The beginning of a physician job search is usually filled with promise and high expectations. Doctors, whether soon to be graduated residents or physicians who have practiced for years, imagine that they will simply choose the location and desired hours and be payed a handsome salary for years of medical training, hard work and experience.
When a physician posts a resume online, this fantasy is often perpetuated by dozens of calls from medical recruiters. With hundreds of phone calls and emails coming in daily, the doctor is confident they will find the perfect job quickly. Clearly, they are in demand!
Then weeks go by, and the requests for interviews with hospitals and practices are far outnumbered by the calls to find out “more about what kind of physician job you’re looking for”.
The only openings seem to be in remote locations, far away from where the physician actually wants to live.
As a doctor, how can you tell when your job search is headed down a dead end road? What are the signs that a physician needs to take a different approach to their job search?
1. When a doctor has been looking for more than 2 months, it’s time to try something new. The Doctor Job clients typically find jobs within 6-8 weeks in some of the top markets in the country, including New York and Chicago. If a physician has been looking for a job in an area like LA or Atlanta for more than 8 weeks – it’s because there are no ADVERTISED medical jobs available.
2. If a doctor is hearing the same objections or excuses from recruiters over and over again, it’s time to try something new. If a physician has licensing issues – they are going to get the same negative response no matter how many recruiters they talk to. Whether it’s older age, years without practice, H1-B and J-1 visa problems – every recruiter a doctor talks to is going to have the same results: none. If ten recruiters have told a doctor they can’t help, it’s a waste of time for that physician to talk to ten more recruiters.
3. If a physician is getting lots of calls, but no interviews – it’s time to try something new. Many doctors confuse “opportunities” from a recruiter for actual job openings from a hospital or practice. Just because a recruiter calls to get a doctor’s information does not mean they can get you a job. If a doctor has been working with a medical recruiter for weeks and the recruiter has not produced viable interviews, waiting several weeks more is unlikely to change that.
4. If your physician recruiter has stopped returning your calls, it’s time to try something new – immediately. A recruiter who does not actively follow up with a doctor is sending one clear message: they don’t have jobs for you. And they won’t magically have jobs for you in 2 weeks or 6 months.
It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results. If what a physician is doing is not producing the job they want in the city or state of their choice, it is time to change tactics.
Great post!
Thanks for your perspective on this topic! Issues 2 and 4 resonated most strongly with me. I sometimes work with physicians who do have interviewing or credentialing challenges, and when they don’t respond to coaching, it’s fairly difficult to place them. Thanks for pointing out that if someone hears the same feedback time and again, the feedback should be absorbed.