What are the ways to get FP jobs?

[Informer]

I am a board certified Family Medicine doc that will be finishing my time with military in about 2 years

I am lost when it comes to the job search. Are you using practicelink.com, doccafe, etc (online services)? Are you asking your residency programs?

I am currently stationed overseas but want to come back to california. I spoke with a physician recruiter from one of the online links and they said it takes about 8 months to find a match for larger california cities (los angeles, san fran). Also, being stationed overseas makes it nearly impossible for a person-person interview.

Any tips?

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[EdibleEgg]

The answer is yes. Make some phone calls. Most hospitals have a physician recruiter. Call the practice manager for groups in the area. If they can skip paying a head hunter, there may be much more room to negotiate. Try locums for a time when you return, it will give you a chance to have a job relatively quickly on your return, then you can have time for a face to face interview. May be better for both you and your future job opportunities.

 

[MedicineDoc]

I have heard that if a physician recruiter gets a hold of your resume and submits to the place you ultimately sign with then the hospital/organization that signs you has to pay them 20 or 30 thousand dollars (regardless of whether they helped you land the job if they submited your resume to that org). Not only that but if two recruiters submit your resume to the same org and the org makes the mistake of accepting both recruiter submissions not realizing they already have your resume the org has to pay both recruiters inorder to sign you. That said, I used a physician recruiter not knowing this info and got a large sign on bonus and very competitive salary as a hospitalist which is probably considered well above average. There is a major shortage of FPs almost everywhere. I don't know about LA or San Fran but I have had large amounts of emails/phone calls for many months now. One of my classmates is going to do a Er fellowship For 1 yr in California with a guarantee of 330 after done with 80 during the fellowship. I hear California is pretty short on Er docs. I also hear that while they are fp friendly for Er they are not so much fp friendly for hospitalist. I may be wrong on that.

 

[medstaffmatters]

I am a recruiter, and there are some misconceptions in this thread. First, there are good recruiters, and like anything else, there are bad ones. I always recommend that a physician interested in working with a recruiter, talk to a few, and work with two, or three that he/ she feels comfortable with, and set strict guidelines that your cv will not be sent to any employer without your permission. This aleviates the worry that your cv will be floated around to places you do not even know anything about. It is a standard in the industry that if two recruiters send in a cv to the same employer, that the first one that sent it in gets credit, and the other is not credited, drops oput of the picture, and will not be compensated. Hospitals, and other employers are not going to pay more than one recruiter for one physician. Like anything else, there can be some exceptions, but for the most part only one recruiter will get credit for the referral. A contingency recruiter gets paid only if the physician takes the job. It is worth it to an employer to get a good physician that has the same goals as the employer, so it is worth the fee a recruiter charges if everything works out. I also think that for the most part, an employer won't skimp on physician compensation to pay a recruiter. It's competetive, so most employers will have to competetively compensate the physician regardless of whether or not they also pay a recruiter, don't forget it is a two way street and the recruiter helped you find the right job, in the right place lots of times a needle in a haystack! The physician may not pay the recruiter anything, but that recruiter also found the right job, and if he/ she is a good recruiter, they will have provided guidance through the recruitment process, helped in negotiations, cleared up misconceptions, helped the physician juggle getting offers from multiple employers, etc. If it doesn't work out the recruiter gets no compensation, and the physician has paid nothing, nor owes anything for the help provided. Not a bad deal. You don't have to use a recruiter, but why not take advantage of someone who just may have the right job, or can work to try to find the right job for you, at no cost, or obligation.

 

[medstaffmatters]

I would say "Informer" the creator of the thread would be a perfect candidate to use recruiters. You have to realize how you compare to other physicians looking in the same areas, especially if you are looking in the most desirable metro areas, as are everyone else. You are in a very different time zone, making phone calls difficult. A recruiter can do the leg work for you, identify a few potential employers, and make the introduction of your skill sets, goals , and interests. The recruiter can also liaison to coordinate phone interviews, etc. The reality is that eventually you will have to find time to come to the states to interview, and likely at your own expense, but hopefully you can have several interviews scheduled for the same trip. I agree with the other recruiter mentioned in the post that it will take a long time to find a job in the urban areas. The problem is that you are competing with all the other physicians living in the area already that might be looking, and are probably well connected, and there are residency and fellowship programs that are graduating physicians in the area who will stay in the area.

I'd recommend that you look at the various web postings and respond to the jobs listed and then if it is a recruiter, then interview that recruiter and see if you feel comfortable working with him/ her. Also, I'd say that if you don't have to be in the most desirable area like LA, or San Diego, etc, then your likelihood of success will be greater by taking a look at jobs in the suburbs, or say an hour or two away etc. Those employers don't see the traffic that the urban employers do, and they are more eager to find someone. Supply and demand at work in your favor, not to forget you would likely be paid a higher salary outside of a metro area too!

Good luck to you!

Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions, or if you think I might be of further help. [email protected]

 

[EdibleEgg]

Be wary of recruiters. I am not saying they are all bad, but every time I've tried it was obvious the recriuter had no idea what kind of jobs they were pushing.... just read from a list. I even had a recruiting firm offer to pay me to send my CV to several government jobs, even though they knew I was not available, just to show they had applicants. Just be skeptical.