UO > Feature > Acing the Interview

During the interview, be prepared to ask lots of questions. In fact, if you don’t, the interviewer could take it as a sign of disinterest. “The biggest mistake I’ve seen are applicants not interacting in the process, not asking questions about the practice, not telling them what you’re looking for in a practice,” Warren says.

Strieker advises asking detailed questions. “Ask what your role will be,” he says. “Ask where they see you in the next year or in the next five years with this company or practice.”

Be up front about your needs and your situation. “If you’re looking at a couple of different places, it’s always good to be honest about that,” Warren says. “Not to the point that you’re pitting them against one another, but I have heard a million times ‘if only I’d known they had an offer from so-and-so, maybe we could have negotiated this and such’.”

And don’t be afraid to blow your own horn a little. Employers like to see enthusiasm for a position. “This is a very good market for physicians right now,” McMillin says. “An error I believe physicians make is that they fail at times to sell themselves during the interview process. They assume the job is automatically theirs before they come in for the interview.”

Don’t, however, bring up the subject of money too early. “The number one error I see is within the first fifteen minutes of the interview, they want to talk about compensation,” McMillin says.

Warren agrees that this is a common mistake. “If you have issues, such as a heavy loan debt to cover or other concerns, discuss them with your recruiter or in-house contact first. They can help present the subject in a less-threatening way,” she says. “I don’t think you should focus on salary and money as your main concern. Most physicians feel that your main concern should be your patients, your practice, your partners, and your staff.”

If you’re married, your spouse should accompany you to the interview. You may be the person applying for the job, but your spouse is an important player in the hiring process. “You would be surprised at how much of a commitment level you can gauge from the spouse’s reaction and their involvement,” Warren says. “I think the spouse needs to be as open and friendly as the person who’s interviewing. Especially when you have a dinner and the spouses accompany the physician, the spouse’s personality can be a factor. If one spouse doesn’t like another, that shouldn’t be an issue, but it can be.”

Jim McMillin recalls two different occasions where the spouse actually cost a promising candidate a job. “These two physicians had great interviews and everything was going well,” he says. “Dinner that evening was scheduled at a local country club, which had a dress code. The physicians arrived dressed appropriately, but in both cases the spouses, both males, refused to abide by the dress code. The spouses cost those physicians the jobs. They left a bad impression. It was almost as if the spouse had a chip on his shoulder.”

Another reason to encourage your spouse’s participation is to have someone in your corner with whom you can discuss the day’s events and your impressions of the people and the position in general.

Once the interview is over, you’ll likely be exhausted, excited, and maybe a little anxious. How do you know if it went well? “For me, it’s a visceral feeling of good or bad,” Christiason says. “It’s not necessarily a matter of punching out a list of pros and cons and going with the longest list. Sometimes it’s important to rely on your instincts.”

Take time to review your notes. If you’re married, discuss the experience with your spouse and get his or her impression. Make note of any questions that come to mind and follow up on them. “I think it’s important to identify who is your one contact at the organization,” Christiason says. “It’s difficult in some places to know who to contact with questions. Here, I knew who that person was and I felt comfortable calling them. I knew I could get an answer right away. A couple other places I interviewed, I wasn’t sure who to talk to. There was no one clear-cut person who, even if they didn’t have the answer I needed, could find it for me.”

Be sure to write thank-you letters to those with whom you interviewed. Take this opportunity to reiterate your interest in the position and anything that particularly appealed to you about the job.

If the organization contacts you with an offer, be prepared to make a decision. “A lot of physicians aren’t prepared to make a quick decision,” McMillin says. “When we’re excited to hire someone, there’s usually a two or three-week window when they’re going to have to make a decision. A lot of times, we’re not willing to wait two months for an answer.”

“If you wait too long, it doesn’t seem you’re very interested,” Warren says. “It also raises questions as to whether you’re going to be that responsive to your patients.”

If you’ve done your homework, asked questions during the interview process, reviewed your notes and discussed your feelings with your family, making a decision should be easier and you won’t need to take much more time. The involved, exciting, anxiety-producing interview process has culminated in your reaching your goal of a job where you can be productive and happy. g