What happens if you take a job in a new place and the city isn’t a good fit?
It would be best if you could tough it out for two to three years but don’t stay for ten if you are miserable. I had to give up a great teaching job at a North Carolina college to move to Florida so my pediatrician husband could be a medical director. I'll admit -- I was a basket case the first year. But by the second year, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Rather than focus on how unhappy I was, I started to work on a PhD in English. I’m always happy going to school and it turned out to be a great career move for me.
I stayed in Florida for 12 years because it was the right place for my children to graduate from high school and I got a great job. When the second child left home, my husband began networking and interviewing to try to get us back to Charlotte, NC. My boss in Tampa said I could work remotely from Charlotte just as I had from Orlando. A physician at an ACPE cocktail party said, “Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again, but he had a lot of problems. I think you can.” She was right.
Let's say you are unhappy in your new city. What can you do? Recruiters say 70-90 percent of all jobs are gotten through networking. Think back to people you went to medical school with or trained with. Where are they now? Would you want to live there? You can’t just come out and ask for a job, but you can make a phone call, catch up, ask them what their medical community is like and say, “I’d love to live in your area. Would you let me know if you hear of any opportunities?” Also regularly check ACPE’s job bank and the websites of any recruiters who are listed in our job bank. Something might pop up in your favorite city.
Just be careful: Recruiters tell me you can make one quick move if the place or chemistry is not right. But if you make two, employers begin to be suspicious of your staying power.
Barbara, this is a great piece of information. Thank you for sharing tips on how to tolerate a, 'not so great' location to work. I have worked in many locations and had to learn the hard way about the scrutiny received when job hunting-when my history showed multiple job changes over a period of 10 years. I settled with staying in one position for 6 long years, despite longing for change and growth, while completing my MBA and attaining my CPE.
ReplyDeleteAs far as networking, I never thought it would do me any good. Being the introvert that I am; just the idea of it was very anxiety provoking. I defined networking as-'excessive interaction with others' and too uncomfortable for me. After hearing your claims of its value over and over again, I have begun to reach out to colleagues more recently; and find that not only is it a valuable tool offering tremendous support but that I am not the only introverted physician executive in the bunch!
Thank you for sharing,
Dr. Janice Bray