Do you dream of being a medical director? How about becoming head of a unit, department, or company? Or maybe you want to move up from your current position to make more money and have more control over your career.
Whatever your goal is, I’m sure you’ve heard that landing an interview is the hardest part of the job search process. But don’t worry! We’re going to look at exactly how to land your dream job as a medical director by following these 11 steps:
Step 1: Search For Open Jobs
To find a job, you need to be looking for a job. It’s that simple. There are many ways to search for open positions:
- Use an online job board like Indeed, Monster or SimplyHired.com and type in “medical director” or “MD.”
- Check out your local chamber of commerce website (which may be listed as “business council”) and look at their member profiles to see if any medical directors work in your area.
- Check out LinkedIn’s new Director Search tool (available only on desktop) by clicking on the magnifying glass icon next to the Advanced Search option at the top right hand corner of the screen and entering “director” into their dropdown menu.
- Ask friends and family if they know anyone who works in healthcare management whose company might be hiring MDs (or other senior healthcare staff).
Step 2: Start Writing Your Resume
Now that you’ve figured out your professional goals and interests, it’s time to create a resume. A well-written resume will help you stand out from other candidates in the field of medical director.
To start, determine what kind of resume format would be best for you. There are two basic types: chronological and functional.
Chronological resumes follow your career chronologically they list each job and its dates all on one page. Functional resumes list each job separately with no information about when or where they were held;
Instead, they focus more on skills and accomplishments associated with those jobs (for example: “Director of Nursing – provided leadership for 120-person staff including nurses, aides…”).
After choosing which type is right for you (and if necessary asking others their opinions), write down all of your experience under each heading: Education/Skills/Experience (and any extra special training);
Work History; Interests; Awards & Honors; Publications & Presentations; Professional Memberships & Organizations Active In
Step 3: Write Your Cover Letter
A cover letter should be short and sweet. In fact, it’s not even necessary to have one if you have a good resume that does the job for you.
If your resume doesn’t include all of your qualifications for the position, though, then it’s worth including a cover letter to help fill in those gaps. In either case, some things should go in every cover letter:
- Introduce yourself and mention why you’re interested in this job specifically
- Explain how you can help this company with whatever they need (include specific examples)
- Don’t repeat what’s already on your resume
Step 4: Send Applications
Now that you’ve defined your career goals and gathered the information you need to make a good impression on prospective employers, it’s time to send applications. The next step in landing your ideal job is to apply for jobs that fit what you’re looking for.
To get started, create a list of companies you’d like to work for and begin researching their open positions. Make sure that these companies are hiring so that when they do post openings in areas related to your interests and experience, you’ll be ready with an application.
Once you’ve identified some promising options, write down why each position would be a good fit for your needs and experiences (this will help guide later conversations).
You can find job postings online through websites like Glassdoor or LinkedIn Jobs are valuable resources for finding new opportunities at small-to-medium sized businesses across North America (and beyond).
LinkedIn also has its dedicated recruiting tool called Talent Solutions which makes screening applicants easier than ever before.
But only if they have been active members long enough (about three years) so as not to skew results towards younger generations who may still be attending college or graduate school right now!
Step 5: Set Up An Interview
Now that you’ve found the job posting, it’s time to set up an interview. If you’re using your resume to apply for this position, there should be a section in the application to explain why you’re interested in working for them and what your career goals are.
This is also where you can include any information about yourself that would make you stand out from other applicants (e.g., relevant experience or specific skills).
If the posting doesn’t have a place specifically for this kind of information or if it’s not available online at all, contact someone directly by phone or email to ask when they’re looking forward to meeting with potential candidates.
Be sure not only that they know who you are but also what kind of work experience and qualifications make them want
you as their candidate! You’ll want whoever reads over these applications and especially whoever interviews them to feel like they’d be lucky if they could hire anyone else besides yourself.
Step 6: Prepare For The Interview
Interviewing for a medical director job is no different than any other interview. You’ll need to prepare for it just like you would for any other position. Here are some tips for how to prepare:
- Prepare answers for questions about your work experience.
- Prepare answers to questions about your professional goals.
- Prepare answers for questions about your personal goals.
- Prepare answers for questions about your professional skills and abilities, including examples of work-related achievements or results that demonstrate these skills/abilities in action (if they’re relevant).
To help with this, think back over projects or tasks you’ve worked on recently and try to identify the most important aspects of each one: why did they matter? What was challenging? How did you overcome those challenges?
If there’s the time during the interview process, practice answering these types of questions out loud several times so that you feel comfortable doing it when the time comes!
It also helps if someone else asks them first so that you can hear how it sounds before trying on paper/napkin/whatever else works as well 🙂
Step 7: Dress Professionally
There’s no getting around this one: you want your interviewer to take you seriously, so dress in a manner that reflects that. Your attire should be appropriate for the position you’re applying for and consistent with what other professionals in your industry wear.
Avoid wearing too much jewelry or perfume/cologne since these can distract from your professional image.
Also avoid wearing clothes that are too tight or show off any tattoos or body piercings (unless they’re covered up by clothing). If possible, wear comfortable shoes so that you don’t need to worry about discomfort throughout the interview process.
Step 8: Be On Time
If you are running late, be prepared to be on time or even early. If you are going to be late, call the company and explain that you will be 10 minutes late due to traffic or another issue.
Don’t just show up when they say the meeting starts; arrive 15 minutes early. If there is no one at reception when you arrive.
Sit in your car until someone arrives or go get coffee nearby while waiting for them to open up a few minutes before their scheduled start time of 9:00 AM (or whatever time it was).
Step 9: Be Professional During The Interview
Like any interview, you’ll want to be prepared with answers for the questions that will come up. Here are some of the most common ones you should expect:
- “Tell me about your experience with physician practices in this area.”
- “What makes you think that you would be a good fit for this job?”
- “How do your skills match up with what we need at our practice?”
- “Tell me about a time when things didn’t go as smoothly as they could have at work and how did it affect others around them (including yourself)?
What did they do to resolve the problem quickly without disrupting the workflow too much? How would you handle something similar if it happened again?
Would it happen again because there wasn’t enough communication among staff members beforehand so everyone knew what was going on every minute of every day rather than only having sporadic updates from time-to-time when needed most urgently.”
Step 10: Ask Questions At The End Of The Interview
You have made it to the end of your interview and you are feeling good! You have aced all of your interviews, had great conversations with staff, and asked all the right questions. Now is the time to ask a few more questions that show your interest in the position and company.
- What is my first 90 days going to look like?
- What does success look like for this role at this company?
- What do other people who have worked here say about it?
These questions will help you learn more about what a Medical Director’s job entails, how much autonomy they can expect, and what kind of environment they would be working in if hired.
Step 11: Follow-Up After The Interview With A Thank You Or A Phone Call
Follow up with a thank you note, phone call, email or LinkedIn connection. If you can’t say anything nice (in the form of a thank you), don’t say anything at all.
A thoughtful follow-up shows that you’re interested in the position and expresses your appreciation for their time and consideration.
Conclusion
If you want to land your dream job as a medical director, it’s going to take some work. But if you follow these steps, it will be easier than ever before!
If you still need help with your application or interview questions, check out our blog post on how to prepare for an interview or contact us today at [email protected]
