More Thanks!

We'd like to thank OSF Saint Francis, Inc of Peoria, IL, Salem Clinic PC of  Salem, OR, Rocky Mountain Medical Search of Fort Collins, CO, Cox Health Center of Springfield, MO, Esperanca of Phoenix, AZ and Good Samaritan Health Center of Atlanta, GA for supporting TheRecruiter.com and Christian Physician Recruiter by listing their medical jobs and physician jobs with us.  Thank you all!

Thank You!

Thank you to The Doctors Clinic of Salem, Oregon, Birmingham Health Care of Birmingham, Alabama, and Emergency Medical Services Group of Bakersfield, California for supporting Physician Recruiter and TheRecruiter.com by advertising their physician jobs and medical jobs with us!

2010 Looks Rough For New Grads

This isn't related directly to healthcare jobs, but it's an important piece to our overall job and economic outlook. - WJ

Job outlook for 2010 grads: Still stinks

Hiring for graduates will remain near its lowest level in decades after 40% plunge last year, new survey says. But hiring will spike 15% at smaller companies

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's a tough time to be starting a career.

This year has been extremely rough: New college graduates had 40% fewer job prospects, a new report shows. And the outlook for 2010, while better, is still not very promising.

Jobs for graduates with bachelor's degrees, which account for most new graduate hires, will drop nearly 1% next year, according to Michigan State University's survey on recruiting trends.

Overall, hiring of grads with any degree will decline by 2% compared to 2009.

"Things fell apart really fast last year, but it looks like the job market for graduates has hit a bottom," said Phil Gardner, director of MSU's Collegiate Employment Research Institute, which conducts the annual survey.

For sure, the job market in 2009 suffered an extraordinary decline. A year ago, Gardner anticipated that employment for new graduates would fall by as much as 10% in 2009. The national unemployment rate, now 10.2%, was 6.8% last November.

Hiring of master's degree graduates will plummet by 11% based on a weaker labor market for accounting students, the study said.

Jobs for Ph.D.s will spike by 20% and those for MBA graduates will rise 11%.

Who's hiring? Large companies, those with more than 4,000 employees, plan to decrease hiring of all graduates by 3%, and medium-sized companies, those with between 500 and 4,000 employees, expect to lower hiring by 11%.

Smaller companies, however, may provide a bright spot in the job market for new graduates.

Employers with fewer than 500 staff members said they expect hiring at their companies to jump by 15%. These companies will hire 11 new graduates on average in 2010, and 8 of them will be at the bachelor's level.

A third of employers said they would consider graduates regardless of their major.

"Employers want to be much more flexible," said Gardner. "They want skill sets that they can plug in anywhere as the they evolve instead of getting stuck with someone focused in one area."

But even as companies look for versatile candidates, the most sought-after graduates are those who majored in environmental science and statistics, for whom job opportunities will climb by 6% and 11%, respectively.

"There is a reawakening in American society that environment sustainability is important, and there's also a lot of stimulus money in that area," Gardner said. He added that statisticians are in demand because they are "quantitatively literate and companies are looking to tap into people that can manipulate and understand numbers."

Hiring will increase in sectors such as agricultural production, food processing, nonprofit and manufacturing. Hiring in consulting services, including engineering, computing, research and marketing, will hold steady at last year's pace.

Where are the jobs? U.S. companies that recruit nationally are expected to rebound with a 3% uptick in hiring, and employers based in the South Central, Southwest and Northwest regions of the country are also indicating an improvement in hiring, the study said.

Job opportunities in the South Central will rise by 6%, in the Northwest by 4% and in the Southwest 2%.

Employment prospects for graduates in other regions of the country will still sag.

Hiring in the Mid-Atlantic will drop by 8%, in Southeast by 7%, in the Northeast and the Great Lake Region by 4% and in the Upper Plains by 3%.

What's the pay? A majority of employers, 80%, will not be raising starting salary offers above those made last year. But 8% will lower base pay by 5%, according to the survey, and 12% will of employers will increase salaries by a modest 3%.

The average salary for bachelor's degree graduates will be $39,900.

Only 7% of employers said they will offer signing bonuses, and 20% will provide performance-based bonuses at the year's end, down from 33% in 2009.  

Physician Recruiter and TheRecruiter.com are leading sources for physician jobs, medical jobs, nurse jobs and healthcare jobs.

2010 Job Outlook

Money Magazine is offering up a good read regarding the 2010 job market. It's not specific to health jobs, medical jobs, physician jobs, etc, but it a good read none the less.

-WJ

Make money in 2010: Your job

Raises should make a comeback, but keep an updated résumé handy.

(Money Magazine) -- Despite all the talk about economic recovery, you're probably still anxious about next year's job market -- worried not necessarily about your position but maybe your spouse's or your adult kids' or your best pal's.

Your concern is understandable. According to the consensus estimate from the Blue Chip Economic Indicators, the jobless rate will steady in the first half of 2010, before dipping to 9.6% by year-end.

Continued high unemployment after a slump has become more common in recent years; after the last two recessions, it took two to three years for the jobless rate to return to pre-recession levels.

What's different now: Economists say the severity of this downturn means that it could take even longer for unemployment to drop below 5% as it was in 2007, if it ever does. Structural changes in industries from manufacturing to media, coupled with strong gains in productivity, are enabling companies to do more with fewer people -- perhaps permanently, says economist Sophia Koropeckyj of Moody's Economy.com.

Still, there are bright spots. You'll probably nab a raise next year, although it will be a relatively skimpy one. Nearly half of large companies froze salaries in 2009, but just 13% intend to do so in 2010, says Hewitt Associates.

Hiring plans are picking up in some hard-hit sectors: 31% of service businesses say they'll add jobs in the next six months (up from 16% in April), as do 29% of finance, insurance, and real estate firms, the National Association for Business Economics reports. And industries that held up well during the recession, such as health care, education, and technology should continue to expand in the new year.

Wild card: A sharp rise in energy prices could hurt already fragile consumer and business spending, which in turn could prolong hiring and pay freezes at many firms.

Signs to watch: Three months of steady growth in the average workweek (reported monthly at bls.gov) should signal stronger job growth ahead. Companies have cut employee work hours so much that they will boost the number of hours worked before hiring in earnest.

The action plan

Don't fly below the radar. Working hard and keeping your head down won't prevent you from becoming a layoff target. To secure your position and have a shot at a decent raise, you not only need to excel at what you do, you have to make sure your boss and other higher-ups notice, says executive recruiter Stephen Viscusi, author of "Bulletproof Your Job."

Seek out high-profile or cross-department assignments, actively contribute at meetings with senior colleagues, and volunteer to take on additional responsibilities -- an especially valuable tactic now, with so many fewer employees around to handle the work load.

Get paid for results. Raises will average just 2.7% next year -- the first time in more than 30 years that average pay hikes will fall below 3% for two years in a row, Hewitt reports. Earn a reputation as a top performer and you may nab more: The highest-rated workers will get an average boost of 4.8% in 2010, according to the latest compensation survey from Mercer, a benefits consulting firm.

If your company is among those still freezing base pay, try instead to negotiate a bonus tied to key, quantifiable company objectives: 86% of organizations have some kind of short-term incentive pay program linked to financial goals, operational performance, or customer satisfaction, Mercer notes.

Restore that salary reduction. Sure, a pay cut is preferable to a job cut. But if your hours were reduced or your salary slashed outright in the recession, start strategizing about when and how to get that money back.

First read the tea leaves: Have profits improved at your firm? Have layoffs stopped and hiring started? If so, the timing may be right. Prepare examples to prove you're deserving -- showing, say, you've taken on extra duties, worked longer hours, or slashed costs. Then ask your boss for a salary review.

Jump-start your job search. If you've been out of work for a while -- the average job search now takes 27 weeks vs. 19 last year -- change your tactics. Expand the options by looking at employers in different but related industries or different positions in the same field. Lower your salary expectations -- akin to dropping the price of a house if it's been on the market too long. Update your skills, says executive recruiter Kimberly Bishop, who suggests pulling job descriptions from corporate Web sites and comparing your experience with what companies are looking for. Then take a class -- you've got time, right? -- to fill in any gaps.

Be prepared -- just in case. Even if your job seems secure, the prospect of double-digit unemployment should spur your Scout instincts. Take care of basics: Beef up your emergency fund, identify expenses you could cut if needed, and consider what you'd do about health insurance if you get the ax.

Update your résumé and start reconnecting with folks in your professional network. Join industry forums, and seek endorsements on LinkedIn. And if a friend or colleague is laid off and turns to you for advice, assistance, or just to vent, be there for him or her. One day your pal may be in a position to recommend or hire you.

CNNmoney has released a report on companies that are actually growing and adding staff in Detroit of all places.  It's an interesting read and, not surprisingly, of the 7 companies named, two are filling medical jobs

There is a high demand for healthcare givers just about everywhere: physicians, nurses, physician assistants, etc, but these two companies are hiring for health jobs that don't necessarily come immediately to mind.....

A medical pioneer

Asterand

Detroit

Hires: Clinical site managers, lab technicians, IT developers, inventory control and operations managers, and marketing staff

Think Detroit is only good for industrial labor? Asterand wants to turn the city into a world leader in medical and pharmaceutical research.

Located inside Detroit's TechTown business incubator, Asterand is a human-tissue bank that collaborates with pharmaceutical companies on drug discovery and development. The company had 2008 revenue of 15.2 million pounds, or about $25 million, and was the top performer on the London Stock Exchange last year.

"There is enormous potential for growth and change, and a small company in Detroit is right in the middle of it," says CEO Martyn Coombs.

Asterand plc's predecessor, Asterand Inc., was founded in Detroit in 2000. Asterand went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2006, after it merged with U.K.-based Pharmagene. Asterand has about 90 employees in Michigan, the United Kingdom and Japan, but Detroit has the most employees and is the company's global headquarters.

Detroit's airport is a key asset for Asterand: It's a major hub that allows the company's executives to easily travel worldwide. Another perk: Michigan has "some of the best universities in the country," Coombs says, including the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

"We have a highly educated and dedicated workforce in Detroit, and that's the key to our business," he says.

Asterand has had lower staff turnover in Detroit than what the company would have expected in other major cities, Coombs says. That loyalty has inspired Asterand to stay loyal to Detroit over the years -- so much so that the company just signed a new three-year lease to stay in TechTown.

"We're very proud of our heritage in Detroit, and we feel a responsibility for changing the wider situation in Detroit by staying," he says. 

And, of course, Healthcare IT Jobs

Powering the health care overhaul

Youngsoft and H2H Solutions

Wixom, Mich.

Hires: Programmers, analysts, project managers, and training personnel who teach doctors how to use the companies' products

Health care is a hot political topic this year -- and for Rupesh Srivastava, it's a one that could fuel expansion for his two metro Detroit companies.

Srivastava founded Youngsoft, an IT services company, in 1996 and grew the company by securing such clients as Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza. In 2001, Srivastava used Youngsoft as a launch pad to start H2H Solutions, a company that makes specialized software for the health care industry, including products for e-prescriptions and medical-privacy compliance.

By shifting their focus to health care, Youngsoft and H2H Solutions were able to grow to nearly 200 employees and about $20 million in combined revenue last year. "We have put ourselves in a strong position by getting into health care at the right time," Srivastava says.

Srivastava expects that growth to continue as the health-care debate heats up and more companies look for ways to streamline costs. He plans to hire about 75 new workers by the end of 2010 and aims to have 500 employees at his two companies in the next five years.

Srivastava's companies have fielded offers to relocate to other states and countries, and he admits that some of the tax breaks and other incentives have been tempting. But so far, metro Detroit's benefits are winning out.

Detroit's talent pool has been advantageous: Srivastava estimates 80% of his companies' new hires in the last two years previously worked in the automotive industry. And a low cost of living allows Srivastava's businesses to have lower overhead than if they were located in other major cities.

Srivastava thinks those benefits will encourage more non-automotive growth in the area. "I do believe Michigan can and will turn around," he says.

- WJ

Fun Tech Gadgets For Under $300

OK. So this has nothing to do with physician jobs or medical jobs or anything at all career related.  It's not even about publishing or property management or rental housing (the other niche we publish for).

We just love a gadget and there are some great ones included on CNNmoney's list of Tech Gadgets under $299.

Check it out!

WJ

Need a medical job? Try Health Yes!

CNNMoney continues their coverage of the job market in America with a special on 8 companies adding staff called Look Who's Hiring Now.  Among the 8 is Health Yes!, a Texas based company looking for candidates to fill their medical jobs.

HealthYes!

HealthYes! is serious about its company culture.

Where the jobs are: Austin, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio Texas 

At HealthYes!, a good disposition overshadows a pumped up résumé, according to founder and CEO Dale Wood. The 54-person medical screening provider operates several mobile units and hopes to go nation wide within a year. The company plans to add Web developers, sonographers, medical assistants, sales members and sales managers.

But Wood says he would rather hire for personality and train the skills. Those who lack a positive mental attitude will struggle to get a foot in the door here. "If I found the best sonographer alive and they couldn't fit into the company culture, it's a no go," Wood said. 

Fantastic Bit on Social Networks and the Job Hunt

The latest edition of FORTUNE MAGAZINE Ask Annie offers a tremendous article on using the on-line social networks in your job search.  Folks this is a no -brainer.  It takes a little work to build your network, but it's not all that difficult and once it's done, you can communicate to a wide scope of folks in an instant.  This is no longer a wave of the future, but it's in the now. Whether you're looking for a sales job, administrative job or medical job, or hiring to fill a tech job or physician job, etc. you're not using all the arrows in your quiver if you're not delving into social networking.  At Physician Recruiter and TheRecruiter.com, we're putting a lot of resources into exploring the best ways to use these tools.

Here's a snippet:

Dear Newbie: With about 48 million members now, LinkedIn offers a virtually limitless amount of potential for people who know how to use it.

But while LinkedIn is a great site for advancing your career, other social networking sites can be useful as well, say Brad and Debra Schepp, husband-and-wife authors of "How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Other Social Networks" (McGraw-Hill, $18.95).

Consider Facebook: Even though it's designed mainly for keeping up with personal friends, you may not realize that it features lots of business-related groups.

"If you're looking for a job, group discussion boards are probably where you will want to spend much of your time," the authors write. Searching out and joining groups can give you the inside track on job openings, inform you of upcoming professional meetings and conferences, and introduce you to people who can share what it's really like to work for a particular employer -- all highly useful stuff.

As for Twitter, the authors admit they were skeptical at first -- "I equated it in my mind with 'fritter,'" says Brad Schepp -- but they've come to believe it can be a great job-search tool. Start by following companies and executives in your industry, then work on building a following of your own. Avoid tweeting about what you had for dinner; instead focus on, say, an interesting story in a professional journal, your latest accomplishment at work, or -- yes -- what kind of job opportunity you're seeking (ideally without sounding desperate).

If you tweet about openings you're looking for, followers who don't know of any simply won't respond. People who know of a relevant opening, though, can tweet right back and tell you so.

Healthcare IT Hot Jobs

I stumbled across this article posted a while back on Articlebase and I think it's very relevant.  We spend a significant amount of time communicating with medical recruiters and hiring authorities and we have seen a noticeable increase in attention on technology and IT professionals within the industry.  This really started with HIPAA, but the momentum continues.  While in some way the healthcare world has been behind the rest of the world in use of "non-medical" technology, it's catching up and IT positions are a growing segment of the greater umbrella of healthcare jobs.  

5 Job Trends in Healthcare Information Technology

There are many trends in healthcare information technology to cover. With the US government's economic stimulus package geared to improve heathcare IT, there will be areas were expertise will be greatly needed.

Outlined below will touch on 5 hot trends that will be need qualified professionals to help implement the large efforts of the healthcare industry:

1. EMR (electronic medical records) or EHR (electronic health records) - This is going to a huge effort on the part of many medical establishments. This system will take the "health history" of an individual and create a so called electronic medical record that will follow a patient anywhere for patient safety and more accurate treatments. All of the is over a huge network and storage systems along with integrating several applications.

Job Title Examples: Developers, Programmers, Project Managers, Billing and Coding specialists, systems analysts but most will say EMR or EHR.

2. Informatics -  Informatics as it related to healthcare will include using medical information from clinical, nursing, medical, biotechnology and similar disciplines into an electronic format to be either stored, retrieved, shared, analyzed to help make informative medical decisions.

Job Title Examples: Clinical informatics analyst, Informatics consultants, medical informatics - employers may seek specific degrees in the discipline (ie. RN, BSN, Biotechnology )

3. Enterprise Architecture -  Enterprise architecture with work within a healthcare organization like in other institutions. It is most commonly used to better outline a method of business and uses tools to understand and best document the structure of an organization. Very much strategic in nature.

Job Title Examples: Almost always will have the terms "enterprise architecture" or "data architecture" or "data modeler" in the title. Usually a mix of SOA, data warehousing, ER modeling, Diagram modeling, frameworks, and strategy.

4. Patient Safety related systems & Quality - This area of healthcare will use systems and applications to reduce with the goal to eliminate medical errors in and efforts to drastically increase healthcare quality and communication.

Job Title Examples: Quality and patient safety will usually be part of the title and are non technical. The technical positions will be developers/programmers or applications tester of these types of applications.

5. Interoperability - Overall this area covers bringing together healthcare information technology systems together and integrating them in order for them to work together across locations and then have the ability to deliver quality useful information to service it's end user.

Job Title Examples: Project management, software engineer, sometimes within informatics, architect and, analysts.

There is so much to know within each of these 5 but there is much opportunity for one with technical skills to seek out so many facets of healthcare.

Top 10 Reasons Employers Hire....

Rachel Zupek of CareerBuilder wrote a nice article for CNN entitled Top 10 reasons employers want to hire you.  While the article is really geared towards general employment rather than physician jobs or medical jobs, I think the message holds true and it's good refresher on what to remember when job hunting.  Yes, the world of healthcare can be a little different, but these 10 reasons are still all applicable one way or the other. 

The 10 are listed below. Click HERE for entire article

1. Long-term potential

2. Ability to work well with others

3. Ability to make money

4. Impressive résumé

5. Relevant work experience

6. Creative problem-solving skills

7. Strong online presence

8. Multitaskers who thrive on variety of projects

9. Enthusiasm and initiative

10. Good cultural fit

Growth Jobs

According to CnnMoney.com, health jobs make up 20% of the Top Growth Jobs in America. While there were no physician jobs on the list, 2 of the Top 10 are medical jobs.

Here they are....

8. Physical Therapist

9. Physician Assistant