Job hunt for new graduates

[discharged]

As a young and naive student on the interview trail, I hear about it all of the time.. "Our graduates are able to get great jobs.."

My question is, what do employers look for in a new graduates CV that makes them competitive for these sought after positions? As long as a program is accredited and you work hard to be a competent physician, what makes one graduate different from the rest?

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[Groove]

As a young and naive student on the interview trail, I hear about it all of the time.. "Our graduates are able to get great jobs.."

My question is, what do employers look for in a new graduates CV that makes them competitive for these sought after positions? As long as a program is accredited and you work hard to be a competent physician, what makes one graduate different from the rest?

My experience on the job trail has been that the opportunities are wide open and literally anywhere that you want to go. You have to keep in mind that there is a paucity of EM physicians which luckily translates to a multitude of job opps when you get near graduation. I interviewed with people offering jobs in multiple states. Colorado was the only state that seemed to be difficult to penetrate but I still found a couple of job opportunities there. Luckily, I stumbled into my job next year by moonlighting with a private group during residency and developing a good relationship with them and found that I enjoyed the area and all the career opportunities that it offered. Don't worry about it. You'll be able to go anywhere.

 

[pinipig523]

Some parts are more difficult to get into than others. You may get an area you want, but you may not get the gig that you want... if that makes sense.

 

[Snelgrave]

As I've posted elsewhere, my interviews stressed the quality of my peds experience. One interview wanted a recommendation from a charge nurse.

Honestly, I think all employers want is a doc who shows up on time and is not a pain in the a**. Demonstrate good social skills, see a reasonable number of patients, get along with the nurses, and don't kill too many people. Try to imply this in your interviews.

 

[Croooz]

As I've posted elsewhere, my interviews stressed the quality of my peds experience. One interview wanted a recommendation from a charge nurse.

Honestly, I think all employers want is a doc who shows up on time and is not a pain in the a**. Demonstrate good social skills, see a reasonable number of patients, get along with the nurses, and don't kill too many people. Try to imply this in your interviews.

Seriously? A charge nurse? WOW!

 

[Greenbbs]

When I interviewed for my job a few years ago, part of the day-long interview was WITH the charge nurses!

 

[Apollyon]

TeamHealth required a nursing supervisor rec (not the hospital), and, all those years ago, a charge nurse did one of the interviews for the initial class at NY Presbyterian.

 

[gro2001]

TeamHealth required a nursing supervisor rec (not the hospital), and, all those years ago, a charge nurse did one of the interviews for the initial class at NY Presbyterian.

NYP still does that.

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

Seriously? A charge nurse? WOW!

If I am ever in the position of hiring/firing.. I assure you I will seek out a nurse review.. maybe I wont ask for an actual LOR, but I would call their current ED and ask to speak to the charge nurse and ask about the physician I am considering...

Whats one of the biggest problem for a medical director? A rogue physician that doesnt get along with the ancillary staff in the department/consultants/and often trickles down to EM colleagues.

There are sometimes places with huge nursing issues, but as much as we all sometimes grip about the nursing staff, they can be some of our biggest advocates and make the day go well. We also know that if you upset one nurse, you probably get them all turned against you.

Moral of the story: Keep your nurses happy!!

Back to the original OPs question... Being BE is the MAIN key. If you want to go to a 'competitive place' (which are few and far between), things like moonlighting, being a chief, 4 year program, contacts, prior work experience in admin, etc are what may help you out... it still might be hard to compete against a 10+ year guy out of residency with stellar reviews from the one job they held 10 years. Probably 80-90% of the jobs out there only care about one thing - BE.

 

[discharged]

Thanks for the insight everyone!

 

[discharged]

Back to the original OPs question... Being BE is the MAIN key. If you want to go to a 'competitive place' (which are few and far between), things like moonlighting, being a chief, 4 year program, contacts, prior work experience in admin, etc are what may help you out... it still might be hard to compete against a 10+ year guy out of residency with stellar reviews from the one job they held 10 years. Probably 80-90% of the jobs out there only care about one thing - BE.

On a similar note, is it a disadvantage going to a residency program where all of the rotations are in-house (given that the hospital isn't a highly recognized one)? Reason being that I hear some residents mentioning that it is thought of highly when they put on their CV that they rotated at so and so places for their out-rotations. Or maybe I am just a gullible fool

 

[tkim]

On a similar note, is it a disadvantage going to a residency program where all of the rotations are in-house (given that the hospital isn't a highly recognized one)? Reason being that I hear some residents mentioning that it is thought of highly when they put on their CV that they rotated at so and so places for their out-rotations. Or maybe I am just a gullible fool

I was never questioned about my rotations during my job search. Maybe this is more important if applying for an academic job? I could perhaps see the cachet by name-dropping Shock/Trauma, CHOP, or Bellevue at those interviews, but otherwise no.