Medical Professionals Using References in a Job Search - CareerAlley

Medical Professionals Using References in a Job Search - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Surviving a failure gives you more self-confidence. Failures are great learning tools.. but they must be kept to a minimum. Jeffrey Immelt So youve decided youre ready to take the next step in your career journey. You plan to start looking at various medical careers to see whats available in your area of interest and then send out resumes accordingly. Heres a question: do you plan on submitting references with your resumes and applications? You dont necessarily have to; its such a standard practice for recruiters to ask these days that unless you specifically state otherwise, its implied that youll provide them upon request. And that brings us to our first point: dont include a line on the bottom of your resume offering references if requested. Thats wasted space you could be using to put something more important in writing. If a recruiter wants references from you he will ask. With that said, here are a couple of other things to think about: Asking Permission Far too many of us just assume all of our colleagues are willing to give us a good reference when we switch medical careers. Hopefully thats true. On the other hand, counting on it could lead to some very embarrassing conversations if one of the references youve chosen turns out to be unappreciative of the phone call he received. Before you begin your job search you should always check with your references to make sure your colleagues are still willing to help you out. Check Phone Numbers and E-Mail Addresses If youre looking for a new job, doesnt it seem reasonable that some of your references from the past have also moved on to other positions? For some reason, medical careers experience some of the most frequent turnover rates among all major job categories. So its important for you to track down phone numbers and e-mail addresses to make sure theyre accurate. Otherwise the recruiter may pull her hair up trying to get in touch with to someone who knows you. Keep Them Recent We most definitely live in a what have you done for me lately kind of world. Its to your advantage to use individuals you have worked with most recently as references. Thats because references tell your prospective employer who you are today and what they can expect from you. Theyre not necessarily interested in who you were 10 years ago unless theres something in your past specifically related to the job youre seeking. Try to Keep Them Local Theres not much to say here except that you should try to keep your references local. That makes it much easier for your prospective employer to contact them as necessary. In closing, we want to remind you that providing good references does not necessarily guarantee youll be hired. But providing bad ones is almost always equal to the employment death knell. You can increase your chances of getting good references by always doing your job the best you can, cultivating your relationships for mutual benefit, and refraining from burning any bridges. Search for Locum Tenens Physician Jobs and Healthcare Employment Opportunities at CompHealth. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. For more HR cartoons: http://academy.justjobs.com/cartoon-caption-contest Visit me on Facebook