your practice and to position it as a leading employer in your field.
Partner with Recruitment Agencies
If you find yourself tight on your calendar and the tasks mentioned above seem daunting, don’t worry. The good news is that you can rely on dedicated experts whose sole purpose is to find the best candidate for your practice.
These experts have extensive experience working with optometrists and possess in-depth knowledge of the OD market. They can screen prospects, arrange interviews, guide you through the offer process, and ensure a hassle-free experience until the start date of your new hire.
We know it might sound like a hard sell, but partnering with recruitment agencies has several advantages. Here are a few reasons why it can be the most efficient option other than what we’ve said above:
- Time and cost savings: Recruitment agencies handle many time-consuming tasks associated with recruiting, such as reviewing resumes and conducting initial interviews. This can save you time and resources that can be better spent on other aspects of your practice.
- Access to a wider pool of candidates: Recruitment agencies have access to a vast network of candidates and can provide you with a larger pool of qualified applicants than you might find on your own. They can also assist you in drafting offer letters and contracts as part of their services, which not only saves you time but also ensures accuracy.
- Expertise: Recruitment agencies have expertise in the recruiting process and can help you to identify the best candidates for your practice.
5 Common Hiring Mistakes To Avoid In Your Optometry Practice
- Rushing to fill vacancy: When you’re in a hurry to fill a vacancy, it can be tempting to skip certain steps, like checking references or conducting thorough interviews. However, doing so can result in hiring someone who may not be the best fit for the role, leading to low job performance and ultimately the need to re-hire for the same position.
- Not considering cultural fit: One important factor to consider is whether a candidate will fit in with the culture of your practice. Failure to do so can lead to tension and low morale among team members.
- Skimping on interviews: Another important aspect of the hiring process is conducting thorough interviews that cover a range of topics and give you the chance to get to know the candidate. Taking the time to do this can help you make an informed hiring decision.
- Ignoring the importance of diversity: Lastly, be sure to prioritize diversity in your hiring practices. By seeking out candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences, you can create a more inclusive workplace that benefits both your employees and your patients.
To put simply,
Making hiring mistakes can really mess up an Optometry clinic’s revenue and efficiency. It can lead to re-hiring, create tension and low morale among team members, and ultimately hurt patient satisfaction and retention. So, it’s super important to be careful when assessing and selecting a candidate for the role to ensure long-term success for the clinic.
Hiring and onboarding can be a real hassle, especially for busy practices. But having an extra hand to help out with these processes can be a game-changer. It can make managing the workload a whole lot easier and help new hires integrate smoothly into the team.
Through specialized job boards and recruiting services, Eye to Eye Careers has assisted hundreds of busy practices in hiring skilled doctors and employees from all 50 states in the United States
