The healthcare hiring industry has come a long way. In the early 20th century, landing a job in healthcare was a personal, informal process. Newspapers, word of mouth, and tips from friends and family were the main sources of job opportunities. It was common for job seekers to walk into hospitals and drop off resumes in person or mail them to the hiring manager. For the most part, nurses and physicians were hired from nearby communities or training institutions.
In the mid-1950s, things changed. Human Resources (HR) became the first “middleman” in the process. HR departments were the people responsible for sourcing the right candidate and referring fully vetted candidates to the hiring nurse or physician. HR was also responsible for posting jobs, screening resumes, scheduling interviews, and ensuring compliance with ever-changing laws and regulations. Suddenly, hiring was no longer about connections; it was a process.
The rise of job boards: click, apply, and you’re (maybe) hired
By the late 1990s, hiring underwent a digital revolution with the introduction of the internet. Online job boards transformed how candidates searched for work, offering instant access to opportunities across the country and the globe. While hiring software, coupled with internet access, made searching for work faster and easier for job seekers, it also meant increased access to thousands, even millions, of candidates instantly for HR managers. This meant competition increased exponentially for job seekers. For the first time, hospitals and healthcare systems could source talent across the country and the world.
Online job boards solved a significant problem for job seekers: convenience, easy application, and access to jobs anywhere, anytime, in any industry worldwide. But it also made it much harder for job seekers to connect with decision-makers. Employers, on the other hand, greatly benefited from targeting candidates with the proper licenses and certifications. No more sifting through piles of resumes or manually searching for candidates who had the exact credentials they needed. Software could now recommend candidates based on any criteria set by the HR manager.
Present day confusion
Fast forward to today, and the hiring journey is a digital labyrinth of agencies, recruiters, suppliers, and support companies standing between every job seeker and the job they’re hoping to land. It’s a digital system designed to connect job seekers and hiring managers faster than ever before, but it also introduces many complexities.
There are multiple layers separating the person applying for a job and the hiring professional responsible for selecting candidates. There is a combination of job boards, Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Vendor Management Systems (VMSs), and suppliers that source and refer candidates. This doesn’t even include the technology vendors who power Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) and other hiring platforms. To top it off, there’s a lack of direct communication between the job seeker and the hiring manager. In some cases, a nurse may need to apply to multiple job boards and fill out different applications to secure just one job. Depending on the hospital or healthcare facility, the process could take a month or more.
Enter AI
As the jumble of software and technology platforms now integrates with AI, the ease of use for both job seekers and hiring managers has been somewhat streamlined and improved. AI is fundamentally changing job searching by automating resume screening, personalizing job recommendations, and allowing employers to identify ideal candidates faster and more accurately than ever before.
But while AI is boosting efficiency, it can also feel impersonal, cause a distance between candidate and hiring manager, and there is a margin of error. For instance, if a highly qualified candidate’s resume or profile isn’t optimized for AI, they can easily be overlooked.
It’s estimated that over 80% of U.S. companies will use AI tools to screen resumes in 2025, and 99% of companies use ATS systems to track applications. Companies seeking to drive efficiency and reduce costs are turning to AI to manage the massive influx of job applications they receive for every opening. It may seem like the transformation from human-driven hiring to AI-assisted hiring happened almost overnight, but in reality, it’s been slowly evolving.
Scammers in the system
Once job hunting moved online, so did scammers. Fake job postings and scammers pretending to be recruiters are common scenarios job seekers have to deal with. Not only do job seekers struggle to find jobs, but they also need to worry that the personal information they provide can be bought and sold by third parties. Job seekers aren’t the only ones being affected by scams. Recently, there has been a proliferation of AI acting as ‘fake’ job seekers and conducting online interviews with hiring managers when the candidate isn’t even human.
Not all staffing and recruiting agencies are the same, so for a job seeker, it’s important to work with a well-established company that they trust. Companies with decades of experience in recruiting, hiring, and workforce management are reliable and a safe choice for job seekers. At the end of the day, online platforms make job hunting easier, but being alert is the only way to avoid turning a dream job into a nightmare.
StaffDNA: simplifying the process
StaffDNA saw the need for improvement in healthcare hiring and set out to improve the process. The goal of StaffDNA is to connect recruiters, hiring managers, suppliers, technology vendors and other support companies in the hiring process, all in one convenient app. StaffDNA is a digital career marketplace where candidates can search for jobs, store compliance and career documents, see all pay and job details, and more.
Anyone searching for a job in healthcare can simply download the app, create their profile, and apply for the job directly from their phone. Job seekers can view all job options, including part-time shifts, travel contracts, and full-time roles, without needing to register. Once registered and after completing a short profile, the app will automatically match candidates to open roles with AI-matching.
For hiring managers at healthcare facilities and hospitals, the benefit of using an all-in-one app is clear: hiring, screening, determining pay rates, and scheduling can be done in one place and at any time, from anywhere. The StaffDNA app provides hiring managers with a clear advantage in their hiring approach. Instead of relying on human recruiters who are typically only in the office during the workweek, the StaffDNA app provides them with the flexibility to hire on demand, even late at night or on weekends.
For both candidates and hiring managers, the StaffDNA app’s flexibility helps break down all hiring process barriers. It means easier, real-time hiring, where candidates and hiring managers can directly connect.
Summing up the healthcare hiring journey
Healthcare hiring has come a long way, but it still has further to go. The technology tools developed by StaffDNA’s award-winning team are helping solve intricate problems in the hiring industry. And this comes at a time when staffing shortages in healthcare are at their highest. Nationwide, there’s a shortage of qualified healthcare professionals at all levels, from CNAs to physicians.
Technology is bringing a lot to the table – from streamlined and connected processes to solutions that work for anyone in the hiring spectrum. Stay tuned for more innovation from StaffDNA as we continue to improve the process even further!
Sheldon Arora
CEO