Hiring and Training Injectors – Skytale Group

Medical aesthetic businesses have the advantage of working in a rising, innovative, and unconsolidated (for now) industry. But that also comes with challenges—like finding, hiring, and training experienced employees to meet the growing industry’s demands. We want to focus on a unique staffing challenge for med spa owners: hiring and training injectors. 

Every state has different guidelines on who can inject and how they should be certified, so it can be tricky to find just the talent you’re looking for. In a recent Skytale Insights podcast episode, Mary Beth Hagen, CEO and founder of TITAN Aesthetics Recruiting, spoke with Skytale about injector recruiting and how practices can hire and train well. TITAN helps professionals transition into reputable aesthetic practices. Here are some of her best tips for hiring at your med spa.

Current Challenges for Hiring Injectors

In the last decade, independent med spa practices have seen a lot of growth. Aesthetic services that used to be offered out of a larger practice are finding their own business locations. Many long-term injectors have recently launched their own practices. And with the entrance of private equity and the med spa market consolidating, we’re starting to see more demand for injectors than there is supply.

But where do med spa owners find a new provider? As Hagen explains, there’s no academic training program or specific internships or residencies for injectors. Many RNs, NPs, and PAs who are interested in aesthetic medicine have to do their own learning. If you’re looking to hire a great injector, read on.

Tips for Hiring and Training Injectors

There’s not “one way” to find the perfect hire. But here are some of Hagen’s suggestions on how you could hire someone that will bring in more revenue for your practice.

Hire for Culture Over Experience

The goal is to build a strong team that understands the continuum of care. Whether a patient comes in for surgery, laser or device treatment, skin care, or injectables, your team needs to be able to work together to offer the patient a seamless experience.

That’s why hiring and training injectors based on culture is so important. Does the potential hire know how to be a team player? Are they focused on patient outcomes in addition to productivity? Do they have a good bedside manner and can they build personal connections with patients?

Whether or not they have the experience is a secondary consideration. Many new med spa owners ask for injectors with three to five years of experience. But in this industry, there aren’t many experienced professional providers just sitting around waiting for a job offer. It’s possible to train a great hire how to inject—and according to your standards.

Which leads to a follow-up consideration about a potential hire’s aptitudes.

Look for the Right Aptitudes

Injecting is a blend of art and science. A good injector will be able to educate patients and create a treatment plan—while getting creative with the possibilities. Injectables are a science. But people’s faces, skin types, and even their expectations can all differ.

With the right aptitudes, providers can be taught how to inject while navigating patient care smoothly.

Invest in Training

Once you’ve hired the right person, they’ll probably need to be trained in injecting. But don’t look for the weekend training course. Aesthetic medicine isn’t as simple as inserting needles—providers need to understand anatomy, muscles, and risk areas.

TITAN has created a strong training protocol that lasts six to eight weeks, offering 40 hours of learning the anatomy and the profession. If your practice can invest in high quality training now, you’ll reap the benefits later.

How to Screen Candidates

Throughout her years spent in the med spa industry, Hagen identified certain qualities that the best injectors share. And at TITAN, she created a screening to assess potential hires. It includes:

• Right/left brain quiz: Determines creativity.
• Communication and aptitude assessment: Do they understand what the job is? Who are they as a person? Do they know how to sell?
• Picture assessment: What do they see when they look at a face? It’s easy to see wrinkles, gray hairs, or bright eyes. But what about all the nuanced characteristics?
• Hobby overview: Hagen’s found that great injectors usually have some sort of artistic hobby.

TITAN has performed over 500 screenings, and their clients have seen a 1:1 correlation between revenue and the screening score. While you may not use the exact same screening, it’s possible to borrow ideas of certain qualities to look for.

Hagen also suggests that med spas create a development plan for their aesthetic providers, including performance evaluations, compensation talk, goal-setting, and skill development. It helps injectors feel valued and engaged in their role.

Learn More About Hiring and Training Injectors With Skytale

If you have the privilege of being a med spa owner in a rapidly growing industry—don’t go through the growth process alone. Skytale helps medical aesthetic practices grow organically and scale to multiple locations. And hiring great providers is part of the process. Get in touch with us!