How to hire a physician recruiter

How to hire a physician recruiter, step by step

Here's a step-by-step physician recruiter hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a physician recruiter job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new physician recruiter
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a physician recruiter do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the physician recruiter you need to hire. Certain physician recruiter roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a physician recruiter to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a physician recruiter that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of physician recruiters.

   Type of Physician Recruiter	Description	Hourly rate
   Physician Recruiter	Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training... Show more	$21-38
   Self-Employed	A self-employed person works without the supervision of a specific employer. Self-employed entrepreneurs decide their business plans to increase profitability and get involved with the current market trends... Show more	$12-21
   Staffing Consultant	A staffing consultant develops and maintains the accounts of clients through outside and inside organizational activities. Staffing consultants induct, assess, and monitor the job applicants preparing them for their assignments... Show more	$12-31

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Customer Service
   • Recruitment Strategies
   • Health System
   • HR
   • Recruitment Process
   • Recruitment Efforts
   • Career Fairs
   • Background Checks
   • Phone Interviews
   • Residency Program
   • Emergency Medicine
   • Home Health
   • Physician Assistants

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage records of sales activities and follow-up on requirements by utilizing office specific HRIS technology.
   • Present and prepare PowerPoint presentations on various topics to educate colleagues in the office and operate WebEx technology for conference calls.
   • Enter offers, acceptance of offers and tentative start dates to close out HRIS job requisitions in PeopleSoft.
   • Manage employee's personnel files and maintain accurate up to date confidential client files to ensure compliance with HIPPA.

   More physician recruiter duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your physician recruiter job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A physician recruiter can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, physician recruiters' average salary in utah is 46% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level physician recruiters 44% less than senior-level physician recruiters.
   • Certifications. A physician recruiter with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a physician recruiter's salary.

   Average physician recruiter salary

   $61,139yearly

   $29.39 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level physician recruiter salary

   $45,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average physician recruiter salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$78,411	$38
   2	California	$67,395	$32
   3	Maryland	$67,309	$32
   4	Alabama	$66,016	$32
   5	Massachusetts	$64,664	$31
   6	North Carolina	$63,915	$31
   7	Oregon	$63,018	$30
   8	Georgia	$61,909	$30
   9	Colorado	$61,788	$30
   10	Delaware	$59,809	$29
   11	Texas	$59,807	$29
   12	North Dakota	$59,144	$28
   13	Florida	$58,615	$28
   14	Illinois	$57,481	$28
   15	Montana	$56,113	$27
   16	Arizona	$55,807	$27
   17	Kansas	$55,608	$27
   18	South Dakota	$52,802	$25
   19	Wisconsin	$52,133	$25
   20	Ohio	$51,511	$25

   Average physician recruiter salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	CHG Healthcare	$80,838	$38.86	4
   2	Summit Health Oregon	$79,078	$38.02
   3	Edward Hospital & Health Services	$75,143	$36.13
   4	Baylor Scott & White Health	$74,673	$35.90	1
   5	Tenet Healthcare	$74,407	$35.77	11
   6	Baptist Health Care	$74,162	$35.65
   7	Maxim Healthcare Group	$72,998	$35.10	29
   8	Community Health Systems	$68,443	$32.91	4
   9	Providence Health & Services	$67,715	$32.56	4
   10	Legacy Health	$64,066	$30.80
   11	CHRISTUS Health	$63,852	$30.70	2
   12	Mission Regional Medical Center	$63,638	$30.60	18
   13	M3 Global Research	$63,438	$30.50
   14	Mitchell	$63,290	$30.43
   15	Dean Health Plan	$63,258	$30.41
   16	UMass Memorial Health	$63,224	$30.40	100
   17	Safari	$61,877	$29.75
   18	UCHealth	$61,340	$29.49	51
   19	Valor Healthcare	$61,253	$29.45	7
   20	Lee Regional Health System	$60,212	$28.95	1

4. Writing a physician recruiter job description

   A job description for a physician recruiter role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a physician recruiter job description:

   Physician recruiter job description example

   Alameda Health System offers outstanding benefits that include:
   + 100% employer health plan for employees and their eligible dependents
   + Unique benefit offerings that are partially or 100% employer paid
   + Rich and varied retirement plans and the ability to participate in multiple plans.
   + Generous paid time off plans
   Alameda Health System is hiring! The Physician Recruiter is responsible for the full cycle recruitment of qualified candidates for East Bay Medical Group. The position provides the highest level of consultative and expert recruitment services to candidates, hiring managers and leaders in an efficient and effective approach. With direction, plans, implements, and conducts a variety of recruitment programs and services; develops recruitment sourcing, outreach, and retention strategies for physicians (all medical specialty areas) and performs other related key activities to market the employment and organizational brand to support the successful placement of candidates. Performs related duties as required.
   DUTIES & ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: NOTE: The following are the duties performed by employees in this classification, however, employees may perform other related duties at an equivalent level. Not all duties listed are necessarily performed by everyone in the classification.
   + Conducts focused recruitment sourcing/candidate identification and outreach tactics utilizing a variety of strategies; ATS, social media tools (LinkedIn), healthcare databases, web-based tools (research, ZoomInfo, etc.) and ebased tools (targeted email marketing campaigns, cold and warm calls, etc.). Establish contacts within community through membership and participation in activities of professional societies.
   + Consults with managers to determine projected needs of short term and longer workforce planning and recruitment needs.
   + Coordinates annual planning for and with participation in targeted local, regional, or national recruitment events; coordinates job fairs, open house events and professional associations and group meetings.
   + Develop and maintain a network of contacts to identify and source qualified candidates (pipeline pools); develops and maintains relationships with training institutions, colleges, universities, medical schools (residency programs) and other key school affiliated programs and placement officers, and health care employment services to build the pipeline of candidates; project planning, high-level professional analyses and service in preparing/directing the development of recruitment/staffing plans, ensuring a competent, and diverse pool of candidates (all through sourcing, prospecting and building pipelines of talent).
   + Develops and provides complete and accurate information to candidates about the organization and position (website, candidate information packets and other key AHS marketing/communications materials).
   Minimum Qualifications : Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources Management, or related field preferred. Minimum Experience: Five to six years of full lifecycle recruiting experience, preferably in the health care industry. Extensive consultative experience and judgment in planning and accomplishing recruitment and pipeline goals.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right physician recruiter for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your physician recruiter job on Zippia to find and recruit physician recruiter candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit physician recruiters, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new physician recruiter

   Once you've decided on a perfect physician recruiter candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new physician recruiter first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a physician recruiter?