Jan 31, 2020
This question may sound silly to some of you, but in my year and a half as a Recruiter with The Inline Group I have been asked this several times. It does not seem to be a huge issue, but the fact that it comes up at all warrants attention. I speak with a large number of new graduates and it seems that they are not exposed to very much information on how and when to look for their first position once they are nearing the end of their education. I believe most start looking earlier rather than later just to be safe, but there is a considerable number of providers who have no idea how long it can take to obtain that that first position.
To give a little bit of perspective, credentialing, licensing, and getting all of the paperwork taken care of alone can take at least 30 days. And that is after you have already submitted an application, waited for the facility to reach out, completed at least one or two interviews, and then received an official offer. As long as that initial process can take even before you get an offer, you are still looking at an additional 30+ days on top of that to actually finish everything up. I have personally seen that initial process take two weeks and I have also seen that initial process take two or three months. I equate it to when I was looking for a job as a teenager. Never once did I get a job at the first place I applied to. I had to put in quite a few job applications just to get someone to reach out. It often took a week or more for even one person to reach out to me after putting in multiple applications. I think the same can be said for the medical world. It is unlikely that you will be able to put in one application and get the job as a new graduate. You will have to put several lines in the water and put yourself out there to find a position in any reasonable amount of time.
My point, which I am sure is clear, is that the hiring process in the medical world takes time. Best case scenario for getting a job as a new graduate will probably take about six weeks after submitting an application. That is best case scenario. Realistically, you will be looking at two months or more. So, my answer to the question, “I graduate in three weeks. Is now too soon to start looking for a position?” is absolutely not. It probably would have been a good idea to start putting yourself out there a month ago. I hope this was helpful to some of you and that you are able to utilize this information to help yourself manage your expectations and find that first position more quickly.