Blogging with The Doctor Job

You can read a similar interview article at the career center on our main site. Here is a helpful guide about interviewing for a job, whether you’re a resident, fellow, or physician:

Guide for physicians: How to interview

Unfortunately, many medical schools can be lacking when it comes to career counseling. This is usually due to the fact that many graduates go on to residency training, which means that any career counseling they will need won’t be for four or more years later. This means that many physician employers consider interviewing to be a major weakness of physicians, even though it is such an essential part of the hiring decision..

One of the most important things to understand is that your interview is a two-way street. The physician being interviewed and the physician or other person interviewing are both trying to “sell” each other on the resume or the position. With this knowledge, a physician should be able to walk into an interview without feeling like they are the one on display. However, the physician cannot neglect proper preparation, protocol, and procedures when it comes to interviewing.

The physician interview: first impressions

When you are contacted by an employer, try to be personable and upbeat. There is a tendency among physicians to be a bit concise on the phone, which might come across as rude, even if it’s due to a busy schedule and very little free time. Just be careful not to give the impression that your time is more important than the caller’s.

Scheduling the time for your interview can present its own challenges. Try to schedule your interview for the time of day that you’re at your best. If you are a morning person, the earlier the better. But if you can’t think until after three cups of coffee, maybe the afternoon would be more appropriate. Additionally, try to avoid meeting after a 24-hour shift or at the end of a long week. Your interview is an investment in your future, and you need to make sure that you make adequate time for it.

The “Do”s and “Don’t”s of Interviewing

Do:

• Arrive on time. Plan your schedule so that you anticipate arriving at least 15-20 minutes early in case traffic is bad, you get lost, or something unknown occurs.
• Be courteous to everyone you meet. A receptionist who finds you rude could have a great impact on your ability to get a position, regardless of how smooth you come across in the actual interview.
• Try on your interview clothes before you leave for your destination if you are traveling long distance. There is nothing worse than finding out that something doesn’t fit right 10 minutes before your interview when you are 300 miles from your closet.
• Have a firm, solid handshake. A limp, weak handshake never makes a good impression.
• Stay calm and maintain eye contact. You don’t have to stare, but keep consistent visual contact with the interviewer’s general facial area. Looking at their eyes, forehead, lips or chin is important, so that the interviewer knows you are paying attention.
• Ask questions. Asking questions shows that you were listening to and digesting the information the employer presented. It also conveys your genuine interest in learning more about the organization. Research the employer (and interviewer, if possible) extensively so that you can ask thoughtful, intelligent questions.
• Remember that there are two major questions that every interviewer wants answered. Are you able to do the job and do it well? Will you be manageable as an employee or part of a partnership? If you can answer these questions to the employer’s satisfaction, you will get the job.
• Establish rapport. Remember the interviewer’s name, and use it a few times throughout the interview. Show interest in the conversation. Ask questions, smile when appropriate, and laugh when jokes are told (regardless of how bad).
• Send a thank you note after your interview. It is proper etiquette, and employers appreciate the gesture.

Don’t:

• Arrive too early. While it’s good to allow an extra cushion of time, you don’t want to throw off the interviewer by arriving at the office more than five minutes ahead of schedule. If you’re early, walk around the block and grab a cup of coffee, or read the newspaper for a few minutes at a café before making your presence known.
• Neglect to prepare. Ask colleagues and family members for help with mock interviewing and practice questions. Finally, make sure to stay current in your field so that you can discuss any news in the field.
• Forget that interviews are an artificial situation in which the interviewer has power. This can cause you to feel overly pressured to act a certain way, which in turn will seem false and forced. Anxiety will interfere with your ability to answer questions intelligently. The more relaxed and natural you can be, the more likely it is that the interviewer will get a realistic impression of you.
• Be disrespectful during the interview. Never talk down to the interviewer. Be polite, listen carefully, and do not argue under any circumstances.
• Forget that interviewers are not always trained in interviewing. You may find an interviewer rambling on about the position and the practice without asking you any questions about yourself. In this situation, it is okay to exert a little control over the process by discussing your strengths and explaining some key points that you want to get across.
• Discuss politics and religion. These topics should be avoided at all cost.
• Lie or be negative. Honesty is the best policy, but if someone asks you about a former employer with whom you had a hostile relationship, be tactful. It’s better to focus on strengths and positives than to give the interviewer the impression that you are not an easy person to work with.
• Ask about salary unless the interviewer brings it up first. Even if the interview does bring it up, you shouldn’t discuss specifics. Focus instead on a salary range and don’t reveal exactly what you made in your last position. Detailed salary discussions should occur after an offer has been extended.
• Forget that bias still exists. For example, it is generally regarded that an overweight applicant will have a more difficult time in an interview than a thin applicant. If you are overweight, you can avoid this bias by dressing well and making sure that your clothes fit well. During the interview, be as positive and high energy as you can. Focus on your strong work ethic and you should be able to overcome any stereotype of overweight people as lazy and lacking in energy.

Difficult Interview questions: What is your biggest weakness?

This is a difficult question for which there is no real “right” answer. But we can offer some guidance for an appropriate response.

First of all, don’t say that you’re a perfectionist or that you work too much. It is overused and clichéd, and employers will see through it. The better approach to this question is to explain a weakness that does not truly affect your ability to work, and then explain the steps you have taken to overcome it.

Some examples:

1. “I have traditionally been very shy, but by challenging myself with public speaking, I have made considerable progress towards increased confidence and a more outgoing personality.”
2. (For a foreign medical graduate) “When I first came to the United States, I spoke little to no English, but I have spent the last several years taking English courses and improving my ability to reach a perfect fluency.”
3. “It has always been difficult to delegate work to other people, which means that I usually end up wasting time on busy work that could have been used more productively. However, once I started training, I’ve learned to let the staff do their job so that I can do mine more effectively.”

Conclusion: Confidence is key

When interviewing, even the smartest, hardest working physician is competing against other equally intelligent and motivated physicians. It can be foolish to rely solely on one’s credentials - be smart about your job search and understand the interviewing process to make yourself the best possible candidate.

In addition, practice makes perfect. Time permitting, accept every single interview you are offered, even if you don’t feel that the position presents the ideal fit. The more interviews you go on, the more comfortable you will feel, and the more exposure you will have to the types of questions asked.

Finally, keep in mind that interviewers are as eager to find a good fit as you are. Before you sit down to an interview, take a deep breath and focus your attention on all of those things that make you a good candidate. When you are feeling confident internally, you will portray yourself as someone worth getting to know.