Jump Starting Your Job Search While In Medical School: Part 3

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Last Updated on June 26, 2022 by Laura Turner

Read  about steps 1 and 2 in Part 1 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 3 and 4 in Part 2 of this series  here.
You likely won’t start applying for jobs in earnest until you are a resident. But if you begin preparing for your job search while you are in medical school, you will have a competitive advantage when it’s time to start applying.
Step 5: Familiarize yourself with the search process
When you begin applying for jobs in your residency, you’ll start by researching organizations where you’d like to work, reading about job openings, and writing cover letters. You’ll want to cater each cover letter to the position that you’re applying for.
An important part of looking for a job is building relationships with physician recruiters. A physician recruiter either works for the hiring organization as part of their in-house recruiting department, or for a third-party search firm, which hospitals and health systems pay to find top job candidates.
Physician recruiters can be a very helpful resource to you. They will be your first point of contact when you apply for a job you are interested in.  If you are interested in opportunities with a specific organization but you don’t see a position advertised that matches your interests and qualifications, you can still reach out to the physician recruiter. The recruiter may know of upcoming opportunities or positions that have not been advertised.
Networking is a critical part of a successful job search. You can network with the recruiters you meet; recruiters frequently speak with recruiters in other areas about positions they are working to fill. If you tap into that network, you will open yourself up to a much larger net of opportunities. You will also want to tell people in your network—friends, family, peers—when you start job hunting. You never know who other people know or whether they could help.
Step 6: Understand the interview process
When you are job searching, you may feel an itch to accept every job interview invitation you are offered. Instead, you will want to devote your time to interviewing for opportunities where the location and the position are a fit for your parameters.
When you are being considered for a position, the process will likely start with a phone interview. Next, you will have an in-person interview, during which time you’ll meet with multiple people who work for the organization. They’ll interview you, and in a way, you will be interviewing them.