2nd year Neo Fellow here, getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel but having increasing anxiety about jobs after fellowship. Private positions are easy to find in my area but I'd like to be at an academic institution and continue my career as a clinician (and training as an ethicist). Academic jobs don't seem to be widely advertised and the academic centers in my region all have their own home-grown fellows. Is there a magical secret listing of NICU jobs out there in the ether waiting for a hungry fellow to find? Some of the advice I've received is to send my CV and cover letter to places where I'd be interested in working so that they'll think of me if a position opens. Does this work? The other advice I've received is to network at conferences and/or have my mentors network on my behalf. Are there any other proactive things I can do?
I can't speak to Neonatology jobs, so maybe there is something different but to give you my experience...
Is there a magical secret listing of NICU jobs out there in the ether waiting for a hungry fellow to find? ?
What does your PD tell you or other attendings in the fellowship program? How did they get their jobs? Did you try something like
http://jobs.pedjobs.org/jobs/?keywords=neonatology&sort= or
http://www.nemourseducation.org/JobBoard.aspx. I know PICU jobs are listed at a SCCM website, maybe there is a website similar (like is there a NICU national organization website?). Someone in your fellowship program should know.
Some of the advice I've received is to send my CV and cover letter to places where I'd be interested in working so that they'll think of me if a position opens. Does this work?
I think this is a fine approach, however, I will say not to bank on it. I certainly tried this approach when I applied for jobs years back, but didn't get much hits. The typical "Thank you for your interest. If we spots that become available, we will let you know" and never really heard back. I will tell you the thing I did was email or call people who I knew who I trained with who were ahead of me who had jobs. Additionally, having your PD or another attending in the fellowship to call their friends is immensely helpful. I had someone who called up a good friend at another hospital and had an interview scheduled within a week. Additionally, I have emailed and called on behalf of graduating fellows to my contacts at my fellowship program to help them get jobs. The kind of personal recommendation helps you get your foot in the door much better than cold calls or emails in my previous experience. In fact, I didn't get a job interview at any place where I didn't have a direct or indirect personal connection, but maybe that was just my experience.
The other advice I've received is to network at conferences and/or have my mentors network on my behalf.
Yes, similar to what I said above. A mentor should help you connect to somewhere else where a job might be. Whether that it is in person or via a call or email or whatever, though obviously a in person causal meeting at a conference is the best bet to get a job if there is one available.
So, networking, through personal connections is really the best bet in my prior experiences. There is also the issue of just job availability. Honestly, that is random and there's little that can be done about it. A place may have just finished hiring or maybe won't be hiring for another year and there's little that you can do about it. I would say it is good to be proactive and start the networking, emailing, calling at the beginning of 3rd year (August/September). Additionally, I would make sure you have a clear 5 year plan and be able to discuss it (ie maybe you foresee have some clinical duties on the ethics consult service or something along those lines). If you don't have a clear plan or say something "I want to teach" without any real specifics, your application will be viewed less favorably.
