Blogging with The Doctor Job

Many times at The Doctor Job, we receive emails and phone calls from physicians who assume they are contacting a potential employer about a physician job opportunity. I am often surprised by the tone and simple mistakes that these doctors make during their job search when contacting potential employers.

One of the most common mistakes that I see with physicians looking for a job is a lack of professionalism. It is important to remember that at any time, a physician could be speaking to someone that is in a position to offer a job, or refer the physician to someone who has a job opening. Especially in competitive markets like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, a physician must be careful to always maintain a professional appearance.

Here are the top three mistakes physicians make during their job search that make them appear unprofessional - along with easy ways to be more professional.

Email Addresses: If a physician is including their email address on their resumes (which they should be!), it is important to remember that potential employers are going to read this email address.

The Doctor Job receives emails from addresses with names like “bigdaddy2007@xxx.com”, “init4thmoney@xxx.com” or “docfunlovin@xxx.com”. These addresses give potential employers - other physicians - the impression that the physician is not serious or professional.

When a physician is looking for a job, one of the first things to do is make sure you have a professional email address for your physician job search. For example “DrLastName@xxx.com”. This gives potential employers an immediate first impression of professionalism.

Voice Mail Messages: when a physician leaves a home or cell phone number as a contact number on a resume (again, always a good idea!), it is important to remember what kind of outgoing message a potential employer will hear if they call and the physician is unable to take the call.

We contact physician job seekers every day at The Doctor Job, and often hear unprofessional, very casual voice mail messages such as “Hey, it’s Johnny, leave a message!” or “This is Diana, I’m not here, you know what to do”. Physician employers want to hire competent, potential doctors - not medical students stuck in the MySpace generation.

If a physician is going to include a personal phone number as contact information, the outgoing message should give a courteous and professional impression. That can be accomplished with something as simple as, “you’ve reached Diana Smith, I’m sorry I missed your call, please leave your name and number and I will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you, have a great day!”

Replying to emails: The Doctor Job is not a recruiter, but often times doctors make the mistake of thinking that we are. Or, doctors assume we are potential employers. Either way, it surprises me how many times during the day I get unprofessional emails from physicians looking for a job.

When doctors send us emails, they often have no punctuation or capitalization, are littered with misspellings, and many times are downright rude! Physicians need to remember that in many cases, email will be the first impression that a potential employer has of them.

It’s important to be just as polite and professional by email as you would be in a cover letter or on a job interview. Use proper punctuation and capitalization. Be courteous. Address the person you’re communicating with by name. And finally, a physician should always sign every email with their own name as well - instead of simply closing an email with “thnx.”

These simple reminders can make a big difference in how successful a doctor is in finding a job. It is important to always remain professional, respectful and polite.

Remember, every contact a physician makes could be the one that leads to the next great job!