ACC CardioCareer & CME Guide - March 2008v8 - (Page 24) Will Your Interview Skills Yield Job Offers? ellows-in-Training (FITs) spend years focused on honing their clinical expertise. Suddenly, it’s time to get a job, a task that calls for a very different set of skills. For this article, we spoke with three cardiologists who interview many FITs for positions in their practices or academic medical centers. We asked them to reveal the secrets to landing the job you want. Apply for the Right Jobs The cardiology workforce is teeming with job opportunities for well-trained FITs ready to launch their job searches, but the availability of positions doesn’t change one of the most important tenets of job hunting, no matter what your profession: Apply for the jobs that are right for you. “Make sure you understand the job you want so you’re interviewing for the right jobs,” says Jeffrey Towbin, MD, FACC, Professor and Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. “You need to know who you are to know what kind of job you want.” F The interviewer also wants to see how you present yourself, how you hold up under pressure, and how you interact with others on their team. “The interview tells me what I can’t find out from a CV, such as how this person would do in a situation with a patient or a patient’s family, whether he or she can articulate both their experience and their vision for the future, and whether they have direction,” says Dr. Page. “You can’t emphasize it enough – the interview matters!” Prepare! Because the interview is so important, it’s crucial to be prepared – not just for interviewing in general, but prepared for the specific interview you’re about to undertake. “If someone has taken the time to prepare, that impresses me,” says Dr. Page. “It shows me they cared and it gives me an idea of how they will present themselves to others.” Preparation starts with doing your homework about the position. Start by going online and checking out the institution or practice. Who are the faculty and what are their research interests? Read some papers by the people who might be your future colleagues. Make some calls to learn more about the practice environment. Generate a list of questions you have about the position and the practice. “In my experience interviewing, the most deflating thing in an interview is dead-air,” says Dr. Walsh. “You need to be prepared to fill the silence with thoughtful, appropriate questions.” Another tip that demonstrates that you’ve prepared well and have good judgment: Schedule your interview for a time when you can be at your best. Don’t book your interview for the day after you’ve been on call for three nights straight. “We expect interviewees to be here for two days. They interact with a lot of people, and they have to give a lecture. I want to see if they have stamina,” says Dr. Towbin. “This stuff sounds like common-sense, but you’d be surprised how many people show up here tired and unprepared.” Make a Good First Impression Interviewing is like a first date, say the interviewers. If you want to get invited back, you need to make a good first impression. Do your clothes matter? Absolutely. “For men, it never hurts to wear a tie, and it may even help,” says Dr. Page. “Dressing up is a sign of respect for the interviewer and regard for the interview itself.” Be on time, or even a little early. Give yourself some extra time to get there, just in case there’s a traffic jam, your flight is late, or you spill coffee on your shirt and have to change clothes. Practice your answers to the standard questions. Where do you want to be professionally in five years? Talk about a patient you’ve cared for recently. What does your perfect job look like? (Continued on the following page) Dr. Towbin With a clear vision of your ideal job, you’re more likely to relax and be yourself during the interview. “The worst thing is when a fellow tries to second-guess what the interviewer wants and be that person to get what looks like a great job. Expectations get disconnected from reality, and you might wind up in a job where you can’t possibly be what they were looking for,” says Dr. Towbin. “You need to be yourself the whole way through the interview.” In addition, the frame of mind that comes with going after a job that suits you also helps you deliver the energy and enthusiasm that interviewers are looking for. “I’m looking for people with sparkle, people who get excited about what they do,” says Richard L. Page, MD, FACC, Professor and Head Dr. Page of Cardiology at the University of Washington in Seattle. “People who are cheerful and optimistic tend to be more successful. They’re the kind of people I want in my group.” Take the Interview Seriously Three out of three cardiologists interviewed agree: Your CV gets you an interview, but the interview’s what gets you a job offer. Before you are invited for an interview, the interviewer has done some homework on you. “It’s really important for fellows to understand that they wouldn’t be asked for an interview unless they’re in serious competition for the position,” says Mary Norine Walsh, MD, FACC, Medical Director of Dr. Walsh Heart Failure and Transplantation at St. Vincent Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Indiana University in Indianapolis. “We’re happy with your CV, your training has been vetted, and we may have already talked with people in your training program about you. Now we want to see if you’re a good match for our culture.” 24 American College of Cardiology CardioCareer & CME Guide
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.