Ophthalmology Recruiters Pros/Cons?

[Super66]

Does anyone have insight into the disadvantages of utilizing one of the recruiter groups to assist in securing a job? (e.g. the EyeGroup, ETS vision, etc.)
I've heard some claim that though the recruiting group does not charge you per se, the practice / employer will take their fee out of your salary to compensate for the service. Is this actually true? Does anyone have any firsthand experience with this and can confirm this?

Are there any other pros besides them sending you openings they think you'll be interested in and not having to troll the AAO jobs site yourself?
Appreciate any thoughts or advice about this, especially from those in practice. Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[EyeOweYou]

Thanks for asking. Also curious about this

 

[LightBox]

- Doubt the practice will take the recruiter's fee out of your salary. Your compensation is negotiated by YOU before you sign anything.

- Most of the "best" jobs dont need recruiters to fill them. That's because most owners dont want to incur unnecessary expenses if they dont have to. That's not the same thing as saying that all of these jobs are "bad" since some owners just dont have the time to manually go through all of the resumes themselves.

- I hate the AAO Job Center software. You would think they would come up with something better. Oh right, they have a monopoly on the listings!

 

[mjohnsonets]

I feel I should respond to this but am going to do so in the most unbiased manner I can.

Recruiters can help both young ophthalmologists and experienced ophthalmologists but typically in different ways. For ophthalmologists coming out of training much of what a recruiter can do is help set expectations, provide detail on certain markets, and provide input on what a good offer may look like given the combined input of the practices they work with or have worked with. When looking for your first job, it can help to talk to someone who does nothing but work on jobs for ophthalmologists and has a firm understanding of the process.

For experienced ophthalmologists, a recruiter can help them look confidentially for a new position. In particular, when a partner may be planning to exit a practice. This can allow them to look into a practice before openly talking to them. A recruiter can also add value if an experienced ophthalmologist is interested in a location they don't have many contacts in or know the market very well there.

In both scenarios, there are also opportunities that go unadvertised a recruiter may be working on.

There are other points I could make but feel they would come across as selling my services. I hope this helps a little.