Part 3 – Beginning Your Job Search: Prep and Landing
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog series, we guided the new physician in making the most informed choice for your career in medicine and also provided tips for assessing the opportunities available to you. This month’s article will discuss what happens after all that initial research footwork is done – preparing for the job search itself. Easier said than done, your search for a job in medicine doesn’t begin and end with an internet scan of available positions. Rather, this step in the process of preparing for practice takes focus, determination and plenty of tenacity.
By this time in your research of the various models of physician employment, one model has hopefully emerged for you as a preferable place to start. When you’ve identified the type of practice structure you want, then it’s time to determine where, geographically speaking, you want to plug into that structure. Are you most interested in a bustling city environment, or a more rural setting? Depending on the employment structure you’re most interested in, it is also important to know what the general payor mix is for the state you’re focused on. For example, California, New Mexico and Washington, DC have among the highest HMO penetration in the country. If you want to own your private practice and you don’t want to be heavily reliant on HMO contracts to make an income, it may be a good idea to look at practicing in other states with lower HMO penetration.
Knowing where in the country you want (or are willing) to work is a critical decision before you actually begin searching for the job itself. Once you’ve narrowed your desired location to a few states, it’s important to begin preparing your medical license application for them.
Another crucial step in beginning the search for a job is the development of a solid Curriculum Vitae, also known as a CV. You may not think you have enough information to fully develop a robust CV, but we’d like to encourage you to draw upon all those years of training and academic study to establish one that is a well-detailed snapshot of your dedication to your field and to the future potential you hold in it. While a CV isn’t as easily “fluffed” as a standard resume, it is still possible within the document to emphasize the points you want potential employers to focus on. Yes, your CV must be an accurate (DO make sure you verify the information you’ve put in it before it’s distributed) depiction of your education, training, clinical interests and authored publications. But it should also be a “sell-sheet” of you. Taking an extra measure of care when it comes to developing your CV can make all the difference in whether it’s you or another candidate who gets hired for the position you want. Once you’ve put together a CV you think is worthy of distribution, be sure to vet it with colleagues, mentors, family or friends to get their opinions and feedback. It won’t be a wasted step, we promise!
Prepping your CV and deciding where you want to ultimately “land” your first job are two strategies worthy of the time it takes to execute them. Launching yourself prematurely into a job search before you’ve decided what you REALLY want is a diagnosis for disaster we’ve seen too many young doctors succumb to, too many times. But that won’t be you. With that incredible CV delivered into the hands of potential employers in YOUR most desirable locations, you will be ready.
Zymeda is here to assist you with the right choices: (951) 656-1500
