Is your online profile helping or hurting you?

When life is busy, creating a comprehensive online candidate profile is not how most people want to spend their limited spare time. But when you’re ready to activate your job search, taking the time to fully complete a profile is a crucial step in establishing relationships with future employers.

Completing a PracticeLink profile is no different than filling out any other professional application. It’s the first step in securing your first or next career opportunity, and you’ll want to make the best possible professional impression.

Unlike many other job boards, PracticeLink doesn’t require job-seekers to sign up for anything before searching jobs or accessing recruiter names and phone numbers.

If you do choose to create an account, you’ll receive updates of new and updated jobs in your specialty, be able to apply to jobs with one click, and have control over your profile.

Choose to be visible to in-house recruiters—those who work directly for the health care organization for which they’re recruiting—and they’ll be able to contact you directly about opportunities that fit your needs. 

It’s also how you’ll learn about opportunities that may not even be posted yet in the locations you desire.

Not interested in an opportunity? PracticeLink gives you the option to unsubscribe from a particular recruiter’s emails—or even make your profile unavailable from particular employers that you select.

Make the most of your online candidate profile with these tips.

Set up a personal email account for your search

The simple truth is that you will receive a lot of emails from interested employers when you activate your job search.

If you use your educational or professional email address, you might miss an opportunity among your regular email volume. Using a personal email account also lets you check your recruitment messages when it’s most convenient.

Complete all of the requested information.

The fields on your PracticeLink profile are the most-requested information that in-house recruiters need when initially evaluating candidates for opportunities.

Having all your education, training and professional information in one place saves countless email back-and-forth requesting those details. Don’t make it easy for recruiters to skip over your profile because you didn’t take the extra few minutes to complete it.

List your hobbies and personal interests

Recruiters are looking for ways to get to know you, so make it easier by listing your interests.

Knowing what you enjoy doing in your spare time is a great icebreaker—and an opportunity for you to connect your interests with the employer’s community.

Select your geographic preference

Listing the cities, states or regions in which you are interested in working will help to refine the emails you’ll receive. But list more than five locations, and you may give recruiters the impression that you don’t have ties to their area and will only be a short-term hire.

If you are truly not sure where you would like to practice, having a comprehensive profile will help recruiters focus on other aspects of your job-search needs, such as your personal and professional interests.

Set your privacy controls

You will use your online profile at various stages in your career, so you may need to periodically change your privacy settings.

Once you’ve found your next practice, simply log in to your PracticeLink account and change your visibility. Doing so ensures that your profile will be ready should your job search arise again.

PracticeLink also provides you tools to manage your relationships with recruiters. A new feature allows you to unsubscribe from emails from specific recruiters.

Schedule your inDepth Interview

The inDepth Interview is a five- to 10-minute phone interview with a PracticeLink Physician Relations specialist. This helps focus the opportunities you will receive.

By knowing the “why” behind your job search, recruiters are better able to decide if their opportunities and communities will fit.

Spending a few extra minutes filling in the pertinent details may be the difference in finding your dream practice—or just another job.