SocialHire.com offered a blog post with five solid tips to help job seekers and employers know if they are working with a good recruiter, or not.

1. Listen more than they talk.
Recruiters exist to match the best candidate and the best employer, as quickly and efficiently as possible. It’s not our place to judge or steer anyone in any particular direction; we’re here to work for both parties and secure the desired outcome for both.

To do this well, it’s vital that recruiters ask questions then LISTEN to what their client/candidate is all about and what they’re hoping to achieve. It’s only by really getting to the bottom of this that a recruiter can have any hope of developing a successful match.

You should be talking more than your recruiter – certainly in the early stages of the engagement. If they immediately launch into pitching you a job/candidate the first time your paths cross, it might be worth considering if this is time well spent!

Aime Echevarria at MDR Healthcare posted tips for ensuring your direct mail efforts to attract passive physician job seekers are successful.

Topics covered include; selecting the right vendor to purchase your mailing list from, how to format your direct mail, customizing your copy, choosing images, and avoiding the “rinse and repeat” method by changing up your message in direct mail.

Physicians already know what a doctor with a stethoscope looks like, so leave those images off of your mail pieces. Instead, use pictures that highlight your community or facilities.
Your list is the most important part of your direct mail campaign. Make sure the data in it is accurate, from a reputable source, and backed up by a guarantee.
Make your direct mail pieces as targeted as possible by using segmented lists, customized copy, and images meant to engage your selected audience.

Third year medical student Annya Suman offers her advice and experience about how to stay mentally strong during USMLE Step 1 preparation.

One of the biggest challenges during the preparation for the Step 1 is staying positive and mentally strong. It sounds easy, “Yes! Stay positive!” but the anxiety, the fear of the unknown, and the expectations we place on ourselves have the power to put us in a downward spiral. Following are a few tips and pointers students should keep in mind that may help them with their fears and anxiety.

John S. Kiernan from WalletHub used some advanced metrics to compile one of the better Best and Worst States for Doctors lists that we’ve seen.

So in order to help doctors make the most informed decisions regarding where to practice, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 11 key metrics. Our data set ranges from “physicians’ mean annual wage” to “number of physicians per capita” to “malpractice award payouts per capita.” Check out the complete ranking, additional expert commentary to help local governments identify policy initiatives and our detailed methodology below.