It’s probably been at least 11 years since high school, and another 7 years since you finished your undergrad degree. After all the hard work, determination, and loans, it’s finally time to start seriously looking for that elusive first job. “Wait a second; isn’t it early to start applying and interviewing for a job that I won’t actually start until 12 months from now at the soonest?” No, it isn’t too early, and here are some of the reasons why starting your job search now is definitely in your best interest.
• Receiving feedback on your applications and arranging interviews can take a significant amount of time. If it’s difficult for you to take time away from residency for interviews, just imagine what an in-house recruiter has to do to coordinate an effective interview that likely involves hospital executives, administrators, and practicing physicians, all setting aside time from their daily responsibilities to interview you. Some employers will be faster than others, but plan on it taking a month or two between your initial application and actually interviewing in person.
• Allow time for a job search “reset.” Many new physicians encounter unanticipated obstacles during their job searches. An example of a situation that requires a reset might be a candidate who always wanted to practice family medicine in a certain location, only to find that the destination is actually over-served and that the available jobs won’t meet his or her financial needs. Another example might be a candidate who has already verbally accepted a position and then finds a negative surprise in the formal contract that causes the position to be unacceptable. You need to build extra time into your search so that you can recover in time to still find a good fit in your first job.
• Obtaining a state medical license and getting credentialed with your hospital can take a lot longer than you might think. Each state has its own procedures and timeline for issuing a medical license; you should plan on three to six months, but do your homework because some states have been known to take up to a year. Check and double check your application before sending it in, because an error or omission can send you back to the end of the line.
• Having enough time to find “the right fit” is probably the most important reason to begin a physician job search early. The best thing you can do to have a successful career is to have longevity in your practices. To achieve that, it is important to have enough time to examine not just jobs, but also your own personal and professional goals, as well as the places where the best combination of those factors exist.
HospitalRecruiting.com offers a physician job board for use by in-house recruiters and direct-hire hospitals and medical groups only. We don’t allow recruiting firm ads, which means you may apply directly to the hiring representatives of the organizations that advertise jobs on our site. No recruiting firm ads mean you won’t find duplicate job listings or need to worry about unauthorized disclosures of your information when using our site.
