Stephen J. Green MD FACPChief of Cardiology

North Shore University HospitalAssociate Professor of Medicine

New York University School of Medicine

Writing a Cover Letter and CV for the Real World…

The purpose of these two documents are to get you in the door…

Real World = Your Next Job

What Needs to be in a Cover Letter It is not your CV in text form! It should not be a discussion about how

much you would love this job, etc. Really, the purpose of a cover letter is to

answer the question….

The Cover Letter… Tries to sell the potential employee that

you are the right person for their job. If they are looking for a person with a

certain skill set, this letter should tell them that you have the skills that they require.

One page, maximum. It’s OK to specify your skill set: eg Level

2 echocardiography, endoscopy skills, etc.

Do Your Homework!! You need to know what needs they are

looking to fill. What’s their problem? Don’t think that the group is looking for

another body, but a specific person with specific expertise.

You need to know who to address the letter to…

Never put down Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Office Manager…

Be specific; the cover letter is for that particular job (only).

Homework and Preparation is Essential before the Interview…You need to know… What they are looking for… What the group is like… How stable is the group… Where are the offices, and where do the

want to put you. Group History…. How old is the group…sometimes other

social, racial, religious affiliations,etc.

The Internet is Your Friend… Google to individual MDs… Google the office practice itself… Look at other internet sites- eg

Vitals.com How up to date is the staff listings?

Anyone “disappeared”?Anyone from your college, medical school,

or residency (for you to know, for them to find out…Mums the word).

What About the CV? There are two basic purposes for a

potential employer, after she/he looks at the cover letter to look at your CV…

1. Shortlisting the candidates - which have the requirements that are being sought, and which applicants should be removed from consideration.

2. Using the CV as a framework for discussions at the time of the job interview.

What Does This Mean In a Private Practice Job? Keep it Short: 1-2 Pages (Max!) Make Sure It Includes the Criteria that are

Sought. Don’t Wax Poetic About Outside Activities Don’t Include Potentially Irrelevant Material:

High School Awards and Activities are Not Appropriate.

College Awards Should Be Limited to Major Things (Rhodes Scholar, anyone?) – not Social Chair at the Fraternity.

Similarly with Medical School, unless it relates to the job.

So What Goes In It? Honors and Awards during Residency and

Fellowship Technical skills acquired during training At the bottom…interests (1-2 lines

maximum); If your interests are too extensive, it will not show you are “well rounded” but rather imply that you’re most interested in things outside of medicine (WRONG MESSAGE).

Format For Your CV…

First Block: Your DemographicsName, address, telephone, email addressOther potential additions:

○ Birthdate○ Marital Status; children○ Place of Birth (eg, New York, NY, not Babies

Hospital, fourth floor).○ Citizenship

CV Format… Block Two: Your Education

Generally does not include high school, except for a specific job, where you are trying to make a point (going back to your hometown). In that case, put it in just for those jobs.

Undergraduate College, with degree and year. Can included honors and major.

Medical School and other advanced degrees. Generally put in them in temporal order, with dates.

CV Format…

Block Three: Post MD TrainingAgain in order, with dates. Be prepared to

verbally answer questions regarding time gaps.

If this is not your first job since finishing training, you would then have a section with other (physician) job experiences…not your pre MD jobs like dishwasher, busboy, toll collector, analytical chemist, longshoreman, or chimney sweep…

CV: Block Four Honors and Awards

Probably not high school awards, eg National Merit Scholar (I see this all the time).

Early in career, OK to list college honors, eg scholarship awards, Phi Beta Kappa, etc.

Same with medical school honors.If you stay academic, some of this stuff should

disappear from your CV over time.Definitely YES to any honors or awards during

residency and fellowship training…including Chiefships.

CV: Block Five License and Registration Information

NY State License number….Other states listed if you have themCertifications:

○ Flex exams etc, if you did them○ Board Certifications, with dates.○ OK to put non ABIM certifications such as

echo boards, nuclear boards, CT boards○ OK to put training levels within your

fellowships, especially for private practice (Level II echo, etc)

Block Six: Previous Research Dr. Tom Jones, Department of Medicine,

Bay City Hospital, Associate Professor of Medicine, Dates of Research.Then with a little paragraph detailing what

you did.

Block Seven: Papers and Publications Abstract citations first, date order Papers next, date order

Block Eight: Presentations Abstract Presentations Medical Grand Rounds Presentations Not routine peer presentations; not morning

reports Outside Presentations, non drug company

If you were giving this talk, you could include it in your CV:

“How to Sell Yourself to Potential Employees” ACP Resident and Fellows Career Night, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, New York. October 14, 2008.

CV final steps…

Outside Interests Languages – beyond English

What About the Format?

Many options; the most important thing is that it be short and clean appearing.

If for an academic job at your current institution, ask a junior faculty member (less intimidating, but more importantly, less pages) for a copy of their CV for the “Bay City University” official formatting. Do NOT do this for every academic job!!

Interviewing 101… What I’m Looking for During An Interview Personal Appearance:

Dress: slightly overdressed OK, underdressed not acceptable.

Communications skills, degress of nervousness.

Confidence without arroganceIS THIS SOMEONE I WANT TO WORK

WITH FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS?Maybe more importantly…is this someone

my patients will be comfortable with?

Interviewing 101: Check the Cover Letter and CV Recheck to see if the qualifications are

correct. Does the person and the CV make

sense with each other? Find grounds for conversation. With any interview at any level, often the

ease and act of conversation is more important than the information discussed.

First InterviewThe Conversation In most interviews, at most levels, the

act of conversation is more important that the information discussed.

I need to know more about you as a person (not necessarily your interests or your research).

Don’t try to steer the conversation back to points on your CV-just let things flow.

After the Interview…

If you’re still interested, communicate back to the interviewer your interest. Usually not a phone conversation, unless that is what is requested. A very short written note is best, an email note is becoming more common.

If I’m interested, I’ll get back to you. Don’t keep calling… think of it like a second date.

What Not to Bring Up on First Interviews Anything to do with money: starting salaries,

time to partnership, partners’ salaries (actually the most important thing of these three, but typically not thought about or discussed, even later).

Anything to do with time off: number of weeks of vacation, conference time, weekend office hours, expected on call schedule…all too presumptuous unless the employer brings them up

Red Flag of Warning

Unless this is someone you already know, trying to wrap up a candidate on the first interview.If they tell you the salary, and start pushing

forward to finalize things.Again, like a first date…May be a marker of desperation, or previous

difficulties finding someone to take the job.

Other Points to Think About… They will probably ask for references: more

important to give them people who know you best rather than people with big titles.

You can’t really ask them for references, but as part of your homework, after you’ve started looking into a job, you need to start asking about the group or MDPeople at your program who know themPeople from your program who practice locally

Look At It Another Way… There are groups at your institution that look

great on paper, that would be good with the interviews, but you know their history and would not want to join them.Personality issuesWork stress or hours workedReputation in the hospitalHistory of firing members before partnershipYou don’t know these things about groups at other

hospitals.

Eventually…the Money Discussion The most important piece of information

is how much the partners make, since presumably you’re going for partner, and will be a partner for the vast majority of your career. Find out before signing

Time to partnership, starting salary,

buy in are actually less important, but most commonly quoted.

Starting Salary Not the Most Important??? Larger groups can offer more starting but

cannot offer a leadership position as early. Desperate groups may offer a higher

starting salary, if they cannot find anyone the previous year.

Whatever you start with, it will be much higher than during residency.

The majority of your career income will be as a partner….<3% will be your starting.

What’s the important number in a car lease?

It’s October and I Don’t Have a Job Yet…Am I in Trouble?? Definitely not. Job offers in July, August

and September are left over jobs from the previous year.

Groups have to do their finances, and judge their needs prior to interviewing.

Most good jobs are just starting to come out, and will be coming out for the next 6 months.

Job Location and Job Type…

You need to prioritize these two things. Frequently your ideal job and ideal

location are not the same. Which is your priority?

Expand your horizon, especially as the year goes on. Better to take you ideal job 2 hours drive from NYC than a mediocre job on the UES*

*UES = Upper East Side

JOB

Above all, keep your cool this year, not just during interviews!