The year is 2017, and Dr. John Doe has everything going right. He’ll finish his chief residency year in June and has just signed a five-year contract with a hospital that is not only well-regarded in health care circles, but also in its own community.
The previous fall, he married his long-term significant other, Jane Hart, who will be receiving her Ph.D. soon—and last week, they discovered they were expecting.
Fast forward two years to March, 2019. Dr. Doe is getting ready to move again, even though breaking his contract means stiff penalties and a hit to his reputation. The move’s not due to the job, his performance or the organization’s culture.
What went wrong?
By most measures, Dr. Doe should have been able to finish out his contract happily. Unfortunately, what the family had not done before signing on was determine if they would be happy living in the place where the job was located.
This is an often-overlooked factor in the job search. When the right fit isn’t made from the start, it can make a physician and their family miserable until after the contract is over.
Finding a job location
The specifics of what make a place perfect or objectionable are unique to each family and individual. That’s why it is so important to figure out early on in your job search what you want in the place you’ll be living.
Do this early in your search, and take it as seriously as deciding on the factors you want to find in the job itself.
What you consider could be anything: climate, shopping, restaurants, outdoor activities, access to specific religious facilities, etc. And don’t forget to get the input of the people who will be living in this spot with you.
Once you have the list of items that you and your family need to be happy at both work and outside of it, then it is time to start looking for opportunities on PracticeLink.com.
Finding a job
The filters on the PracticeLink job search page make it very easy to focus your search to areas where you are interested in living. Remember to keep an open mind as well. There may be places that have everything on your list but that you might not have considered.
This is where PracticeLink truly stands out. Most of the opportunities listed on PracticeLink have a lot of information about the communities they are in, which can help you find places that you hadn’t previously considered.
For example: Want to be able to kayak in your off hours? Use the keyword search on PracticeLink.com to find opportunities where that is available.
Paint the whole picture
You can help recruiters target you with well-fitting opportunities by talking about job location in your PracticeLink profile, too. List your personal interests, and complete an InDepth Interview with PracticeLink’s physician relations team for the chance to spell out, in detail, what you’re looking for and why.
Employers who use PracticeLink to reach and recruit candidates use this information to find physicians interested in what their geographic area has to offer.
There are many factors to consider when looking for new opportunities, but one of the most important is to make sure that you and your family will be happy living where your new job is located.
Establishing a list of what you need to be happy where you are living is a good place to start in making sure you avoid breaking your contract early—and that you’ll enjoy the time you’re there. •
June 1, 2010
Mark Terry
