This week's blog post comes from Denise, a second year PA student at WVU. She was kind enough to write about her experiences with job hunting, interviewing, and accepting a job offer (Congratulations!).
Hello fellow PAs-to-be,
In being asked to type up a blog entry in regards to my job
hunting, interviewing and negotiating experience, I was excited to give you all
some helpful insight for nearing the end (I promise it will come)! First I must
say, that all interviews are not the same, PA jobs are not the same, there is
no one way to approach job hunting and even though negotiating worked for me, I
can’t promise the other end will cooperate as did mine. So please, continue
with me and I’ll share more details.
Sidebar: I just took a job offer from the University of
Alabama – Birmingham. It’s a very unique position, in that the University has
been contracted to insert its Pathology group into a 3-community hospital group
located in Montgomery, AL. They needed one PA who would work solo in receiving
specimens from all 3 hospitals, lab manager, and to act as liaison for the
different locations.
Applying:
Sending out CVs can be exhausting, especially if it involves
the HR process instead of the direct emails that Cherie [our program director] will forward you. Keep
plugging away! There is this misconception that we cannot penetrate the HR
process because we are not licensed yet. Well, UAB called me and their
application process was through HR and DID ask for my ASCP license number
(which I obviously don’t have). I was
notified that I was ineligible due to that, but then I received a call 4 months
later asking if I could visit ASAP for the position.
Preparation once
receiving the Invitation:
It was requested to fly inbound on Thursday and outbound
after 3pm on Monday. I did not receive the itinerary until landing in Alabama,
so I had no idea what to expect. Knowing that it was going to be 4 days of
interviewing, and therefore potentially a lot of people involved, I brought 15
additional CVs with me (in which I did not use a single one of them). I also
brought recommendation letters and a few dictations that I was prideful of. I
recommend you bring a specimen log from clinical year (with complex specimens)
if you are trying for a position that is unsure of what a “Program Graduated
PA” is capable of.
P.S. Pack a professional dinner outfit for every night that
you will be staying.
During the
Interview:
The tough stuff : The interview process was indeed the full four days. Every night was a dinner
with a different group of pertinent people. Lunch was also this way. I must
have been in and out of 12 offices that weekend doing one-on-one interviews for
30 minutes each. I had a “chauffeur” who guided me throughout the buildings and
who would knock on the door when the interviewer had 5 minutes remaining. I
also was sent to the new location where I would be asked to be the first PA
with “boots on the ground”. In this portion of the interview/tour, I was asked
what I thought about the lab and if I had suggestions or things I saw that they
would be in need of. I suggest you keep an eye on the inner-workings of the
labs you rotate through during clinical year instead of just keeping your head
down grossing.
The cool stuff:
- I was never pulled into an interview where they asked me the
assumed interview questions we could all come up with on our own. Except of
course the “tell me about yourself” and “why are you interested in us”? Know
your answers to all those practice questions anyway. I found that preparing for
those helped me answer other questions quickly.
- The interviewers are not professional interviewers;
therefore they may begin by saying “do you have any questions for me.” And THAT
could be a toughy or an easy one depending on if you’re ready.
- I was given a rental car to see the sites on my own during down
time.
- I was scheduled an appointment with a realtor for driving
around the neighborhoods to get a good look at the homes there. If you have
this luxury, use your time wisely! This person doesn’t JUST know about homes,
they know so much about the entire area!
- Chat up the current PAs and become their best friend. I
found that the PA will give you the most incite on the inner-workings and if
you can read people, you’ll be able to tell if they have enthusiasm for their
job or just flat out hate it there.
After the
Interview
I was asked to contact UAB within the next week to let them
know if I was still interested. I did so. They called me back to let me know
they had an offer. I wrote down all the information and asked if I could have a
bit of time to decide and think of any questions I may have in regards to the
“package”.
Two days later I called back and knew I needed to negotiate. It’s easy and worth it. You will never sweat
more during a phone call in your life but man-up and know what you’re worth.
This is what I said to UAB:
I have just a couple of questions for you:
1. How are raises calculated? i.e. Are they annually? Based off performance? Who
will be conducting my performance and evaluation? – Starting with the “raise”
question is good because it forces them to be honest with the answer before
they hear you’re unhappy with the offered salary.
2. In regards to the proposed salary – I have
given it some serious thought and considering the expectations and
responsibilities of the job and the current national average for a newly
graduating PA, I was hoping to hear $__, 000. THEN SAY NOTHING. Don’t
mumble on the words that come out at this time and certainly don’t ramble on
with nervousness. Stand strong and confident.
UAB responded, “wow… wow… okay. Well, let me give you a call
back after speaking with the board and we’ll see what we can do”.
I received a phone call back and they decided to meet me in
the middle. I planned on this happening and that was the number I wanted from
the beginning. All you do is take the initial offer number, then take the “number
you want”…and subtract that. Then add that difference to the “number you want”
and BAM… there’s what you counteroffer. They’ll more than likely meet you in
the “middle” which is actually the salary you’re requesting anyway. I hope that
makes sense. (Disclaimer: I can’t promise this works. It just did for me!)
BONUS – I was also given a $5,000 sign on bonus just to “get
me to the salary I requested for at least the first year”. Wow. Negotiating works!
Like I said,
I definitely don’t know how all interviews play-out but I feel as if hearing at
least one version of the process is certainly good to have in your back pocket.
I wish you all luck in rotations and in landing that wonderful hard-earned
career!
