When hiring talent for your facility, partnering with a staffing firm can help you keep your focus on daily operations while your partner works to find the best talent to fill open positions. However, placing your trust in a recruiter to find talent that fits into your facility isn’t always easy. “Finding a staffing firm you trust to get the job done well can be challenging,” says Wendy Barton, Executive Vice President of Tandym Health. “When you don’t feel like you’re getting talent at the caliber you need or that your needs aren’t being met, it might feel easier to take the burden on yourself.”

However, each staffing firm is different, and finding the right partner for your search is possible. So, how do you choose the right staffing firm to partner with? Wendy suggests to start with looking for these 5 qualities:

Find someone who listens to you

Many healthcare facilities may experience the type of recruiter who simply launches into a search without first learning more about your facility. When hiring new staff, it is crucial that your partner takes the time to understand more than just the job description and list of qualifications. “While understanding the job on paper is important, learning more about an employer’s preferences, their team, and how the facility operates can shed new light on who may be the best fit for a particular role,” explains Wendy. “When a recruiter knows which questions to ask to better understand the needs of a facility, this can take some pressure off those in a hiring position. And as a result of this extra effort on behalf of the recruiter, you’ll most likely get higher quality candidates in the door.”

Partner with someone who assists you with every step of the process

Not only is it important to partner with someone who can find you the right candidates, but also someone who is there to help you every step of the way. This could mean that your staffing firm partner assists with writing job descriptions, speeding up the credentialing process, or even offers advice on your interviewing technique. When you find a partner who offers you more than just the bare minimum in the hiring process, it can make all the difference to your facility’s long-term success.

Find someone who understands your company culture

A critical element of hiring the right candidate is finding someone who fits seamlessly within the company culture—and partnering with a recruiter who can grasp your facility’s culture can eliminate some poor candidates during the search. “If your culture heavily emphasizes teamwork, an overly competitive person may not be a good addition to the team,” notes Wendy. “While a person may be experienced on paper, a recruiter who understands personal dynamics can help you find a healthcare professional who has values and priorities that align with the facility’s mission.”

Choose someone who is established in the healthcare industry

When partnering with a staffing firm, it is important that you find someone who is established in the healthcare industry. With so many specialties and practice settings, someone who has built relationships with talented healthcare professionals can fill openings more quickly. “When you work with a staffing firm who has connections to a vast network of healthcare professionals, they’ll be more likely to deliver high quality candidates,” says Wendy.

Work with an expert in the healthcare industry

In addition to finding a firm who has built relationships with top healthcare professionals in the talent pool, working with an experienced recruiter who is an expert the healthcare industry is crucial to your success. Rather than simply checking off boxes of required skill sets, a recruiter who has experience in the healthcare industry (or has even worked in a healthcare setting before) can better understand the nuances in each facility and each healthcare professional. “Someone who has healthcare expertise will understand which skills are the most crucial versus which skills are trainable,” explains Wendy. “In understanding details like this, there is less back and forth between you and your recruiter, and you’re more likely to find the right fit for your facility.”