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Even though it’s a tough labor market right now, with candidates complaining they can’t find jobs, there’s one sector that’s desperately seeking help: the healthcare industry.

The World Economic Forum predicts that there will be a global shortfall of 10 million healthcare workers by 2030, with low- and middle-income countries being hardest hit. But even in a wealthy country like the U.S., the American Hospital Association foresees a nationwide shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2033 and a need to hire at least 200,000 nurses a year to meet increased demand. 

For recruiters, this means that you have to actively source candidates to fill roles. “Gone are the days where you ‘post and pray,’ and you get this whole onslaught of individuals interested in joining the team,” says Lindsey Breiner, assistant vice president of talent acquisition and physician recruitment at Main Line Health. “Sourcing now has to be part of the bread and butter of what you’re doing every single day.” 

Here are our five tips on how to source healthcare candidates. 

1. Build a strong employer brand 

Because physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers are in such enormous demand, they don’t have to take the first job offer that comes along. So when you reach out to candidates, your first task is to show them why your organization is a great place to work. Lay the groundwork for this by boosting your employer brand. 

Candidates increasingly want to work for hospitals and providers that align with their values and offer opportunities for growth. You can showcase what you have to offer on the career page of your company website or your LinkedIn Career page. Be sure to include information about compensation, benefits, and career development. But also highlight work-life balance if that’s truly part of your culture. 

A 2023 study by Medscape found that 53% of physicians were burned out and another study found that 43% of nurses were too. Meanwhile, a survey by CHG Healthcare found that the No. 1 priority for early-career physicians in their job searches was work-life balance. 

Company culture also really matters to healthcare professionals, many of whom went into the field because they want to help people. If your organization prioritizes people and patient-centered care, shout it from the mountain top. You can do this through photos, employee testimonials, media stories, and videos that illustrate how much your patients come first. 

2. Meet healthcare professionals where they are 

To meet the best healthcare candidates, you need to go where they are. You can do this by attending career fairs, industry networking events, and conferences. Target events that are relevant to the roles for which you’re hiring and consider sponsoring an exhibit or delivering a presentation.  

The American Dental Hygienists Association, for example, holds an annual conference, as does the American Society of Anesthesiologists. And the Consortium of Universities for Global Health hosts the world’s largest academic global health conference each year.

These conferences bring together the best talent in the industry and can be an efficient way for recruiters to make personal connections, foster relationships, and build employer brand recognition. Put more simply: They’re a gold mine for sourcing.  

3. Engage with their go-to social media and job sites 

Healthcare professionals don’t always use the same social media or job sites as other professions, so it can be more challenging to reach them. But with a little creativity, you can do it — and it’s getting easier. 

Even though it can be a little tricky figuring out which social media healthcare providers are using, it’s still a good idea to keep your own accounts up to date. Social media is an easy way to get candidates’ attention, and make them aware of your company culture, mission and values, and big wins. 

You can also source talent directly by joining Facebook Groups. To do this, search for industry-specific groups and request to join them. From there, you can post your latest open roles and watch for job search–related discussions among members. Be sure that you’re following the guidelines and rules of each group, which will often ban, say, irrelevant or self-promotional content. 

If you’re looking for physicians, you may want to check out the JAMA Career Center, the official job portal of JAMA. Job postings are subject to vetting by the American Medical Association, but the roles listed are geared to a wide variety of physicians, including cardiologists, oncologists, and emergency medicine doctors. 

LinkedIn is also a remarkably effective place to source healthcare professionals. There are 10.4 million healthcare professionals on the platform, 3.2 million of whom are nurses. In fact, LinkedIn has become such a popular site for nurses that job viewing among nurses has increased over 26% year over year.

Our new nursing filters make it easier than ever to source nurses. You can now filter by speciality, license, shift preference, and work setting, and filters for additional clinical roles are being rolled out this year.

4. Ask employees for referrals 

Your current employees are probably one of your best sources for finding new employees. Employees often have friends, former co-workers, and classmates whom they trust and know would be a good fit for your organization. 

Consider starting an employee referral program. You can offer bonuses, prizes, or extra vacation time for every referral that leads to a successful hire. You can even create a tiered system, offering cash bonuses based on how hard the role is to fill. Some hospitals, for example, award $750 for a referral that leads to a hire for a full-time, nonclinical role, and up to $15,000 for a clinical specialist. While this may seem like a lot to spend, it’s often less expensive than a yearlong recruiting effort.

Don’t forget about your alumni, either.  Alumni who left on good terms are sometimes open to returning — and they’re also a good source of referrals. 

5. Partner with educational institutions

Partnering with educational institutions is another productive way to source healthcare professionals. By collaborating with local colleges, universities, medical schools, community colleges, and even high schools, you can build a talent pipeline.  

The Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina, for example, entered into a partnership with the University of South Carolina College of Nursing last year, opening a facility to train third- and fourth-year nursing students. The new facility will allow USC’s nursing school to graduate 80% more nurses — many of whom will then feed into the Lexington Medical Center.  

Even if your organization can’t afford to build new facilities or start its own medical school (as Kaiser Permanente has done), you can reach out to educational institutions and offer internships and residency programs. Banner Health in Arizona has done this with its New Nurse Experience, which gives recent nursing graduates real-world experience, while giving Banner a chance to try out new talent. 

You can also fill roles by offering tuition reimbursement programs to your current employees, so they can advance in their careers. An imaging technician with a high school degree, for example, could get an associate’s degree and move into a role in nuclear medicine technology, a profession that’s in high demand right now. 

Final thoughts: Patience really is a virtue 

With such serious labor shortages in healthcare, you may feel like you need to source talent as quickly as possible. Patience may be the better approach. Healthcare has one of the longest hiring timelines — 59.5 days to hire — of any industry for good reason. 

The stakes are higher than in many other professions. Healthcare professionals need to be well-trained, knowledgeable, and empathetic. But for every patient who has a positive outcome because of one of your hires, it will have been worth the wait.

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