Freud's Insights is a new blog series from our resident Freud, Johnna, a search consultant in the surgery permanent placement division.
Although everyone needs some luck, interview preparation is the key to making you shine. As noted on the CompHealth website, good interview preparation steps include:
- Assess your personal and professional needs and preferences
- Research the job opportunity to discover how your needs match
- Assess your strengths and weaknesses and be able to articulate how you have used both to accomplish goals and solve problems
- Practice interviewing in advance in a low-stress situation
- Present yourself in a professional manner
- Close the interview on a positive note
- Effectively follow up afterwards
In fact, the CompHealth website provides even more details regarding good interview preparation steps. For complete details, see
this helpful guide.
So what is the most dangerous interview question?
It is:
"Tell me about yourself."
Candidates who take this as an opportunity to tell everything about themselves since the day they were born are apt to shoot themselves in the foot and kill their candidacy. The best way to answer this question is to restrict answers to information about your education and career accomplishments. Regardless of where you are in your career, prepare for questions you may be asked. This will help reduce stress and boost confidence. Check out this list of the most
commonly asked interview questions from CompHealth's career resource section.
In addition to preparing for the questions you may be asked in an interview, take time to prepare questions you want to ask in the interview. If an issue is important to you, this is the time to explore it. Suggestions from the CompHealth website are:
- How long have you been recruiting for this position?
- When would you like the new person to start?
- What is the nature of the patient profile?
- What non-clinical duties are required and how much time will they fill?
- How much autonomy is permitted?
- What are the opportunities for advancement within the organization?
- What is the financial viability of the group?
- What is your five-year business plan?
Although this may sound like good advice, not everyone takes time to prepare for interviews. However, most of those who do prepare often make better impressions on prospective employers than those who do not and either "wing it" or "roll with it."
The job search dynamics have changed over the past ten years, and for some subspecialties, the supply of physicians is greater than the demand. While it is important for everyone to prepare, if you are in one of these subspecialties, it is even more critically important that you prepare for your interview.
And, of course, good luck to you too!
