Competitive Job Market for Radiologists

New radiologists may have a tougher time finding a job than they anticipated, according to a report published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston evaluated the status of the radiology job market using the American College of Radiology (ACR) Career Center. While the ACR Jobs Board is not the only source for radiology job searches, it does play an important role, providing job seekers with the ability to post resumes and look for jobs through keyword searches and job alerts.

The researchers used data from the ACR Jobs Board from October 2010 through June 2013, including the numbers of monthly new job seekers, new job postings, and job posting clicks. These were gathered and used to calculate a monthly competitive index, defined as the ratio of new job seekers to new job postings.

The results showed that the mean number of new job seekers (168 per month) exceeded the average job postings for any given month (84 on average). They found no significant difference between 2011 and 2012 with regard to the number of new job seekers or job postings.

There were more new job seekers during the periods of October and November 2010, August to November 2011, and October and November 2012. These periods were also associated with the highest competitive index values. There were fewer job seekers in the winter and spring of 2011, 2012, and 2013, periods associated with lower competitive index values. ACR Jobs Board activity, measured by job posting clicks, was significantly higher in 2012 than in 2011.

The number of clicks on postings on the job board rose from an average of 69,046 in 2011 to an average of 153,558 in 2012. There was also big increase in clicks after April 2012 (290,472 per month), which peaked in January 2013.

The authors concluded that “there were consistently more new job seekers than job postings throughout the study period, and fall is the period in the year most associated with the highest competitive index for radiologist employment.”

There were limitations to the study, however, the authors acknowledged. Not all job seekers are new graduates, and jobs are also found in other ways, such as referrals and word of mouth, and that visitors to the job board do not have to register to be able to browse available job postings.