How to Sell Yourself to Potential Employees

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How to Sell Yourself to Potential Employees

• Stephen J. Green MD FACP
• Chief of Cardiology
• North Shore University Hospital
• Associate Professor of Medicine
• New York University School of Medicine

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Writing a Cover Letter and CV for the Real World

• The purpose of these two documents are to get you
  in the door

Real World Your Next Job
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What Needs to be in a Cover Letter

• It is not your CV in text form!
• It should not be a discussion about how much you
  would love this job, etc.
• Really, the purpose of a cover letter is to
  answer the question.

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What Can You Do For Me?
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The Cover Letter

• Tries to sell the potential employee that you are
  the right person for their job.
• If they are looking for a person with a certain
  skill set, this letter should tell them that you
  have the skills that they require.
• One page, maximum.
• Its OK to specify your skill set eg Level 2
  echocardiography, endoscopy skills, etc.

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Do Your Homework!!

• You need to know what needs they are looking to
  fill. Whats their problem?
• Dont think that the group is looking for another
  body, but a specific person with specific
  expertise.
• You need to know who to address the letter to
• Never put down Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Office
  Manager
• Be specific the cover letter is for that
  particular job (only).

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Homework and Preparation is Essential before the
InterviewYou need to know

• What they are looking for
• What the group is like
• How stable is the group
• Where are the offices, and where do the want to
  put you.
• Group History.
• How old is the groupsometimes other social,
  racial, religious affiliations,etc.

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The Internet is Your Friend

• Google to individual MDs
• Google the office practice itself
• Look at other internet sites- eg Vitals.com
• How up to date is the staff listings?
• Anyone disappeared?
• Anyone from your college, medical school, or
  residency (for you to know, for them to find
  outMums the word).

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What About the CV?

• There are two basic purposes for a potential
  employer, after she/he looks at the cover letter
  to look at your CV
• 1. Shortlisting the candidates - which have the
  requirements that are being sought, and which
  applicants should be removed from consideration.
• 2. Using the CV as a framework for discussions
  at the time of the job interview.

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What Does This Mean In a Private Practice Job?

• Keep it Short 1-2 Pages (Max!)
• Make Sure It Includes the Criteria that are
  Sought.
• Dont Wax Poetic About Outside Activities
• Dont Include Potentially Irrelevant Material
• High School Awards and Activities are Not
  Appropriate.
• College Awards Should Be Limited to Major Things
  (Rhodes Scholar, anyone?) not Social Chair at
  the Fraternity.
• Similarly with Medical School, unless it relates
  to the job.

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So What Goes In It?

• Honors and Awards during Residency and Fellowship
• Technical skills acquired during training
• At the bottominterests (1-2 lines maximum) If
  your interests are too extensive, it will not
  show you are well rounded but rather imply that
  youre most interested in things outside of
  medicine (WRONG MESSAGE).

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Format For Your CV

• First Block Your Demographics
• Name, address, telephone, email address
• Other potential additions
• Birthdate
• Marital Status children
• Place of Birth (eg, New York, NY, not Babies
  Hospital, fourth floor).
• Citizenship

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CV Format

• Block Two Your Education
• Generally does not include high school, except
  for a specific job, where you are trying to make
  a point (going back to your hometown). In that
  case, put it in just for those jobs.
• Undergraduate College, with degree and year. Can
  included honors and major.
• Medical School and other advanced degrees.
  Generally put in them in temporal order, with
  dates.

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CV Format

• Block Three Post MD Training
• Again in order, with dates. Be prepared to
  verbally answer questions regarding time gaps.
• If this is not your first job since finishing
  training, you would then have a section with
  other (physician) job experiencesnot your pre MD
  jobs like dishwasher, busboy, toll collector,
  analytical chemist, longshoreman, or chimney
  sweep

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CV Block Four

• Honors and Awards
• Probably not high school awards, eg National
  Merit Scholar (I see this all the time).
• Early in career, OK to list college honors, eg
  scholarship awards, Phi Beta Kappa, etc.
• Same with medical school honors.
• If you stay academic, some of this stuff should
  disappear from your CV over time.
• Definitely YES to any honors or awards during
  residency and fellowship trainingincluding
  Chiefships.

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CV Block Five

• License and Registration Information
• NY State License number.
• Other states listed if you have them
• Certifications
• Flex exams etc, if you did them
• Board Certifications, with dates.
• OK to put non ABIM certifications such as echo
  boards, nuclear boards, CT boards
• OK to put training levels within your
  fellowships, especially for private practice
  (Level II echo, etc)

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Block Six Previous Research

• Dr. Tom Jones, Department of Medicine, Bay City
  Hospital, Associate Professor of Medicine, Dates
  of Research.
• Then with a little paragraph detailing what you
  did.

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Block Seven Papers and Publications

• Abstract citations first, date order
• Papers next, date order

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Block Eight Presentations

• Abstract Presentations
• Medical Grand Rounds Presentations
• Not routine peer presentations not morning
  reports
• Outside Presentations, non drug company
• If you were giving this talk, you could include
  it in your CV
• How to Sell Yourself to Potential Employees ACP
  Resident and Fellows Career Night, Lenox Hill
  Hospital, New York, New York. October 14, 2008.

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CV final steps

• Outside Interests
• Languages beyond English

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What About the Format?

• Many options the most important thing is that
  it be short and clean appearing.
• If for an academic job at your current
  institution, ask a junior faculty member (less
  intimidating, but more importantly, less pages)
  for a copy of their CV for the Bay City
  University official formatting. Do NOT do this
  for every academic job!!

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Interviewing 101 What Im Looking for During An
Interview

• Personal Appearance
• Dress slightly overdressed OK, underdressed not
  acceptable.
• Communications skills, degress of nervousness.
• Confidence without arrogance
• IS THIS SOMEONE I WANT TO WORK WITH FOR THE NEXT
  20 YEARS?
• Maybe more importantlyis this someone my
  patients will be comfortable with?

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Interviewing 101 Check the Cover Letter and CV

• Recheck to see if the qualifications are correct.
• Does the person and the CV make sense with each
  other?
• Find grounds for conversation.
• With any interview at any level, often the ease
  and act of conversation is more important than
  the information discussed.

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First InterviewThe Conversation

• In most interviews, at most levels, the act of
  conversation is more important that the
  information discussed.
• I need to know more about you as a person (not
  necessarily your interests or your research).
• Dont try to steer the conversation back to
  points on your CV-just let things flow.

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After the Interview

• If youre still interested, communicate back to
  the interviewer your interest. Usually not a
  phone conversation, unless that is what is
  requested. A very short written note is best, an
  email note is becoming more common.
• If Im interested, Ill get back to you. Dont
  keep calling think of it like a second date.

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What Not to Bring Up on First Interviews

• Anything to do with money starting salaries,
  time to partnership, partners salaries (actually
  the most important thing of these three, but
  typically not thought about or discussed, even
  later).
• Anything to do with time off number of weeks of
  vacation, conference time, weekend office hours,
  expected on call scheduleall too presumptuous
  unless the employer brings them up

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Red Flag of Warning

• Unless this is someone you already know, trying
  to wrap up a candidate on the first interview.
• If they tell you the salary, and start pushing
  forward to finalize things.
• Again, like a first date
• May be a marker of desperation, or previous
  difficulties finding someone to take the job.

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Other Points to Think About

• They will probably ask for references more
  important to give them people who know you best
  rather than people with big titles.
• You cant really ask them for references, but as
  part of your homework, after youve started
  looking into a job, you need to start asking
  about the group or MD
• People at your program who know them
• People from your program who practice locally

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Look At It Another Way

• There are groups at your institution that look
  great on paper, that would be good with the
  interviews, but you know their history and would
  not want to join them.
• Personality issues
• Work stress or hours worked
• Reputation in the hospital
• History of firing members before partnership
• You dont know these things about groups at other
  hospitals.

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Eventuallythe Money Discussion

• The most important piece of information is how
  much the partners make, since presumably youre
  going for partner, and will be a partner for the
  vast majority of your career. Find out before
  signing
• Time to partnership, starting salary,
• buy in are actually less important, but most
  commonly quoted.

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Starting Salary Not the Most Important???

• Larger groups can offer more starting but cannot
  offer a leadership position as early.
• Desperate groups may offer a higher starting
  salary, if they cannot find anyone the previous
  year.
• Whatever you start with, it will be much higher
  than during residency.
• The majority of your career income will be as a
  partner.lt3 will be your starting.
• Whats the important number in a car lease?

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Its October and I Dont Have a Job YetAm I in
Trouble??

• Definitely not. Job offers in July, August and
  September are left over jobs from the previous
  year.
• Groups have to do their finances, and judge their
  needs prior to interviewing.
• Most good jobs are just starting to come out, and
  will be coming out for the next 6 months.

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Job Location and Job Type

• You need to prioritize these two things.
• Frequently your ideal job and ideal location are
  not the same. Which is your priority?
• Expand your horizon, especially as the year goes
  on. Better to take you ideal job 2 hours drive
  from NYC than a mediocre job on the UES

UES Upper East Side
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JOB
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Above all, keep your cool this year, not just
during interviews!
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