The document summarizes advice from two oncology recruiters on how to get a job in radiation oncology. They recommend networking and cultivating relationships through professional organizations. Informational interviews can help determine the best career fit. Candidates should keep their skills current, manage their online presence professionally, regularly update resumes tailored to each role, and prepare thoroughly for interviews by keeping records. Working with a recruiter can help connect candidates to opportunities but it is ultimately up to the candidate to sell themselves.

1. RADIATION ONCOLOGY NEWS
FOR ADMINISTRATORS
Volume 25 • Number 2 • 2015
13
“I would recommend anyone, whether they’re an experienced
manager or director, or someone new to the field, to sign up
to be either a mentor or a mentee. As our field is changing so
rapidly with new technologies and with the billing compo-
nents becoming more and more complex, I think it’s very ben-
eficial to have a sounding board or a mechanism to bounce
ideas off other people in a timely manner,”he says.“I see the
advantage of having a mentor or a mentee in that you can, at
least speaking for myself, that we can email each other and
within 24 hours get a response back.”
Koshy says having a mentor“provides another avenue of in-
formation and an ability to lean on someone … Sometimes
there are complicated issues and you think, ‘What do other
people do?’ Having a mentor helps relieve some frustration
and stress just to talk to somebody.”
Now that she has had this opportunity, she can envision be-
coming a mentor herself. She highly recommends the pro-
gram to others.“SROA has individuals with decades of expe-
rience available for someone to tap into.You have a group of
experts from across the nation and they happen to be down
to earth and willing to share their knowledge—why wouldn’t
you participate?”
Sign up for SROA’s Mentorship Program
If you are interested in becoming a mentor or a
mentee, please visit the Members Only section of the
SROA website for more information and to register.
THE RECRUITERS’ TAKE ON GETTING A JOB
Julia Williams and Jolene Matthews are oncology recruiters with
Magee Resource Group, a professional search firm. They shared
their perspectives on the current radiation oncology job market and
how candidates can prepare themselves for their next professional
opportunity.
“A decade ago, there were a lot of
executive level and VP jobs within
oncology, but with the economic
downturn in 2008, a lot of VP jobs
were cut,”says Julia Williams.“From
what we’re seeing, some of the most
common positions that healthcare
organizations are hiring for are VP
of Cancer Services, system service
line roles, infusion managers, clini-
cal directors and radiation oncology
managers and directors.”
She adds:“I would say that we’ve seen a growth in radiation,
but the majority of the positions that we’re seeing an increase
for are system directors.”
“Healthcare systems that provide oncology care in multiple
sites are seeking these roles to streamline their processes and
ensure consistency across the sites, as well as utilize resources
more efficiently and effectively,”Jolene Matthews says.
“In radiation oncology, hiring authorities are seeking individ-
uals with an RT license and background, as well as either a
Master’s in Healthcare Administration or a Master’s in Busi-
ness Administration. The clinical background coupled with
the business acumen is something that is highly sought after
within radiation oncology centers,”Williams says.
Williams and Matthews have some important advice to help
people get hired or promoted.
Cultivate relationships
Networking and developing relationships are important to
career success. It’s essential, Williams says, to stay well net-
worked even when not looking for a new position.
“People who are content in their position may think,“I don’t
need to go to networking events, and I don’t need to talk to
recruiters. I’m happy in my role with my organization, and this
is where I want to be. But a lot of times, they are missing out
on opportunities to speak with experts in their industry that
would have the knowledge and connections to help them and
their programs,”Williams says.
Professional relationships are important, especially when ap-
plying for a job, Williams says. Candidates need to have some-
one to speak on their behalf, especially if they’re new.
“It can’t just be a colleague. It needs to be a physician that
you’ve worked with on committees or it needs to be some-
body of high stature within the organization, even if it’s not
necessarily your boss. Because without that [references],
Julia Williams is an oncology
recruiter with
Magee Resources Group.

2. RADIATION ONCOLOGY NEWS
FOR ADMINISTRATORS
Volume 25 • Number 2 • 2015
14
there’s nobody to validate your skillset or that you’re a great
employee,”she says.
Williams says the best advice she can give to people is for
them to join professional organizations. At an oncology con-
ference she attended recently, she saw three people there that
she had recruited to join the organization.
“Two of the three came up to me and said, ‘I appreciate you
referring this group to me because I was able to make some
good connections that can help me.’These two particular ad-
ministrators were at that three- to five-year mark in their ca-
reer, where they still have a lot to learn, and there were a lot
of seasoned 30-plus year leadership experienced people there.
Now they’ve created this network where they can go and say,
‘Hey, did this happen in your center, and what did you do
about it?’”
Networking can reap rewards even for those with a small net-
work, Matthews says, especially if someone in your network
is well connected or can mentor you. Such individuals can be
resources to learn about different training events to attend
and can be a link to connect you with other professionals and
experts in your industry.
“All it takes is one connection
to be able to really continue to
expand, and I think if you really
cultivate those relationships with
each person, over a longer peri-
od of time, you’ll be able to grow
your network,”Matthew says.
Connections can lead to op-
portunities that may not yet be
published. At a recent confer-
ence, Williams says she learned
of three jobs that had not even
been written yet, but were bud-
geted for.
“There’s a lot of opportunity out there that people don’t even
know exists. Sometimes, particularly for a candidate that’s
kind of stuck in a market, and by that I mean they can’t re-
locate and may have a 90-mile radius, they should know ev-
erybody in their community… everybody in those centers
because sometimes just having those connections can allow
them to have firsthand information about things that aren’t
even necessarily posted or open but may be coming available.
”
Conduct informational interviews
Informational interviews can help lead job seekers on the
right path.
“They [applicants] may think that they want to work in an
academic setting, for example, and then the more information
they get, they may realize that based on their personal goals
and their passion that they don’t, that it aligns more with a
community-based hospital,”Williams says.
“Things like that you wouldn’t really know unless you actual-
ly experienced it.You can gain from informational interviews
because you’ll be able to learn from people in the industry
about how they operate and what the differences are between
the different health systems and the different structures. And
that would be very helpful for someone possibly going into a
new role.”
Keep yourself current and be a true expert in
your field
Being current entails attending conferences, getting addition-
al certifications, and keeping abreast of trends/developments
in your field.
“That is a big trend right now that I hear when I hear about
radiation directors.‘I need an expert in the field. I need some-
body that knows the equipment,’ so maybe you work at a fa-
cility where you only have MOSAIQ, but maybe you need to
go get trained on ARIA. Call a friend that works in a facili-
ty where they have ARIA, and go get trained on it,”Williams
says.“The more skillsets you have, the more marketable you’re
going to be.”
Williams emphasizes the importance of going above and be-
yond. She advocates taking advantage of opportunities to
work outside your niche on committees and do projects so
that you can help your organization and grow your skillset.
Matthews says being actively involved in sharing knowledge
is also helpful because if you’re out on the market looking
for a job and you’ve branded yourself as an expert by posting
discussions, helping other people across the country in your
profession would be regarded pretty highly to a potential fu-
ture employer.
Manage your online presence
Oftentimes a LinkedIn profile is the first impression some-
body has of a person, Williams says. The first thing most peo-
ple do is go to Google or to LinkedIn. She says they coun-
sel candidates about LinkedIn: having an updated profile, a
professional image, more than a few connections and being
Jolene Matthews is an
oncology recruiter with
Magee Resources Group.

3. RADIATION ONCOLOGY NEWS
FOR ADMINISTRATORS
Volume 25 • Number 2 • 2015
15
professional when posting. She cautions against putting your
resume on Monster or CareerBuilder.
Update your resume every time you gain a new
skillset
Succeeding in today’s job market requires applicants have an
up-to-date resume that is tailored to jobs they apply for.
“If you keep it updated every six months to a year, you’re go-
ing to be ready and have it available. It is a lot easier to contin-
ue to add accomplishments as they are achieved then trying
to remember each thing further on, so it will make you more
marketable if you update it regularly,”Matthews says.
“Tailor your resume to the skillsets needed in that particular
role,”Williams says.“We also recommend that you use bullet
points to highlight your accomplishments as it relates to the
position.”
“A lot of job descriptions out there are generic, so that makes
it a little more challenging, but try to tailor your resume as
much as possible,”Matthews says.“It’s really left to the can-
didate to do a lot of homework on the facility, network to see
who they may know that’s maybe a physicist or therapist in
the facility that can educate them about their system and the
type of equipment they’re using, so that they can tailor their
resume, and maybe a cover page to effectively portray that.”
She adds:“Since we’re a search firm, we have very detailed job
descriptions for candidates, so that’s definitely a plus about
working with a recruiter that knows the system and knows
the role, but if you are just applying online, you still want to
try to do your research, and you can find out the type of equip-
ment and systems they use.”
Matthews recommends creating a profile: “We do very cus-
tomized profiles, and we review the position and create a pro-
file that is very detailed. We’ll say this person has seven years
experience doing this and two years experience doing that,
and they’re well versed in working with the equipment, and
they’ve done new construction, and they’ve gone through an
EMR change.”
Be prepared and keep track
“It’s your job to make sure that you keep track of all of the po-
sitions you’re applying for, and in fact, you should only apply
for positions that you’re truly excited about, even if you’re not
working,” Matthews says. “People hurt themselves because
they don’t keep track of which jobs they’ve applied for, so
when they’re contacted, instead of them looking like a serious
candidate that’s prepared, that’s excited about the opportu-
nity, they make themselves look disorganized and unprofes-
sional if they don’t remember the position.
“When I get that response, it appears that this person is prob-
ably applying for anything and everything, that they have no
idea where their resume is, what the position it’s for. They
didn’t read the job description. It’s just not a good look, so one
thing I will say my best advice would be is to be prepared.”
“I always tell candidates,‘I can get you from A to point B, but
it’s your job to lose, so I’m going to give you every tool I can,
and once you get in front of them, you take it from that point
on. At the end of the day, you’ve got to sell yourself to them,”
Williams says.
Work with a recruiter
Last year, 88% of Magee Resources Group’s business was re-
ferred. Working with a recruiter doesn’t cost the job searcher
money—the fees are paid by the hiring organization.
“All that goes back to our network and the people that we
know and the referrals that we get because they’ve worked
with us before, and we’ve helped their friend out, or we’ve
helped a client out, and so I think having a good relationship
goes a long way,”Williams says.
“You don’t have to talk to every recruiter that calls, but pick
one or two that you really like that is an expert in your
industry that you can have a long-term relationship with,”
she says. “Some of these candidates that I’ve been working
with I’ve worked with for 18 years. I know of their families
and have been able to positively impact their career and their
quality of life over the years, so I think having a firm or re-
cruiter that you trust that really understands your needs, your
family’s needs, and that you value their opinion. I think that’s
really important.”
Save the Date: SROA 32ND ANNUAL MEETING
OCTOBER 17-21, 2015 San Antonio, TX