Is it time to get your GP recruitment fee back?

Ever wondered how long it will take to get back the fees charged by a recruitment agency?

Our calculation shows the answer is between 7-14 Weeks.

But most importantly, how did we get this figure? Let’s assume the recruitment fee is $20,000 and the GP is from overseas. We then based our calculations on the following assumptions:

Weeks 1 – 6

The GP doesn’t make you any money in the initial 6 weeks as the GP is still learning about Medicare and the Australian system therefore they are and not seeing many patients. For Australian based GPs, this period would be shorter.

Weeks 6 – 16

If there is a strong patient demand, by the time the GP gets to week 6 they should be averaging around $200 an hour

Looking at the above timeframes:

Your 35% management fee out of $200 an hour = $70, so at this point you are making around $70 (Gross Margin) an hour on the GPs work
$20,000 / $70 an hour = 286 hours
Based on the above, if a GP is working full time it will take 7-8 weeks to make back the recruitment fee. If the GP is working part time (estimated 20 hours) then it will take 14 weeks to earn back the fee

Recruitment may look like a costly exercise but with a quality GP, it won’t be hard to earn that payment back quickly.

A lot of work goes into recruitment services, and much of the work is on a contingency basis, meaning we speak to numerous GPs per day but only 1 or 2 may go forward with looking for a position. As recruiters, we don’t get paid until a GP accepts a position with a clinic, so months of work can be put into one person before we see any benefits for our company.

The above is an estimate only based on averages, so this may be different dependent on your clinic and contract circumstances.