Find your dream practice

Whether you are finishing residency or fellowship or you’re out of training and looking for your next practice, finding the right practice is a critical step in building your future.

Many physicians are so busy that they forget to give enough time to exploring opportunities that satisfy both their professional and personal expectations and goals. Those who skip this crucial step often find themselves unhappy in their new position and start looking to relocate a year or so into their contract.

Finding the right community

In-house recruiters are looking to recruit to retain. They want to make sure you are going to be happy in the community you will be serving. In turn, it’s important that you understand and are comfortable communicating your goals, priorities and ultimately what makes you happy.

As you launch your job search, it’s a good idea to remove compensation from your initial process so you can be free to explore opportunities. Remember, your ideal opportunity may not come as you imagined, and overall compensation can be calculated in various ways.

Evaluating job offers

When you are evaluating offers and it’s time to add compensation back into the equation, don’t forget to include sign-on bonuses, tuition repayment, CME allowances, benefits and productivity incentives.

Before you start searching for opportunities, here are some questions to keep in mind.

• What are your or your family’s needs and wants? Consider your hobbies, interests, extracurricular activities, etc., and make sure that your future location offers opportunities in those areas. How important to you is your proximity to airports or a wide variety restaurants?
• Where do you want to live, and how does that affect the lifestyle you want to have? Does a city, suburb or rural area fit your desired lifestyle best?
• What are the career needs of your significant other? If you have or are considering children, what are the education options available in the community?

Once you have defined your priorities, an easy way to start your job search is by heading to PracticeLink.com. There, you can define your search based on specialty and geographic location. Take some time to browse the opportunities available in locations in which you’re interested.

Each job posting on PracticeLink is designed to give you detailed information about the position, hiring organization and community. You don’t even have to register for the site to see jobs—but once you do, you can apply to jobs easily, manage your job activity and recruiter messages from a dedicated physician dashboard, and receive email updates of newly posted jobs in your specialty.

Review each job posting in the areas you’re considering, and take note of the health care facilities, community facilities and private practices who are recruiting. Take time to explore the community links and reach out to the recruiter to ask any questions you may have. It is permissible to let the recruiters know that you are only gathering information, if that is the case. Remember, it is never too early to build a relationship.

Get When to do What in Your Job Search

Finding your dream practice is possible when you take time to understand your personal and professional desires and give yourself ample time and the freedom to evaluate different opportunities.

You have spent years studying and training without much work/life balance. However, now that you’re exiting training, it’s more important than ever to define your personal and professional desires to find a position where you will be satisfied.

To assist you in launching your job search, PracticeLink has put together The Guide: When to Do What in Your Job Search. This 10-step timeline will help you transition from your last 24 months of training through your first practice.

In it, we cover everything from CV tips to negotiating your contract.

Better yet, come learn about the steps covered in The Guide in person at one of PracticeLink’s national Career Advancement Workshops and Job Fairs. We’re hosting events in 12 cities— find the Workshop and Job Fair closest to you at PracticeLink.com/JobFair.