Job interviews are often anxiety provoking, as there can be a lot riding on them depending on how specific your job search criteria is. However, it’s also an excellent way for you and your potential employer to see if the job is a good fit for each party, and important to prepare for so that you can put your best foot forward. Remember that your interview day is as much about you interviewing the institution or practice as it is about them interviewing you. Whether looking for your first attending physician out of residency or fellowship or with job changes later in your career, it’s important to use this as an opportunity to showcase your best qualities. Below, we cover tips and strategies to help you prepare for that critical first interview.
Note: This article is part of our resources for graduating residents and fellows and transition to practice series. We’ve compiled a list of other relevant resources below. If you are not a part of our transition to practice series and would like to sign up, you can find the sign-up link at the top of our transition to practice guide.
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Tips to Prepare for Your Physician Job Interview
Do research ahead of time. Spend some time looking up the group or institution prior to your interview. Not only will this make you look prepared when it comes time for your interview, but it will also provide you with additional information and can help you put together a list of questions to ask during the interview to gauge where the environment will be a good fit for you. Areas to research include:
News media coverage of the organization
People you might be working with, including: the department or company leadership; affiliated hospitals; and other physicians and support staff you might be working with
Who is interviewing you
Their mission statement and values when it comes to patient care
Practice for common questions asked. While each interview will be unique depending on the job and the employer, there are often common questions you can expect in almost every interview for physician employment. Do a few mock interviews and practice your responses so you’re prepared. Questions often asked include:
What are your goals in a job?
Why are you interested in working with us/this position?
What makes you think you will do well in this position?
What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses as a physician?
What are your particular skill set and interests? What experience do you have in …?
Also be prepared to field questions about your family situation. You should be honest with all answers that you provide, but know that you are protected under federal law from answering certain types of personal questions, such as if you are pregnant or if you plan to have children within the next few years.
Prepare and organize which questions you want to ask. An interview is as much your chance to learn more about a future employer as it is for them to learn about you. You want to gauge how well a job fits you and make sure you are comfortable with the responsibilities required of that role. It’s important to gauge career longevity and how it fits in your long-term aspirations as well, such as assessing potential growth opportunities. We’ve covered this topic in length.
Explore:
Have copies of your CV on hand for in-person interviews. You should have already updated your CV during the initial part of your physician job search before expressing interest in any open positions. And the prospective employer likely already has a copy of your CV on hand. Print out a few extra copies to have readily available that you can distribute to anyone involved in the interview, including others other than the interviewer who may drop in.
Have a method to take notes. You’ll have a lot of thoughts during the day, and especially if you’re interviewing for multiple positions, it can get easy to remember for certain who said what. Have a small notebook or a few clean sheets of paper packed along with a pen or pencil, or a means to scribble things down on an iPad or similar. This will help you keep track of key details you’ll want to discuss later in the negotiations process, jot down phone numbers or other contact email addresses, or write down follow up questions. It will also show you’re engaged and serious about the opportunity.
Know what you want before you go. You’ve hopefully already considered this, but if not, now is the time! This can be the hardest part of the job search process, but is critical in helping you choose a job that matches your professional and personal goals to increase job satisfaction and reduce burnout. If you have certain deal breakers, make sure they are clear to yourself first so you can clearly communicate them during the interview and later during negotiations as well.
Learn more about figuring out what you want from your physician job.
Bring your loved ones or family into the conversation. Taking a new job, especially if it involves a relocation, has large implications for your personal life. If there are considerations such as a significant other or family, think about bringing them along to check out the area and make sure this is a change that will work for everyone. Bring them into the conversation early to make sure you understand their potential deal breakers as well.
Don’t plan an interview while you’re on call or have other potential obligations. You want to be professional throughout the interview process and respectful of your potential interviewer. Scheduling an interview when you might need to make a change last minute, cut out early, or rush the process will leave a wrong impression with your interviewer. Make sure you have plenty of time so that you have ample opportunities to get through both their questions and yours, as well as provide time to meet with others and to tour the location.
Consider asking to build in time with a realtor. This may be presumptuous if you are at early stages of discussion, but if you and the employer are both feeling optimistic that this is going to work out, you could consider also getting to know the area a little better during your interview experience. If you’re very interested in coming ending up in this location but are unsure about the area, are already bringing family down with you, or are limited in many times you’ll be able to visit again, a realtor can be a great guide to the area in addition to starting to help you picture what your life in the area will look like. It will also signal to the interviewer that you’re serious about ending up in the location and that you’re looking to put down roots, which is great for practices or employers who want physicians that are committed to the area.
Tips for During Your Physician Job Interview Day
Dress professionally. As a general rule, you want to wear something you’ll feel confident, comfortable, and professional in. Make sure your clothes are clean and crisp (get out that iron!). Depending on the practice environment and planned activities (interview day, dinner out, house hunting), bring a range of clothing that is business or business casual. Make sure your casual clothes for arrival and exit are also clothes that you wouldn’t mind others seeing you in - you never know who you’ll run into at the hotel or at the airport. For some specialties such as surgery, suits are generally expected, whereas others may give you a little more leeway. You likely already know the culture of your specialty, but when in doubt, dress up rather than dress down. Avoid shoes that you have difficulty walking in for long distances, as chances are you’ll be getting a lot of tours or being taken from office to office, and hospitals in general can be quite large. The last thing you want to be thinking about while you’re walking down the corridor having a conversation with a potential employer is how badly or feet hurt or how you’re trying not to trip.
In general, unless you’re someone who really likes to make a statement and feel it’s important your employer knows that, stay vanilla with your choices, with relatively neutral colors and accessories. People recognize what they don’t like more than what blends in, and you want their focus to be on you, your personality, and your clinical skills. Though fashion can be a part of your personality, it’s probably not an aspect they need to know at this stage. Physicians range in stages of their career, stereotypes, and personalities, and it’s more likely that something very outside of normal raises eyebrows than is the reason you get the job.
Also be careful about wearing an overpowering cologne or perfume. Some people are very sensitive to smell and will count this against you if you’re going to be sitting near them all the time at the nursing station or in the reading room.
Opt to bring your interview materials in a single, organized folder or in briefcase versus a backpack or an oversized purse. You don’t want to be fumbling around in a big item where they can see your personal affects every time you reach for a pen.
Plan to be early for your interview. Plan to be early so if anything happens, such as getting stuck in traffic for an accident or having bad weather, having difficulty finding parking, technical difficulties with your meeting software, etc. you have additional time and will still end up on time instead of being late. You only have one chance to make a good first impression, and everyone’s time is valuable. You don’t want to enter the room with them already irritated that they’re wasting time.
Silence your phone. Not only do you want to dress professionally, but you want to appear professional and considerate as well. We don’t like it when patients’ phones go off during their appointments. Extend the same courtesy to your interviewer and silence your phone and pager before starting the interview. If you do have a reason to keep your phone on because you’re awaiting something, let them know ahead of time that you’d normally switch it off but need to leave it on because of something important. This will show them that you acknowledge it isn’t ideal and that you’re intentional.
Be polite and personable. As we noted above, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Make sure to greet the interviewer with a handshake. Tell them thank you for the opportunity and for the time and let them know you’re excited to speak with them. Pay attention to their name and use it during your discussion to show you paid attention, though be sure to address them as Dr. XYZ unless told otherwise.
Be yourself. You want a job where you fit in with the environment and with the team you’ll be working with, so it’s important to come to the interview as you are.
Listen and take notes. Sometimes you can learn more about the environment, the culture of the workplace, and about the people you will be working with everyday by listening more than talking. While we want you to ask your interview questions, make sure you pay attention as well. This will also help reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings about the requirements of the role. And as mentioned above, it shows you’re engaged and interested in the opportunity.
Interview them as well. Interviews are a two way process. They are assessing if you will be a good employee and fit well in the role they are filling, but you also want to make sure it’s a good fit for you. Make sure you touch on the questions you prepared ahead of time, and any others that come up during the discussion.
Explore:
Ask for a tour and to meet the team you will be working with. While a tour of an entire hospital isn’t possible, you can get a general idea of the landscape and what facilities are available, such as a doctors’ lounge, where the cafeteria is, etc. In a private practice, you can get an idea of how organized the group is, as well as a glance at the day to day. With a private practice, also ask to meet all the members of the practice, or at least all the once at this location. A private practice is like marrying into a family. You’ll want to see how long you get along with all the relatives who come to family dinners. With a larger institution, see if it’s possible to meet a few colleagues you’ll be working with.
Tips for After Your Physician Job Interview
Follow up to thank the people you interacted with for their time and insights. You should do this almost immediately, as it will help them solidify who you are and associate it with the discussions you had. It shows both professionalism and interest in getting the job. This is also a good time to ask follow up questions if they are brief. If you aren’t interested in moving forward with future discussions, let them know politely. If you are, and don’t hear back, politely follow up to get an idea of where they are currently at in the hiring process and to see when you might hear back about next steps.
Write down your overall thoughts on the job and the pros and cons. As we’d mentioned before, if you’re interviewing in a lot of places, they can all start to mesh together. While everything is fresh in your mind, you should take a half hour or so (maybe even on the plane ride back), so notate all of your thoughts and follow up questions or things to investigate.
Reach out to whoever you think will be the best people to answer any lingering questions. You can do this in your thank you emails if you think the answers are basic, or ask for a quick follow up call if you think it’ll require a discussion.
Investigate any red flags or unanswered questions that you can’t ask the interviewers. You can do this by reaching out to colleagues or mentors familiar with the employer, asking in our physician communities using that anonymous post function, or any other means you can think of.
Prepare yourself for negotiations (assuming you want the job). Look up physician salary and negotiation data on our databases and start thinking about who you’ll use as your physician contract attorney.
Conclusion
We hope the tips above help you as you navigate your physician job interview. If interviewing still makes you nervous, know you are not alone. Remember that your interviewer isn’t there to trip you up or find a reason not to hire you. They asked to speak with you because they think you could be a great potential asset to their institution or group. Treat your interview like you would a new patient. Take the time to listen and make sure you are thorough with your fact gathering so you have all the information you need to make an informed decision about the path ahead. Good luck!
Additional Job Search Resources for Doctors
Explore additional contract negotiations and job search topics:
Graduating residents and fellows, check out more content from our Transition to Practice series: