Tips when interviewing for jobs

[dannyd]

Hi I am currently a GI fellow and graduating this June. I have started the interview process and as we all know it's vastly different from med school/residency/fellowship search. I am using google, jama, nejm and practice link as well cold calling. I've started learning a little about RVUs and compensation models (very confusing stuff) and looking at both large private practices and smaller academic places.

I have a list of the usual questions - patient/procedure volumes, clinic/procedure days, consult days, CME/vacation time.
I have an idea of what I am looking for - collegial group of co-workers, a goal salary and call schedule and hope to have some semblance of work-life balance after coming out of a pretty tough last year of fellowship.

I've heard some terrible stories about new grads getting screwed over in their first jobs because they didn't know any better.

What other questions should I be asking?

How and when do I bring up the salary question?

What are some red flag signs which would make you run the other way?

Any wisdom from docs on the group who have been through this process would be really appreciated!

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[Provider Career Advisor]

I have worked with many new physicians on these issues and I wish I could say some I haven't heard any horror stories. With that being said, it is a completely different ballgame than it was 5 years or even a decade ago. It is nevertheless important to have a strategy going in.

First, you should focus on questions related to the position.

1. Tell me more about the group or hospital;
2. I am happy there is an opening. Is the opening due to growth, retirement, or something else?
3. How is the call schedule established? How does requesting time off work? What will my schedule look like? What are the volume expectations?
4. How can I be successful in the group?
5. What is the vision for the group, hospital, clinic, or X in 5 or 10 years?

These questions should be asked at the onset. Once you have an understanding of the culture, the group, your schedule, and the future strength of the organization, focus on the underlying employee specific questions. It is always best to wait to receive a letter of intent prior to discussing salary. In any event, if they ask you your expectations for a salary, you should simply state that you are new to this but are fielding multiple offers. Make it clear that the group is more important than the offer but you want to make sure you do not feel penalized by significantly different offers.

Second, once you get a letter of intent, there will be a whole host of other questions to ask. You will need to know not only the initial offer but also the future way you will be compensated. You will need to understand benefits and how all of this compares. I can tell you, it is extremely important to hone in on the details because getting an apples to apples understanding of offers can be tough. I hope this helped and best of luck!

 

[dannyd]

I have worked with many new physicians on these issues and I wish I could say some I haven't heard any horror stories. With that being said, it is a completely different ballgame than it was 5 years or even a decade ago. It is nevertheless important to have a strategy going in.

First, you should focus on questions related to the position.

1. Tell me more about the group or hospital;
2. I am happy there is an opening. Is the opening due to growth, retirement, or something else?
3. How is the call schedule established? How does requesting time off work? What will my schedule look like? What are the volume expectations?
4. How can I be successful in the group?
5. What is the vision for the group, hospital, clinic, or X in 5 or 10 years?

These questions should be asked at the onset. Once you have an understanding of the culture, the group, your schedule, and the future strength of the organization, focus on the underlying employee specific questions. It is always best to wait to receive a letter of intent prior to discussing salary. In any event, if they ask you your expectations for a salary, you should simply state that you are new to this but are fielding multiple offers. Make it clear that the group is more important than the off but you want to make sure you do not feel penalized by significantly different offers.

Second, once you get a letter of intent, there will be a whole host of other questions to ask. You will need to know not only the initial offer but also the future way you will be compensated. You will need to understand benefits and how all of this compares. I can tell you, it is extremely important to hone in on the details because getting an apples to apples understanding of offers can be tough. I hope this helped and best of luck!

Thank you so much for that post - it was very helpful! Could you clarify what you mean by this "you want to make sure you do not feel penalized by significantly different offers"

 

[GIorDIE89]

This is a great question! If anyone has an horror stories I would be happy to hear them, sometimes they offer some good advice. Also, what are the pro's and con's of using a recruitment agency? (I would assume their cut is going to come out of both salaries in one way or another). Personally I am nervous that these groups will cycle through younger docs and not let them "make it" to the endoscopy center buy in, or good call schedule or whatever...is there anyway to know how to prevent this?

 

[1Cor1557]

This is a great question! If anyone has an horror stories I would be happy to hear them, sometimes they offer some good advice. Also, what are the pro's and con's of using a recruitment agency? (I would assume their cut is going to come out of both salaries in one way or another). Personally I am nervous that these groups will cycle through younger docs and not let them "make it" to the endoscopy center buy in, or good call schedule or whatever...is there anyway to know how to prevent this?

The con is that recruiter is only interested in collecting a bounty on your head regardless of whether the job is a good fit for you or not, and the fact that the job position needed to use a recruiter is indicative of how desperate the employer is trying to fill the spot of need. Recruiting company use is typically an *imperfect* and indirect surrogate inversely correlated with how desirable the position is, emphasis on the imperfect but still correlated. Buyer beware in the practices of older guys when you're the only young in around but if you network well word gets out pretty quickly on the revolving-door practices that dumped fresh grads every 24 months, this is where an attorney with experience in contract brokering comes in handy whatever you sign you really need to have definite evaluation and Milestone benchmarks that occur very frequently or quarterly and if you achieve with acceptable and satisfactory performance that the contract will result in a partnership when it is up for renewal