Job interview question

[Chemical X]

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I'm a third year pediatric resident and have recently begun my job search. I'd like to move back to my home state (where I attended high school through med school, but I'm in a different state for residency). I sent out my CV to several practices in the area I'd like to be in and heard back from several by email and then telephone, which was followed by interview offers at most places.

The way this was usually discussed was by them asking if I would be in the area anytime soon; I have a vacation coming up which I will spend in my hometown, so I let them know the dates I'd be there and scheduled the interviews during that time. However, speaking with several co-residents who are also looking out of state I've learned that many of them are receiving all-expenses paid trips to interview with some practices (flight, hotel, sometimes car too). I'm mostly staying with family/friends in the area, but I did have to pay for plane tickets and a car rental for the time I'll be there. Now I'm wondering if I'm a sucker for not asking for interview costs to be covered, but this is all kind of new to me and frankly I was just happy to be getting interviews, it didn't really occur to me until speaking to others about it as nobody offered and I was going to be in town anyway. Obviously I'm still a resident though, so not exactly rolling in dough- help with flights/car/etc. would make a difference.

I'm not exactly sure how I should handle this in the future, either for new interviews or if any of these practices end up wanting me to come back for a second interview. Is it okay to ask for reimbursement if they don't offer, or will that look bad? Is it different since I'm from that area and do visit regularly so they don't expect to pay for me to come, or am I being taken advantage of a bit for something they would cover for other candidates? If it makes a difference, the other residents in my program who have gotten interview costs paid for are mostly looking at rural or semi-rural areas which are obviously harder up for recruiting, while my interviews are all in an urban area in a medium-sized city (not sure if that matters?). I'd really appreciate thoughts from other residents or pediatricians about their experiences with this, thanks.

 

[J-Rad]

I have no expertise in this, but a question does come to mind: did you send your CV to practices cold, or were these practices that were advertising for new docs (in Pediatrics, Peds Jobs, etc.)? If the former, could it be that it is more likely that a practice would budget for some of the interview expenses if it was actively in a hiring cycle? Dunno; I wonder what others with experience on the job trail have to say about it.

 

[Chemical X]

All of the places I sent my CV to were actually looking for someone to join the practice, but not all had posted the information on a national job board like pedjobs. I found some of them by searching for websites of practices I knew of in the area from having grown up/gone to med school there, and found the information about jobs on the sites. One interview is with a large multi-specialty HMO that I know does cover interview costs, at least sometimes; the rest are with private pediatrics groups varying in size and I have no idea if they usually cover these costs or not. As I previously mentioned, all are in an urban area. Anyone else know about this?

 

[Bernardo_11]

All of the places I sent my CV to were actually looking for someone to join the practice, but not all had posted the information on a national job board like pedjobs. I found some of them by searching for websites of practices I knew of in the area from having grown up/gone to med school there, and found the information about jobs on the sites. One interview is with a large multi-specialty HMO that I know does cover interview costs, at least sometimes; the rest are with private pediatrics groups varying in size and I have no idea if they usually cover these costs or not. As I previously mentioned, all are in an urban area. Anyone else know about this?

It really depends on the overall demand of Pediatricians in your desired area. Because I applied for jobs in a remote Pacific island, many clinics were willing to interview me over the phone.

Many urban areas though are saturated with Primary care pediatricians. So they may be willing to forgo any financial costs to bring you for an interview. In fact, they may not pay for any parts of your trip altogether knowing that it is your intention to settle back in your home town (welcome to the world of business/profit of medicine). You can always ask though. If they find that paying for your trip for the interview would make you view them more highly than a regional competitor, they may very well help you out during this whole job searching process. Just make sure you are not committed to anything more than being present for the interview.

Nardo