With 2020 being such a disruptive year, there may have been a moment of hope that it would also loosen up the job market for those professions with limited graduating classes, such as for Audiologists.
That didn’t happen. Patients realized that they do indeed need to hear well everywhere, and thus, the audiologists who can help them have remained in demand.
What we did change in the past year is that we’ve learned how we can adapt from what we’ve done in the past. “We’ve always done it that way” has morphed into “we’ll figure it out.” That mentality can be applied to recruiting Audiologists, too. Does that mean being open to hiring a new graduate, even when your preference may be someone with experience? Maybe it should.
Get Over Hurdle 1: The Search
- There are freshly minted Audiologists graduating in May who are in their job search now. Their fresh energy may be just what you need after the challenges of the past year. Professors will often give you a heads up on the best candidates in the class. Offer to have an informational interview. Zoom, as we’ve learned from COVID, is perfect for this.
Get Over Hurdle 2: The Training
- Just because you don’t have an experienced Audiologist on staff to train a new graduate, it may not need to be a hard-stop. Consider hiring a “per diem” Audiologist-Trainer to be a resource. Pay them per hour to train on-site, for weekly check-ins, tele-consultation support, etc. Zoom is a tool that should and can be leveraged. It can even work for supporting new staff in satellite locations.
Get Over Hurdle 3: The On-going Mentoring
- Help your new graduate craft their “Mentor Team.” Help them think about who is on it and why. Ask them to share it with you. Determine when and why they might access this support network. This is a team that may be especially valuable to you if you run a small practice.
The fresh energy and ideas of a new graduate may just be what you need after the challenges of the past year. The traditional way of training and sharing information is being turned on its head. Now is the time to adapt.
Fuel’s recruiting department has contacts within many university audiology programs and can help with other communication and outreach strategies to help you meet the newest member of your team.
