5 Reasons Physician Candidates Aren’t Responding to Your Cold Emails

Email is one of the most popular ways for physician recruiters to communicate with prospective candidates. Most candidates prefer hearing about opportunities through what they find in their inbox, and some strictly communicate with recruiters using email. But with physician recruitment emails becoming so popular among both recruiters and candidates, organizations are finding it harder to get the attention of prospective candidates. With so many options, these physicians will often fail to respond to a recruitment email, if they even open your email at all.

So how can you cut through the noise and improve your chances of getting a response from a candidate through cold emailing? Here are the five main reasons candidates aren’t responding and what you can do about it.

1. You’re Using Spam Triggers

Most email service providers today have highly sophisticated spam filters that help weed out irrelevant emails so that the recipient never even sees them in their inbox. Using trigger words such as “opportunity,” “lucrative,” or “bonus” can all get your email thrown into a candidate’s spam folder, never to be seen again. The same goes for excessive punctuation (exclamation points, question marks) and special characters.

2. The “From” Address is Generic

Are you sending from a generic email address such as “recruiter@organization.com”? If so, you’re not likely to receive a response. Candidates like knowing they’re being contacted by a person and will be more likely to respond if the from address is “john.smith@healthsystem.org.” Make sure each recruiter on your team is using a personalized email address to increase the chances that your emails will get opened – and responded to.

3. There is No Call to Action

So you’ve sent the candidate a fantastic email regarding an opportunity for which they’re a perfect fit. Now what? Give the physician candidate clear instructions on what to do next if they’re interested. Do you want them to submit their CV? Possibly schedule an initial phone screening? Include a clear call to action that lets the candidate know what the next steps are and what they would need to do to express their interest. Including brightly colored buttons with clear verbiage such as “submit your CV” or “set up a time to speak” can remove any questions about next steps with the candidate.

4. You’re Not Customizing the Message

Every candidate will have a unique set of motivations and interests that will drive their job search. Whether they have a strong interest in research, are focused on quality of life, or want to hold a solely clinical role, each candidate’s individual preferences will determine whether or not they will respond to your cold email. Because of this, it is crucial for you to tailor your physician recruitment message to each individual candidate based on the information you have available to you. Does their CV show a steady increase in administrative responsibility? If so, they’ll likely be looking for a position with as much if not more administrative responsibilities as what they have in their current role.

5. You Haven’t Indicated the Value Proposition

At the end of the day, most qualified physician candidates will find themselves sifting through hundreds of physician recruitment emails each day. With all of those other recruiters jockeying for their attention, it’s important for you and your opportunity to stand out. What are you offering that other recruiters aren’t? Is it high compensation? Improved work-life balance? Perhaps it’s flexible scheduling. Whatever it may be, it’s important for you to highlight that inherent value in your position that places it above the others being sent the candidate’s way.

Key Take Aways:

• Customization is key – tailor each email to each prospective candidate with the value proposition prominently showcased.
• Let the candidate know what they should do if they’re interested with a clear call to action at the end of each email.
• Make sure you end up in the inbox by avoiding spam triggers – and make sure your emails actually get opened  by showing that they’re being sent by an actual person and not a machine.