Job hunting is inherently stressful, and dealing with job rejection for doctors can amplify this stress. This article aims to provide useful tips on managing rejection during the job search process. Understanding the nuances of the candidate selection process is essential in coping with rejection. The focus here is on transforming rejection into an opportunity for self-improvement and better navigation of the job hunting landscape.
Few Tips for Physicians on Interviews
CV and Interview Answers Evaluation
In job interviews for doctors, the candidate is assessed on their physician’s CV and answers to the interview questions. This evaluation happens between the applicant and the hiring manager to ascertain whether the doctor is proper and adequate for the job. In medical interviews, doctors are often asked about their medical education and the institutions they have graduated from, past medical experiences and successes, their dream job also their senses of responsibility, interviewing and social skills are among the key items observed during this process.
Specialty-Specific Questions
However, a lot depends on the specialty of the applicant doctor. To give an example many GP interviews are dominated by scenario-based questions. Interviewers try to understand the reactions of the candidate in the face of problems that may arise from the patient or practitioner. They do so by asking several questions based on the general characteristics of the patients that they might see. You can find specific information about the types of responsibilities that GPs have by reviewing some JDs here. There are some soft skills that corporate owners and managers typically like to see in doctors through interviews. This is usually specialty specific, while the employer would seek composure and agility in an emergency medicine physician, or EP, they will consider communication, persuasion and empathy skills more in an aesthetic physician.
General Interview Questions
On the other hand, there are some questions that are general. For all specialties, physicians would likely be asked about their expectations from the position and the institution. Similarly, references of professors or specialists they have worked with before are also important for all doctors’ interviews. Often in interviews, the stronger candidate will be the doctor who is more experienced, exhibits excellent planning skills, has higher self-confidence, and has a warm bedside demeanor.
Showcasing Experience and Skills
There are also a few tips that are applicable to all specialties. The preliminary research conducted by a physician applying for the position about the institution and details of the job offer not only provides the candidate higher levels of self-confidence and comfort in the interview, but also shows the hiring manager that the doctor is eager to work with the company. The willingness of the candidate for the position showcases their ability to adapt to the institution, which is one of the features that employers eagerly look for. Time management is another skill that managers would be pleased to see in applicants. The hiring manager would want to make sure that the things to be done after placing the physician in the position are done at the right time without any need for reminders or even warnings. For this reason, candidates who can prioritize their duties and shape their routines in parallel with their tasks are preferred by employers.
Salary Expectations
Salary also plays an important role towards the end of these discussions. Generally, towards to end of interviews, the doctor would be asked about his financial expectations from the position. Doing some research about the salary range in different institutions by a job market, before the interview would give the applicant an idea. Having a clear idea beforehand will help the job seekers better position themselves for success, rather than get rejected due to making unreasonable requests for salary.
Why Doctors/Physicans Get Rejected in Interviews?
Within large institutions, each job offered received approximately 250 applications, of which only one gets a positive result, while 249 are rejected. High rates of job rejections may be because of various reasons.
False or Exaggerated Information in the CV
The first factor that might cause rejection is giving false or exaggerated information in your CV, or during interviews. Detailed background research can be done by the hiring managers for even the slightest discrepancies in recruiters, skills, experience, or education. Lies about work experiences, fake information about the institutions cooperated, fake certificates or diploma presentations, and unrecognized references found in the CV or background research will most probably cause rejection and may also lead to negative results in the doctor’s new job interviews.
No Specific Career Goals and Expectations
In addition, physicians who do not have specific career goals or expectations for the coming 5 to 10 years are more likely to be rejected in interviews. For a hiring manager, it is important that the physician to be placed in the position is idealistic and ambitious, because a doctor who has risen in his field and achieved success and revolution also expands the vision of the health institution he worked in. Therefore, non-targeted, non-idealist practitioners who are only concerned with their present are not as attractive to interviewers.
Overconfident or Arrogant Impressions
Besides, employers appreciate physicians who have confidence and can express themselves accurately, but it’s important to not be overconfident. Applicants’ self-trust create positive impressions on managers, but those who cross the line in interviews and reveal their arrogance while trying too hard to create profile that shows them as qualified can cause negative results. Arrogant candidates make comparisons with other doctors to show themselves better and aim to humiliate them. In an interview, arrogant applicants often exaggerate the use of “I” instead of “we”, unlike candidates who are confident in their capabilities. This leads managers to think unfavorably about the doctor.
How to Deal with Rejection
Getting a rejection can be challenging to accept. It’s not easy for most practitioners to overcome rejections and persevere till the end. However, while the rejection process can be problematic and exhaustive, it should not cause feelings of despair or inadequacy. Candidates should realize that each rejection is a data point and feedback for them to do better in their new interviews. There are various tips to handle and move on from a rejection.
The rejections received in the applications made during the job search process are usually since the credentials of the applicant doctor do not fully match the items in the job description. At this point, what the doctor needs to do is to review his own wishes and skills and try to find the appropriate job title for his own specialty. While doing this, using platforms such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Jobstreet or Doctor Jobs Today, will guide the candidate about the requirements of medical jobs and specific positions and so doctors can work on adding those skills to themselves before the the interviews and even before the applications.
Doctors who have approved applications would go through an interview process. Unfortunately, the application of just a single or limited number of candidates would be accepted at the end of interviews.
Learn from Mistakes and Move Forward
The first way to handle a job rejection received in an interview process is being able to face the learnings from the interview in all clarity. Initially, the applicant ought to have a self-talk about all their process and become aware of all his strengths and weaknesses to make himself a stronger candidate. The contender can receive feedback from the hiring manager, or support and mentorship from a career coach to realize which part of their interviews needs to be improved. Knowing the sections they missed and rather than feeling overwhelmed, the candidate should start to focus on a single point of learning, which makes the self-improvement process more manageable and practical for the physician. The candidate who progresses consciously with the help of an expert or useful sources (search engines, related articles, etc.) would feel more comfortable and confident for the next job interviews as they strengthens their weaknesses.
It’s Not About You, It’s the Job
The candidate who wants to have a healthy ability to cope must be able to understand that the rejection is not always person oriented. The physician may have demonstrated a thorough performance but there may be a strong in-house doctor who is already familiar with the business or the specialty, or maybe just more experienced. Or another candidate that better aligns to the personality of the hiring manager may be preferred because they fit better with the cultural values of the institution. Such factors are out of control and at this point the nominee should aim to keep learning and developing by participating in trainings, diversifying the certificates in their field of expertise, taking voluntary role in medical research, discovering alternative treatments about diseases and working to have a broader network. Also, since cultural values are an important criteria in interviews, doctors should prioritize applying to job offers from institutions that are in parallel with their own values. The atmosphere you work in, and the people that refer you play a huge role in the recruitment process of today’s world.
Asking for good feedback
Additionally, it is extremely important for the applicants to ask for constructive feedback from the employer after they are rejected in interviews as it has various benefits to the applicant. Most importantly, constructive feedback creates awareness in the applicant on their own shortcomings. This enables the candidate to have a chance to improve themselves before their next interviews. Some of the areas that the candidate can can ask about during these feedback sessions are as follows:
- Professional Development
- Demonstratable Productivity
- Communication Skills
- Morale and personnality
The applicant can decide which skillsets to improve upon, by addressing the areas above in questions such as:
- What can I do to make a better impression?
- What are the things that I’m doing well and should continue with?
- What’s skill areas am I lacking in that I could improve?
Besides, asking for good feedback strengthens the relationship between the managers and the applicants, and you are sure to be viewed positively should a new opportunity with the same employer arise. Above all it is important to keep in mind the ideas discussed within this blog, and try to adopt these principles to have more fruitful hiring processes.
About Doctor Jobs Today
Doctor Jobs Today is the first job-seeking platform in Southeast Asia dedicated to serving the job searching needs of healthcare professionals. We have created a space to connect employers and medical job seekers seamlessly. As part of the healthcare community, we understand that traditional job portals are not catered toward medical doctors. So we decided to create a portal advertising only the most relevant jobs from the top employers within the industry because we are just as picky as you are!
Doctor Jobs Today has the right vacancy whether you are looking for a higher salary, a better-equipped hospital for your specialization, or even a career shift from patient care.
About Docquity
If you feel like your educational and professional experience has not been sufficient to make your CV pop, expanding the network to other healthcare professionals to practise peer-to-peer learning might be the answer. One of the ways to do it is by joining a social platform for healthcare professionals, such as Docquity.
Docquity is the region’s largest and most trusted community of doctors, bringing you real-time knowledge from thousands of doctors worldwide. Today, Docquity has over 300,000 doctors spread across six countries in Asia.
Meet experts and trusted peers across Asia where you can safely discuss clinical cases, get up-to-date insights from webinars and research journals, and earn CME/CPD credits through certified courses. All with the ease of a mobile app available on Android & iOS platforms!
