Since the launch of HealthCareerWeb a few months back, I have been digging and searching to find the gap that exists between Social Media and health care recruiting. In my quest I ran across Phil Bauman, a Social Media advocate who is also a Registered Nurse. This is 1 piece of a 3-part discussion we had about Social Media and the Healthcare industry. The other 2 parts can be found at the Orlando JobSpot and the Tampa JobSpot.

In this session we are looking at ways that Job Boards, Social Communities and other 3rd party groups can connect with Health Care professionals and institutions.

For our sales representatives, Health Care marks a new journey. It asks for new jargon, new contacts and new conversations. There is a need for great nurses and overall healthcare positions in this country. For the Employment Guide, HealthCareerWeb was a natural progression. Breaking into their world is an exciting challenge and I asked Phil how to best break the walls down and start communicating and conversing with Health Care HR professionals. His responses:

-Social Networks could include links to facilities or offer invitations to participate in the "conversation". Approaching the CEO or CNO of a community or large city hospital for instance and inviting them to Guest Blog or guest converse would be a great way to spark interest.
-Traditional Job Boards aren't always the optimal recruiting strategy. However, following the model of LinkedIn (the Answers feature) could be a great way for candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and professional curiosity while stimulating hospitals to get online in order to recruit the best talent.
-I think there should be more A-list Bloggers who could survey their audience about the general community needs of social media in healthcare. Everybody is affected by healthcare, including participants of blogs. Even bloggers who never touch healthcare as a topic could write great posts to pique reader's interest.
-Nurses and doctors aught to learn how to blog, and learn the basic tools of social media.

These are great access points to get involved with not only the HR and recruitment aspect of HR but also health care in general. Luckily, HealthCareerWeb was built with this type of community and growth in mind.

Phil mentions LinkedIn and their answers section. With HealthCareerWeb we have implemented a Forum that gives candidates and recruiters alike the ability to ask and answer questions about anything that is deemed important to them. For the job seeker, this gives them the ability to further brand themselves beyond the resume. For the recruiter it opens the door up to see what kind of personality a job seeker has by the way they answer certain questions.

I also agree that getting more bloggers and social media types involved will help improve communication between the 2 worlds. By allowing them to take baby steps into social media via guest blogging, interviews on ?A? list blogs, widget integration and walk-throughs of sites like HealthCareerWeb will help them understand their importance.

As a job seeker, as long as you are putting out relevant information, you are only helping yourself get positioned for a better opportunity. The more places you can interact with other professionals and recruiters, the more likely that your talents will be seen and acknowledged.

I hope you enjoyed this piece. Please leave any questions or opinions in the comments and be sure to read the other 2 parts of the series at the Orlando JobSpot and the Tampa JobSpot.

(Greg Rollett is the Internet Marketing and Social Media Specialist from the Orlnado Employment Guide. Read his blog here and follow his job updates and more on Twitter.)