ESS Candidate Newsletter – February 2026

Introduction – Aaron Wandtke
Positions Filled in the Last 30 Days
Ask the Recruiter – “What do you see happening in 2026?”
Hot Jobs – ESS

Introduction:

We have lots to share with you this month as we wrapped up 2025 and kicked off 2026 two weeks ago internally. First, we encourage you to visit our new updated website which has more information and a list of our current searches. Please click www.ess123.com to take a look.

Some of our data from 2025 that you may find interesting:

• Our top five categories were Accounting and Finance, Sales, Clinicians, Medical Directors, Operations, and Case Management/Medical Management. These five categories have been our top five for several years now.
• 84% of our jobs were hybrid or remote
• 50k-450k – the salary ranges for all the roles we fille
• 5 weeks – average time from the day we present the person a company hirer until they hire that individual.

We track everything as we are always looking for ways to improve the quality of service we deliver.
If you would like more information or have any questions, please reach out.

To subscribe to our newsletter geared for hiring managers, please click here.

Sampling of Positions Filled in the Last 30 days:

Director of Revenue Operations
Medical Director
Senior Medical Economics Analyst
Clinical Pharmacist
Nurse Practitioner
Sales Director
Medical Advantage Specialist

Ask the Recruiter – “What do you see happening in 2026?”

We are not economists, although we often feel we have a better finger on the pulse than the experts on tv. 2025 was a methodical year as the job market did not fluctuate much with our clients. We saw a steady number of new searches each month, but the total number was at the low end compared to the last couple of years.

In January this year, we brought in twice as many searches as any month in 2025. In speaking with recruiters outside of the healthcare niche, they too, saw upticks in their respective niches.

There is nothing we can point to specifically and say that is the reason, but it feels like companies waited all year for market conditions to ripen for their company and they never were optimal. Companies can no longer wait to fill in their critical openings, which explains the considerable number of new roles.

We see companies bringing on new talent because people are being replaced, they are backfilling roles employees have left, or they are growing their teams or building new teams. Regardless of why, this is a great sign for job seekers as it’s been over two years of a tougher job market.

We believe this is a good sign for people interested in making a job change in 2026.

I can be reached at 614-885-8490 or by e-mail at aw@ess123.com.