Yes I started in August after my residency. Like I said before I think my VA is the most efficient VA out there
Yes, but when did you apply, interview, etc? It requires a LOT of foresight at most govt or govt-dependent facilities. It can totally be done out of residency, but one needs to start significantly earlier than they would with any other type of job. We had another girl who was supposed to start with me at IHS, and hers fell through due to compensation negotiations (I would assume she took some last-minute PP job, but no idea). If anyone targets govt jobs, like any job, it's wise to have plentiful other avenues available. That goes double for the govt jobs; you can't be without options as a residency grad if the start is significantly delayed, compensation changes, position falls through, etc.
For my IHS job, I think I applied in Feb, was contacted in May or Jun (I had forgot I'd applied since I occasionally just send some feelers with my CV out), interviewed in Aug, offer in Sep, started in Dec (with no real contract ever... just 'offer sheet'). That is honestly below average timespan... but this was tribal IHS with somewhat fewer potential delays. Regardless, it is basically impossible to apply for these jobs unless you are a resident starting early or you have a stable job and are just fishing around (which is probably why there over 10 or 20 VA podiatry job spots on usajobs.gov right now). Most job seekers who are without a job today can't just start those applications even if they'd be great for the position; the timeline is too daunting and unpredictable.
My experience with the VA hiring process.
...be prepared for a full 12 months of intermittent contact followed by an emergent rush to start. It's not malignant, the HR people are understaffed. My HR contact told me that he had 65 physician job folders open, all were urgent...
I would disagree with this... they move slow because they can. You've only worked there a couple months. The more you interact with HR, the more you will see things were forgotten, person X is not in today, person Y and Z are on leave... and persons A-D are down getting coffee, persons E and F are out sick, persons G-K are at doctor visits (gone all day, of course), etc etc. The cubicles are many... but half are empty at any given time of day. Their HR:employees ratio will be at least 2-4x what you'd see at any normal non-govt hospital (and govt HR has backup of national VA and IHS credential, benefits, background, etc resources). Seriously. If you see the size of HR depts that do the hiring, benefits, etc for major teaching and trauma hospitals with hundreds or even 1000+ beds, their ratios are almost always significantly lower than govt ones... but they get the job done quicker. It is not understaffing...
There is unfortunately zero incentive (besides personal work ethic) for anyone to work fast. Work ethic typically gets assaulted and overthrown by social loafing within a year or two. There are way too many sick days that expire if not used, so people make stuff up or say they are attending every spouse/parent/kid/etc doc visit in addition to their own.
How hard is it for a HR worker to make a phone call to the candidate, change a contract a bit (name, specialty, etc), change the compensation number, and send it?
In PP, they can hire a new doc in a week or two unless one or both sides want to negotiate or delay awhile. The office manager of a PP can make up a contract in a couple hours, or the physician recruiter or Chief or even the CEO of a MSG or small/medium hospital can make an offer or return a call to answer a promising prospective doc's question promptly. So, what gives in the govt or some big hospital jobs? How does it routinely take 10x that timespan? It is the extreme inefficiency of the govt or large system:
-Dept chief and maybe surgery chief and even CMO or CEO is required to sign off on every little detail in govt systems. If they have to talk to one another or coordinate an interview, chances are they're on vacation or tough to catch since they basically work 10a-2p three days per week. If their assistant has learned how things work, they are probably 'busy' and not available either.
-HR has no incentive to make up contracts fast, set up visits/interviews, etc. If they hire one doc fast, they just have a new folder to hire again... so it may as well sit on their desk awhile to make them look "busy" in hopes one of their colleagues gets the next hire job, right? Half the job postings are just formalities, so hopefully they can put a few of those on their desk to keep their count high for awhile.
-Dept chiefs might mean well, but they have no real incentive to hire quickly (when the hire gets there, more evaluations and paperwork for them, more expectations of the dept, etc). They will also increase their dept budget without increasing productivity... at least for awhile.
-The only people who might have true wish for new govt hires to arrive and start in a timely manner are the other "grunt workers" in the dept with a full schedule (use that phrase loosely in govt since I'd probably have never gone a week without seeing 20+ patients until two years of all sub-20 days in govt). Unfortunately, the grunts usually have no say in the hire unless they're buddy-buddy with the dept chief... all they can do is train the new hire once that person arrives if they're team players (but due to the system, many just happily transfer some of their pts to new hire and help get the new hire onto the call schedule asap).
-When the new hire does get approved after many months, they are still needing a dozen forms and checks and stamp-offs before they can ever get a start date or even see a patient. It is a huge maze that will use up the hire's energy almost before they start. It can be done, but I sure won't say it's a good or smooth or quick process.
Now don't get me wrong,
there are a lot of speed bumps in working for a private hospital also. There are a fair amount for a MSG and even a few for a DPM group (mainly just hospital privi and payer apps). The govt process is by FAR the slowest, though. It is not understaffing. It is that there's no incentive.
It is an overall govt system that rewards those who can hide in meetings, block off their schedule, take max vacation, return voicemails and emails slowly... and still get their seniority raises nonetheless. The senior employees in any dept get paid more, take less call, get more vacation leave, etc than the lower level who often produce more - or much more. It is a doomed system. There are still some very good people in the system who try to play past the BS and get a good amount of work done. It can still be a good or even great job for those who are patient and can ignore what $ others make or what others produce, but you can't pretend the incentive is there to be a producer or that "understaffing" is the main issue.
