Finding a Job After Residency: What NOT to Do
Brian Muphy
Every part of what you do now, including creating your CV, looking for job openings, writing cover letters, dressing for an interview, negotiating your salary can make—or break—your ability to land the best job after residency.
The future you’ve worked so hard for is just a heartbeat away, and you’ll need to make critical decisions that could have a lasting impact on your career. Here are 7 ways not to jeopardize the job you envisioned.
- Don’t wait to update and share your resume until the last minute. Finding the right placement could take four or six months, so start early. Since most clinical graduates leave school with student-related debt, there is the added incentive of loan payments hanging over your head.
- Don’t pigeonhole yourself. Give real thought to the kind of position you want, the lifestyle you seek and the type of facility you want to work for. Your ideal job may be in a location you never considered in the first place and you don’t want to miss that opportunity. Make a list of “nice to haves versus must-haves” and keep your search flexible.
- Don’t forget to research your potential employer. Conduct due diligence on the facility or system as well as the area of the country you’re applying to. When the interview comes, this research will pay off by informing your questions during the screening process.
- Don’t be afraid to tap into your networks, including your alumni, medical school, and residency connection pool for advice and references. Having a professional colleague vouch for your professionalism and experience means a lot. The reality is many popular geographic locations will be flooded with candidates, so anything you can do to stand out is a plus.
- Don’t go into negotiations without advice from your recruiter, accountant and counsel. There are a lot of factors to consider when taking an opportunity and you’ll need a team of people that can help you score the best financial package.
- Don’t leave out any publishing and research work from your CV; facilities are looking for innovators in the field. It’s a good idea to ask a professional staffing firm like MedSource to look at your credentials; recruitment agencies see thousands of resumes each year.
- Don’t turn your back on help. Imagine a free resource who can devote 100% of their time to promoting your candidacy to all the best employers. That is the reality behind the collaboration between healthcare recruitment and staffing agency and residents seeking their first professional experience. MedSource is the trusted advisor to healthcare professionals at all levels of their careers. We can help you launch a lucrative and satisfying entry into the healing profession.
Finding a job after residency takes a lot of effort, and it’s probably time that you simply do not have. Contact MedSource Consultants to find out how we can help.
