RSNA 2026 for Radiology Job Seekers: How to Use Four Days in Chicago

RadiologyJobs Editorial Team | Published September 17, 2026 | Last updated September 17, 2026

Is RSNA a conference for you this year, or a job search with lectures attached?

If it is even a little bit the second one, here is the honest version. For a radiology job seeker, RSNA 2026 is four days of employers in one building. The exhibit hall at McCormick Place is open Sunday, November 29 through Wednesday, December 2, 10 am to 5 pm. Walk the career fair area, work Recruiters Row with a short list of questions, and leave with names, not brochures.

Nobody hands you that plan at registration, so here it is: what the hall is actually for, what to ask an employer that a posting never tells you, a day-by-day schedule, how to look without your current group knowing, and how the week differs for a resident, a mid-career radiologist, and a technologist. It ends with where to find us.

What is the RSNA exhibit hall for if you're job hunting?

Three things, and they sit close together on the floor.

• The career fair area. This is where employers with open roles set up specifically to meet candidates. Conversations here are expected to be about jobs, so nobody is surprised when you ask about one. Go in with your questions ready and treat every table as a first interview, because that is what it is.
• Recruiters Row. An aisle of recruiting firms and career platforms. Each of them talks to employers you will never reach on your own, so ask what they are seeing: which regions are hiring hard, what groups are offering, what candidates like you are turning down and why. A good recruiter will tell you the truth because it costs them nothing.
• The employer booths themselves. Plenty of organizations exhibit to show something other than jobs, but the people staffing a booth usually know who back home is hiring. "Is your department growing?" is a fair question at any booth, and the answer often comes with a name.

The one rule: walk with a question list, not a stack of CVs. A CV is a commitment. A question is a conversation, and conversations are what you flew in for.

What should you ask an employer at a booth that a posting never answers?

A posting tells you the title, the location, and the adjectives. A person can tell you the rest. Four questions, in this order, and write the answers down before you reach the next booth.

1. Who owns the practice, and has that changed recently? Ownership decides everything downstream: how decisions get made, what a partnership track is worth, and who you are really working for. If the answer takes a while to arrive, that is also an answer.
2. What does call actually look like? Ask for nights and weekends as they happen on a real calendar, not as a word like "shared" or "manageable." Ask who covers overnight, and what happens when someone is out.
3. What happened to the last person in this role? Promoted, retired, relocated, or gone after a year. Each of those is a different job, and the posting reads the same for all of them.
4. What is the pay range, and what moves someone inside it? If a group will not say at a booth, it will not get easier by email. Ask anyway, politely, and notice who answers straight. (On RadiologyJobs, every listing shows the pay range before you ask, which is a fair standard to hold everyone to.)

Then one closer: "If I said yes, what happens next?" The answer tells you how organized they are and how fast this could move, which you will want to know in December, not in March.

How should you plan the four days?

The hall keeps the same hours every day, but the days are not the same. Sunday is for mapping, Monday is for talking, Tuesday is for going back, and Wednesday is for closing loops. The full meeting runs through Thursday, December 3; the hall does not.

RSNA 2026 exhibit hall: a job seeker's four days

Day	Hall hours	What to do	Leave with
Sunday, Nov 29	10 am to 5 pm	The hall opens. Walk the whole floor once. Find the career fair area and Recruiters Row, note the booths you will come back to, and save the real conversations for tomorrow.	A short list of booths, in order.
Monday, Nov 30	10 am to 5 pm	The serious conversations. Go early, before the aisles fill. Bring the four questions, ask them plainly, and ask for a name rather than a card.	Names and answers, written down.
Tuesday, Dec 1	10 am to 5 pm Exhibit Hall Social 3 to 5 pm	Second conversations with the two or three you liked. The Social is the loosest room of the week: booths are staffed, people linger, and a follow-up question is easy to ask.	A next step agreed with at least one employer.
Wednesday, Dec 2	10 am to 5 pm	Last day of the hall, with quieter aisles and less hurried people. Close loops, confirm how each employer will follow up, and thank the ones who answered straight.	Every open conversation with a date attached.

How do you work the week without telling your current group?

Quietly, and without lying to anyone. RSNA is the meeting everyone attends, so being there needs no explanation. The sessions are the reason you came; the hall is where you go between them.

• Your badge tells people where you work. Employers on the floor know exactly what it means when someone from a practice stops to talk, and the good ones are discreet by habit. If you would rather not advertise, turn the badge around during a conversation and give a personal email address, never the hospital one.
• Say "I'm not looking, I'm curious," and mean it. It is true for most people in the hall. Looking isn't leaving, and an employer who hears it will still tell you everything you want to know.
• Hold the CV. Get a name, then follow up from home, from your own address, once you have decided the conversation is worth continuing. Nothing in the hall requires paper.
• If a colleague walks up mid-conversation, you were asking about the market. You were.

The one thing to avoid is a story you have to keep straight. Ask honest questions in a public hall and there is nothing to keep straight.

Should residents, mid-career radiologists, and technologists use RSNA differently?

Yes. Same hall, three different weeks.

Residents and fellows

You are the person most booths hope to meet, so use it. Before you fly, finish this sentence in one line: my first job has to have ______. If it takes a paragraph, September is a better time to find that out than a hallway in December. Ask how a first-year attending's week differs from a partner's, what a start date really means once credentialing is counted, and whether a fellowship changes the offer. Do not promise anyone anything on the floor. Collect names, go home, and decide with the people who will move with you.

Practicing radiologists who are quietly looking

You have the most to compare, and the least appetite for being seen comparing. Your real question is whether the practice is what the listing says it is, and that is exactly what a five-minute booth conversation can answer: ownership first, call second, the last person in the role third. A move for you is usually a move for a family and often a change of city, so ask about the place as much as the group. Schools, a spouse's field, the airport. The people at the booth live there; they will tell you.

Technologists and other allied health imaging professionals

For most technologists, a job search is a commute question, not a state question. If Chicago is home, this hall is a rare chance to meet the employers within your commute in one afternoon. If you flew in, use the week to learn which modalities employers are struggling to staff, what shifts and cross-training they are offering, and whether the pay ranges you hear match what you are paid now. Then search where you live. Ask every booth the technologist version of the four questions: who owns the department, what the shift and weekend rotation looks like on paper, why the last person left, and what the range is for your modality and credential.

Where will RadiologyJobs be at RSNA 2026?

Booth 1143, a corner on Recruiters Row, across the aisle from the career fair area. Walk the career fair, then cross the aisle and tell us what you heard.

Rich, our founder, will be at the booth with the team. He has spent twenty-five years in radiology recruiting, which means he has heard every version of the four questions above and most of the answers. If there is something you cannot ask at your own group, bring it to him.

We also plan to have RJ Recruiter running live at the booth. If you have not met it: RJ Recruiter is a free AI assistant on RadiologyJobs for physicians and allied health imaging professionals. You tell it once what you want: subspecialty or modality, locations, schedule, a pay floor. It checks new listings once a day, never on weekends, and emails you when something matches. Nothing goes to an employer until you say yes, and a yes is an intro plus your application on that listing. Every listing on RadiologyJobs shows the pay range, and listings expire rather than linger, so what you see is current.

Come watch it work, then tell us what you would want it to find for you. That is the conversation we are flying in for.

What should you do before you fly?

Two things, both free and both quick.

Set up RJ Recruiter now, so it has been watching the listings for weeks by the time you land in Chicago. Create a free candidate account, tell it what you want, and walk the hall knowing your list is already running. Then search what is posted right now by credential and modality, so the ranges you hear at a booth have something to be compared against.

Then come find us. Booth 1143, Recruiters Row, every day the hall is open.

Frequently asked questions

When is the RSNA 2026 exhibit hall open?

The RSNA 2026 exhibit hall at McCormick Place in Chicago is open Sunday, November 29 through Wednesday, December 2, from 10 am to 5 pm each day. The Exhibit Hall Social runs Tuesday, December 1, from 3 to 5 pm. The annual meeting itself continues through Thursday, December 3, but the hall closes Wednesday.

Can you look for a job at RSNA without your current employer knowing?

Yes. RSNA is the meeting everyone attends, so being there needs no explanation. Keep conversations to questions rather than CVs, give a personal email address instead of a hospital one, and say "I'm curious, not looking" if you prefer. Employers on the floor are used to quiet conversations, and the good ones are discreet by habit.

What should you ask an employer at an RSNA booth?

Four questions a posting never answers: who owns the practice and whether that has changed recently; what call looks like on a real calendar; what happened to the last person in the role; and what the pay range is and what moves someone inside it. Write each answer down before you reach the next booth.

Is RSNA useful for technologists looking for a job?

Yes, differently. A technologist's search is usually a commute question, so if Chicago is home the hall puts the employers within your commute in one room. If you travelled in, use it to learn which modalities and shifts employers are offering and what pay ranges sound like, then search close to home with that in hand.

Where is RadiologyJobs at RSNA 2026?

RadiologyJobs is at booth 1143, a corner on Recruiters Row, across the aisle from the career fair area, every day the exhibit hall is open. Rich, the company's founder, and the team will be at the booth, and RJ Recruiter, the free AI assistant for candidates, is planned to be running live there.