Your secret job-search weapon

As a physician, you have spent a lot of your lifetime preparing for the moment when you will start your first “real” job. However, it is highly unlikely that you have had much time or experience actually searching for a job.

But now you are ready to make a commitment to build a practice caring for patients in an organization with values that match your personal values, in a community where you can live, play, raise a family and build a network of friends over a lifetime.

This is more than a temporary assignment with shallow commitments. You are about to embark on a major investment that will involve a lot of other lives. You need some help. You need someone who is an expert at finding jobs for physicians and can help you with physician job interview questions and answers.

You need an in-house physician recruiter.

In-house physician recruiters help physicians find jobs. They work directly for the organizations for which they recruit, and they usually live in the communities to which they are recruiting. That helps them know the integrity, values and culture of their workplace and the personality and amenities of their communities. They’ll likely be one of your first contacts at the organizations you’re considering, and they can help you throughout your career.

What in-house recruiters do

In-house physician recruiters can help you:

• Discover what you value in a work environment
• Discover what is important to you in a community
• Identify the type of practice opportunity you have envisioned for your present
• Identify what practice goals you have for your future

Now, you may be thinking that you don’t know the answer to those four points—or maybe you do, but you won’t have time to dig deep into them before you have to make a decision. That’s where a great in-house recruiter is going to be your very best resource.

They can help you learn about the area

Your in-house recruiter wants to find an opportunity for you that fits you and their organization and community for the long haul. They want to provide you with information about what it’s like to work in their organization and in their community. 

They are about to invite you into their family—so, for your sake and theirs, they want to be honest and transparent with you to prove a match.

They dig into your family’s needs

Because in-house recruiters know that a balanced life is critical to a healthy life, they want to find out how you define your balance. What things must be proximal to your home? How long of a commute do you need in order to put work behind you? Do you want to live in a loft, in a gated community or on acres of land?

They help you imagine your next step

What do you envision for your practice? You may have experienced a variety of settings in medical school, residency and fellowship: academic and community, for-profit and not-for-profit, large group practices and maybe even solo practices. 

What have you experienced in each of those models that you hope to experience in your next practice? Is it present or is it possible with the opportunity you’re considering? Your in-house recruiter can tell you that.

They help you think about your future

What are your goals for the future? If you have something in mind, make it known. You may learn something important about the organization’s culture by the way this information is received.

If you come to an agreement that there may be a match, there is another important service your in-house recruiter will help provide: an excellent site visit that will take all your needs into consideration and help you see the community, facility, leaders and potential colleagues firsthand.

Never underestimate the ability and the willingness of your in-house recruiter to advocate for you, their organization and their community. They are determined to find the right match that will become a long-term relationship for all.

Charlene Plotycia is a physician recruiter at Mercy.