HealthJobHub is a healthcare focused job board that serves Canada and the United States. Recruiting Headlines sat down for a Q&A session with their female founder Prasanthi Naidoo who is based in Alberta Canada. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
| What’s your background and why did you start HealthJobHub.com? I am a Chartered Accountant (FCCA) by Profession, qualified in Dublin Ireland where I was placed 3rd in Ireland and 14th in the world upon completing my final qualifying exams. Although I have outstanding professional work experience from Dublin, upon coming to Canada 7 years ago I found it extremely difficult to find a job in Calgary in my field. However what I did get was many enquiries from my husband’s network of medical clinics looking for physicians to join their team. So organically I started matching International Medical Graduates with practice opportunities in Alberta. Due to the numerous requests for physicians and healthcare professionals that frequently flooded my inbox, I knew that their was a better way to help connect these clinics in need with interested candidates. This was how the idea of building a website, to help healthcare employers and jobseekers to connect directly was born. When did the site launch? On the 14th of July 2018. How did you spread the word initially? Cold calling. I cold called everyone in healthcare I could think of including every major health authority across Canada. I even wrote to Prime Minster Justin Trudeau to inform him of my mission to fill healthcare jobs faster… Within three months after launch we received the written support and endorsement of our initiative from Alberta Health Services, Canada’s largest health authority who employ in excess of 100,000 people in the province. We subsequently received the same from Vancouver Coastal Health and other health authorities in Canada. What have you learned about running a healthcare job community that you wish you knew before starting? It gets tougher as you grow because it is a two sided marketplace and competition in the industry is great. Cold calling is not scaleable. Need to market to many using the most low cost efficient distribution channels available. What type of content do you produce? I write blog posts about various healthcare and employment related topics. I create videos and share actual photos of clinics and the people that work there. In March 2020, during the COVID19 lockdown in Canada I started a Facebook Live Talk Show, Pulse by healthjobhub. The show streams live on Sunday’s at 8:15am MST on healthjobhub facebook page https://www.facebook.com/healthjobhub/. I started Pulse to connect, inspire and share incredible real life stories of healthcare professionals. Season one was a great hit where I interviewed healthcare professionals from around the world to find out what inspired them to start their careers in healthcare. In season two we are focusing more on the employer and recruiter, to share with them tips and advice on how to be successful in recruitment marketing. What kind of effect has Covid-19 had on healthcare recruiting? It has increased the demand for frontline healthcare workers such as doctors, nurses, healthcare aides etc. It has further exacerbated the demand and limited supply of healthcare professionals globally. What attracts nurses and doctors when it comes to recruiting them? Purpose, place, people. On season 1 of Pulse by healthjobhub, I got a clear understanding of what attracts healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses to do the work they do. It was unanimous, every special guest cited the inherent want to help others as their number one reason why they chose their career path… This is the same reason I find that attracts nurses and doctors to new work opportunities. They always look for a sense of purpose. The place of work also plays a big role in their decision making process and people both in terms of those who they will help and who they will work with are factors that attract these in demand professionals. Where do you see HJH in 5 years? My ambition is to grow HJH to be the #1 healthcare jobs site in the world. I am working towards achieving this goal in 5years. |
