AMN Healthcare Survey Finds More Frequent and Sophisticated Use of Social Media in Job Searching by Healthcare Professionals

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AHS), healthcare's innovator in workforce solutions and staffing services, announced today the results from its third survey of social media and mobile usage by healthcare professionals related to job search and career trends. The results showed that today's clinicians are becoming more discerning in the tools they use to manage their job search as they hone in on the most effective job search sources, increase their use of social media for finding jobs, and optimize their online footprint.

"As healthcare organizations continue to seek the highest quality and most qualified clinicians to meet their permanent or contingent needs, it becomes increasingly more critical to understand how these healthcare professionals are seeking career opportunities," stated Ralph Henderson, President of Healthcare Staffing at AMN Healthcare. "Our research clearly shows that online and social sources continue to grow in popularity, but even more importantly, that clinicians are using a myriad of social channels available to them more strategically than in the past. Innovative digital and social recruitment strategies are needed to reach high-demand healthcare professionals."

The use of social media for job searching has nearly doubled since first measured in 2010 with 42% actively engaged. Healthcare professionals are using social media to:

• Look at job postings;
• Research companies; and
• Determine whether they know anyone that could assist in their job search.

Additionally, more than twice as many healthcare professionals now receive mobile (text) job alerts than in 2010 (20%), and those who do are reporting success getting interviews and job offers, especially those who have opted-in to receive alerts from recruiters. Healthcare professionals do differ widely in their use of social media and mobile devices though, with physicians ranking least likely to use social media in a job search and pharmacists ranking the most likely.

Overall, healthcare professionals appear to be using significantly fewer resources to look for a job than in prior years, with almost all sources decreasing in the 2013 survey. The most frequently cited sources for job searches were direct contact (62%), online job boards (60%) and referrals (51%). Meanwhile, the three most effective sources (resulted in a new job) were direct contact, referrals and "recruiter found me."  

"Increasingly, clinicians are using social media to augment their job search, combining interactive digital sources with direct recruiting contact to change positions and further their careers. As AMN continues to cultivate the largest database of quality clinicians in the U.S., we are employing advanced technology and online recruitment efforts that meet the job search preferences of healthcare professionals today," concluded Mr. Henderson.

Other Key Findings:

• Approximately 50% of clinicians enhanced their social profile information and about one-third say they have refrained from posting negative content.
• Healthcare professionals said that if they could choose only one general social media site for career purposes, that site would be LinkedIn (58%), Facebook (24%) and Google+ (10%). This represents a significant decline year over year for Facebook as the one site of choice, with an equally significant rise in choosing LinkedIn.
• Clinicians and physicians chose MedScape (39%) as their one favored healthcare-related social media site for career purposes, followed by AllNurses.com (10%) and Nurse.com (8%).
• Approximately half of clinicians said they use social media to look for job postings; approximately 40% use it to research a company; one-third use it to see if they know someone that can help in their job search; less than 20% use it to reach a recruiter; and approximately 10% use it to reach out to the HR department.

The full report can be found on the Industry Research page of the AMN Healthcare website, www.amnhealthcare.com. Click here to access the survey directly.

About the AMN 2013 Survey of Social Media and Mobile Usage by Healthcare Professionals

AMN Healthcare's third Survey of Social Media and Mobile Usage provides insight into clinicians' job searching methods and their use of online resources for professional networking and career development. Employers and healthcare leaders can use the results of the survey to gauge the effectiveness of various social media networks and related applications as they develop future plans for recruiting. 

The survey was conducted during the spring of 2013. Survey questionnaires were emailed to 87,201 clinicians and 1,902 completed the survey for a response rate of 2.18%. Respondents included registered nurses, allied professionals, physicians, pharmacists, advanced practice professionals, dentists and others.

About AMN Healthcare

AMN Healthcare is the innovator in healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities across the nation.  AMN Healthcare's workforce solutions - including managed services programs and recruitment process outsourcing - enable providers to successfully reduce complexity, increase efficiency and improve patient outcomes within the rapidly evolving healthcare environment.  The Company provides unparalleled access to the largest network of quality clinicians and physicians through its innovative recruitment strategies and breadth of career opportunities.  Clients include acute-care hospitals, government facilities, community health centers and clinics, physician practice groups and many other healthcare settings.  For more information, visit www.amnhealthcare.com.

Contact: Cara Petralia
Director, Corporate Communications
AMN Healthcare
(858) 720-6259
[email protected]

SOURCE AMN Healthcare