As far as “pretty low quality stuff”, that’s in the eye of the beholder. If you’re not interested in academics, that is going to disqualify probably 40-60% of ads right there. And, there could be a great job, but it’s in an area you consider geographically undesirable, so you would write it off immediately. It’s going to be a hodgepodge of ads, and what you find “low quality” may be someone else’s dream job. "One man's trash is another man's treasure" - Ancient Chinese proverb
Yes we certainly don’t all have the exact same desires in a job so there will be some variability in what we consider ideal. However, there are definitely jobs that most reasonable people would agree are low quality (jobs that have negative characteristics such as lack of professional respect, being exploited, lack of any opportunity for advancement, high productivity demands with very low pay, etc). I think these would include virtually all corporate lab jobs, most hospital employed jobs, and the majority of private jobs with no partnership track. Good jobs will almost all be partnership track private practice jobs (unless you are going the academic route, which I’m not considering in the discussion).
I don’t know as many pathologists as you guys claim, but I know enough to have discussed their job status and get a general consensus. I would say most of the pathologists I know are content enough to stay at their current location. Although, I never asked them this question specifically. I assume that is the case because if they were discontent, then most of them would be leaving their jobs which isn’t so. So, I figure the majority are content. Having said that, if you asked would they be willing to leave for a better opportunity, that percentage would be likely be higher. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are miserable.
Just because you stay in a job doesn’t mean you are content. It may just mean that you don’t have a better alternative. If you can’t find a better alternative then you are stuck, no matter how discontent you are. How do you leave when there is nothing to go to? I think a lot of people in pathology are stuck and basically like indentured servants.
If you haven’t broke 300K in 10 yrs of pp, I don’t know what to say. That is certainly possible under various circumstances e.g. 1. Working in a very low volume place 2. Being geographically restricted so you can’t/won’t look around too far away for better offers 3. Cheapskate bosses 4. Terrible luck. My hunch is it could be one of those factors or a combination of more than one, but if none of those factors applied, with your credentials, then you should easily find a job paying 300K+. Maybe not tomorrow or next week, but eventually. If you're talking 500K+ though, that's another story…
1. In contrast, I have worked in multiple high volume places. High volume and long hours just mean more money in someone else’s pocket, when you are being exploited. 2. Not geographically restricted- I have actually made multiple interstate moves including a 1,000 mile move cross country. 3. Is sort of true but just wording it as “cheapskate bosses” seems to downplay the sinister nature of what is happening- and makes it sound like I can just go find a different job with a nicer boss and everything will be awesome. 4. Too many consecutive negative events to just chalk it all up to bad luck. The probability of flipping a coin 10 times in a row and getting tails every time is only 1/1024. At some point you get into such low probabilities that it becomes more likely that the game is rigged. And no- I won’t easily find a job making that, because I have already been looking for many years without finding one. You may not know what to say but I know exactly what to say.
Stay the hell away from pathology.
I know of a group that specifically only hires people right out training (or very close to). They never advertise, and all hires are through contacts/networking from their alma maters. And, from what I gather, they earn in the 400-500K range.
Yes I think these situations still exist but they are becoming vanishingly rare. According to the stats I saw, 198 US 4 th year med students matched into pathology programs this year. How many of those 198 will be able to land such a job? Maybe 10 or 20 at most? Do you like those odds when you just spent many years killing yourself to make good grades, get into med school, get high board scores, years of residency, hundreds of thousands in debt etc? People have invested too much in their future to accept those kinds of odds.
Sometimes it isn’t red flags that make or break someone’s chances. Case-in-point to both of your examples. Employers in our job market can choose to be picky. So something that is not a red flag, or shouldn’t be may still be enough for employers to give a CV a pass. Again, it’s hard to make generalizations unless we know each person’s situation.
Yes but I think the OP was saying the opposite- that people with major red flags
were getting multiple job offers.
