Job Searching in a Saturated or Difficult Job Market

The job market for associate optometrists is improving across the country.  However, it is still competitive and often challenging in many larger metro areas in the U.S.  There are not enough jobs available for the number job seekers in saturated areas such as Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. At ETS Vision, we speak with optometrists everyday who are having a very hard time finding opportunities.

 

Don’t Get in Your Own Way: The biggest disservice you can do yourself is to think you are the only qualified applicant for the job. In a saturated market you have to sell yourself much more than the practice has to sell itself to you. For example, I recently worked with a practice in San Diego, CA. I had 6 applicants within 2 hours. By the end of the first week, I had 30 to 35. Your resume, cover letter, attitude, and the things you say have to express what you bring to the table to benefit the practice. What skills and experience do you have that will benefit the practice? What sets you apart? Can you speak Spanish? Do you love working with kids? Can you do specialty contact lens fits? Can you bring new patients into the practice? Don’t move the conversation straight to how much they will pay you. You don’t even have the job offer yet, and this approach can cost you the job.

 

Expand Your Options: Most job seekers we speak with would much rather work for a private practice or small group practice. Corporate optometry is a last resort or often not something they even want to consider. However, large group and corporate optometry is a large part of the industry and continues to grow. These practices can offer you stable employment, great training, a guaranteed minimum salary, and benefits. If private and small group practices are not hiring in your area, don’t limit your options. 

 

Use an Independent Recruiter: A few optometry recruiters, like ETS Vision, have contacts with practices throughout the U.S. Most often we are working on openings that are not advertised in any other channels. Our clients entrust us to locate the right talent to grow their practices. We speak with job seekers in order to understand their goals and experience. We have the ability to market strong candidates to practices with whom we have built relationships with over the years. Sometimes it’s who you know, and recruiters are good to know. 

 

Volunteer: Many new graduates can benefit from this in difficult areas. Volunteering can help build or maintain skills. It helps you learn chairside communication and build patient rapport. It can even help you connect with other practitioners, and possibly lead to an employment opportunity. Look for volunteer opportunities in free clinics or giving your time by participating in free vision screenings that may be offered in your community. 

 

Shake Some Hands: Go to optometric society meetings. Get online and join discussion groups. Get on LinkedIn. Hand out business cards to every optometrist you meet. Drop in and say hello to offices and leave a resume/CV. You can’t be shy in a saturated market. Let people know who you are, and let them know you are looking for an opportunity. 

 

Multiple Part-Time Jobs: Most saturated markets have more part-time openings available than full-time. You should definitely consider trying to get 2 or 3 part-time jobs if you need a full-time income.

 

Relocate: It’s an extreme measure for many, but for some it can mean the difference in having a career or several short-term, part-time positions or nothing at all. Relocating expands your options exponentially. Just make sure you are not expanding your options of relocation to another heavily saturated area.

 

Optometrists - What To Know Before You Accept an Associate Position

Finding a new associate position can be a daunting process for both new and experienced optometrists.  While making a good impression on an interview is important, it is equally important to learn as much as possible about the practice. Here is a compilation of questions from job seekers who I have worked with over the years. I hope that this list will make the decision process less intimidating.

Relationship
-Employee or Independent Contractor?
-Employee at will?
-Is the doctor open to restrictive covenant in case of future ownership?
-Is the doctor open to a transition period, if needed? (After purchase)

 Type of Practice 
-What type of practice is it (full scope, pediatric, etc.)?
-Age of the practice?
-When/what do you refer out?
-How many treatment lanes?
-How many opticians?
-How many technicians?
-How much is the practice overhead?
-How long has each employee been there?
-What does the practice do to market itself?
-How many FT and PT staff?

Patients
-What is the patient pool like?
-Have the number of active patient records been reviewed?
-Is the practice growing or declining in number of patients seen, new patients attracted, and young patients?
-Average number of cancellations per week?
-Average number of patients seen by associate per day?
-How far ahead is the doctor book filled?
-How far ahead is the associate book filled?
-Discounts/Bartering/payment plans?
-PPO type of insurance? Insurances: accept all kinds or just selected ones?
-How much is the discounted price of the PPO compared to the fee schedule?
-Medicare or Medicaid acceptance?
-What percent is FFS, cash and discounted PPO?
-When was the last fee increase?
-Are the fees low, high or average for the immediate area?
-Do you offer patients credit?

Schedule 
-Days, hours, on call, etc.
-How many office hours and days per week is the office open?

Duties
-Job description (separate document) or general description

-Is the doctor responsible for pre-testing?
-What were the most of the cases being done by the associate?

Facilities
-Supplies, equipment, support, etc.?
-Is the practice EMR compliant? If so, what system is being used?
-What is the square footage of the office? Can it be expanded?
-Average age of equipment?
-Do you have a confirmation system for appointments?
-How do you deal with NO Show?

Term of contract
-How long?
-What is the required notice period should either party wish to terminate the relationship?

Compensation
-Is there a guaranteed salary, draw, daily rate or hourly rate?
-Is commission determined from collections or production?
-If collections, what is the collections rate in the practice?
-What percentage of production/collections is used to calculate income?
-Is there a chance to increase compensation in the future?
-Taxes withheld?
-How will the associate be paid? (Weekly/bi-weekly/monthly)
-How much on average was the last associate making?
-What was the average associate production per day?
-Can I get a fee schedule of the practice?

Benefits
-Medical Insurance: health and dental?
-Malpractice insurance?
-Disabilities insurance?
-Required CE courses? How much and for how many hours a year? Are they paid for/reimbursed? Is there a stipend?
-Retirement?
-Sick days…….. # allow per yr…..
-Personal days/vacations…..# per yr allow……
-Holidays?
-What benefits are given to the staff?

Expenses
-Define, list, when paid, etc…..
-Will the practice support the acquisition loan (in case of future ownership), pay the overhead expenses and afford a reasonable income?

Other Questions and Notes
-What is your practice Philosophy and Goals? For the Practice and with new patients?
-Have you had associate before? How many? How long did they stay? What was the reason for the associate resignation?
-How do you advertise?
-Who determines how long I have to spend with new patients/initial exam and record?
-Is there a particular doctor in the area who is your main competitor?
-Who sees the patient first (technician or optometrist)?
-Why was the partnership offer turned down by an associate (if applicable)?
-Will I be able to visit the office during regular working hours?

Partnership/Buy-in/Sale
-Discussion/Formula/Price
-What will be the time frame for an associate position before we can talk about partnership/buy-in/buy-out?
-Is there an option for future ownership? Are you considering a move out of state?

Restrictive Covenant
-Define

Chante Smith is the Western U.S. Account Executive and Recruiter for ETS Vision. She can be reached at csmith@etsvision.com or 540-491-9105. ETS Vision is a Vision Recruiting firm specializing in finding and placing Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, and Vision Staff throughout the United States. www.etsvision.com

Gaining a Competitive Advantage as an Employer of Choice

As the economy rebounds and more employers adapt to filling executive and management positions in the candidate-driven market, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to distinguish themselves as employers of choice, to attract top candidates. The most recent Gallup annual Work and Education poll revealed that only 47 percent of American workers are completely satisfied with their jobs, indicating employers are better positioned than ever to attract candidates who are ready to move out of current roles. So then how does a company become known as an employer of choice that attracts star talent and makes employees never want to leave?

"In today's job market, aggressive salary and benefits packages that will potentially beat out counteroffers are not enough to lure top performers to new companies," says Rob Romaine, president of MRINetwork. "Employers have to develop unique ways to attract candidates into their companies and away from competitors."

To accomplish this, employers have to connect with their employees, find out what is most important to them and then provide programs and services that will be of value to the entire staff. This entails providing career advancement opportunities, ongoing training and continuing education programs, atypical benefits packages and employee perks that will make any employee think twice about leaving. Some companies have gone to great lengths to achieve this, providing unlimited sick and paid time off, flexible work schedules, game rooms and employee appreciation days where catered lunches, massage services and field days are brought in-house for staff enjoyment.

SAS Institute, a North Carolina software company, became the employer of choice in its industry by providing its employees with workplace amenities like an on-campus gym, no limit on sick days, company gates that don't open until 7 a.m. and close promptly at 6 p.m., and maybe most importantly – free M&Ms. These perks resulted in a turnover rate 16 percent less than competitors.

So what strategies can companies use to establish themselves as employers of choice? "It's important for companies to realize they can't become an employer of choice overnight," says Romaine. "It takes a collaborative effort from multiple teams within the organization, focused on developing and implementing strategies that attract star candidates and retain key employees. Each department has to look at what they can do in their respective areas to contribute to this process."

The following are steps companies can take to become an employer of choice:

1. Know the company culture and the type of employees the company hopes to attract.
    
2. Develop a sound employer branding strategy that is focused on distributing consistent messaging about the company culture and mission to clients, investors, employees and candidates.
    
3. Conduct periodic employee surveys to determine employee satisfaction with the company. This provides staff an opportunity to express their feelings on everything from benefits and career opportunities to a variety of company-wide practices, while identifying areas that can be improved.
    
4. Review the feedback from employee surveys and develop strategies to improve areas of concern.
    
5. Look for unique ways to create the "ultimate employee experience", reasons that make employees never want to leave, including anything from on-site cafeterias, gyms or daycare to parking and transit privileges.
    
6. Submit a company nomination for an Employer of Choice or Best Places to Work award in your industry. These awards invoke employee pride and bring increased credibility to the company brand.

While hiring managers may not always have the authority to implement the above strategies, there are things they can do to help retain employees. They can create career tracks for each position, so employees have a clear path for advancement in the company. They can also provide ongoing training, development and mentoring opportunities. Managers should additionally create an environment where creativity and outside the box thinking is encouraged. Finally, managers should reward employees for a job well done via company announcements and awards, or performance-based bonuses, promotions and raises.

Retention of happy, top performers is the most critical strategy for companies to become employers of choice. This is where the status of being a choice employer begins – promotion of the company's values through the ambassadorship of employees.

"What makes a company a great place to work for some people will not be great for others," advises Romaine. However, a company that is an employer of choice will recognize this in the hiring process and give as much consideration to the candidate's fit with the organization as it does to experience, qualifications and talent. They will additionally recognize the value in providing a collaborative, company-wide approach to not only attracting, but also retaining top performers that will move the company forward."