Top Interview Questions: Part 1 of 3

So you made it to the interview stage? Bright lights, Big City! Before you “let it go to your head,” as the old song goes, it is important to think about what questions you want to ask on the interview. An important initial step in contract negotiations for physicians is asking the right questions at the interview. In this first article of three on top interview questions, I will give you some suggestions on what to research and ask prior to going to the initial in-person interview. I found this pre-interview/planning stage to be challenging as a medical student/resident and it didn’t seem to get any easier for me when I searched for a job. However, once I got a few interviews under my belt, I began to realize for me the best way to approach it was to create a standard set of questions to ask each practice to make sure I had the right information to make a well informed decision in the end. I will do my best to share with you some of the questions and suggestions that were most helpful to me in this stage. To begin, before you even get to the interview, it is helpful to have some background information on the reputation of the practice, the location and the opportunity being presented. Does the practice have a good reputation? Are the doctors well respected by colleagues? This is not always easy information to obtain but one place to start is with the faculty at your academic institution. Much to my surprise at one of the first negotiation workshops I ran, a faculty member from an academic institution revealed that a recent graduate had taken a job with a local practice in town. But he had done so without consulting any of the faculty at his home institution. The professor was surprised because the faculty was familiar with the practice and knew they were in financial disarray. Sure enough, the practice closed about 1.5 years later leaving the poor recent graduate out of a job. Another important thing to do is fully research the location ahead of time. There is a reason most realtors tell you the most important thing about a property is “location, location, location!” Is this a suburban, urban or rural environment? What type of area do you see yourself enjoying most? If you have a family, what is the school system like? If you are single, is there enough of a social scene, activities, entertainment or cultural events going on to allow you to meet new people and establish a strong local network? What about potential job opportunities for your spouse? These are seemingly obvious relocation questions but you would be surprised at the number of people that neglect to look into things in detail until they are midway into the job search and then find themselves with opportunities that they are not very excited about. Further, spending some time focusing on these things early will allow you to ask informed questions when you have the first call with the practice and demonstrate your enthusiasm for the opportunity. Finally, during the initial pre-interview stage, it is important to understand what opportunity is being offered and why. By that I mean did a recent partner retire and now there is excess volume? Is the practice opening up a new location and wants someone to staff it? Has someone recently left the practice (more on that in a later blog)? How did this opportunity come about and what exactly is the practice looking for? Are they looking for a comprehensive ophthalmologist and you are a cornea specialist? If you are medical retina, for example, are they searching for someone who just specializes in medical retina or would be willing to do cataracts as well? Understanding what opportunity is available and how it came about will help you determine if this is a reasonable opportunity that fits your needs and will help you figure out the most important questions to ask when you interview in person. Just remember when you make to the big interview, just like Jimmy Reed sung in 1961, I “hope you remember a- some of those things I said.” Till next time friends.