Hiring an Associate Optometrist – Experience vs. Potential

When we start working with a practice, we collect a lot of information about the owner, practice, and the position. Some details are quantitative, but many crucial points are open for interpretation. Most practice owners tell us they need an experienced optometrist for their position. In most cases, that is the best option. In fact, most of the doctors we place have over one year of experience in practice or residency. But what are the tradeoffs to experience? When should an office consider hiring a doctor a year or two out of school rather than five to seven years out?

Experience

Pros-

• Production: Optometry School is just the beginning. It takes several years, lots of CE and thousands of chair side hours for most optometrists to hit their stride. An experienced optometrist should be better able to handle a full schedule.
• Known quantity: A seasoned optometrist brings credentials, a work history, and track record of past successes that will allow a new employer to project reasonably accurate results
• Less Babysitting: With experience comes independence and the ability to handle

Potential

Pros-

• Malleable: While an experienced optometrist will come to your practice with his or her own idea on how an office should operate or with a well-defined clinical philosophy, a less-experienced optometrist will be open-minded and receptive to guidance.
• Less up front needs: This is true of patient load as well as guaranteed income. While many recent graduates have huge student loan debts to consider, they typically have less expense in the rest of their lives. They also come to your practice without the burden of trying to reach previous income levels. They typically are better able to handle a growing practice than an optometrist who needs to maintain a higher standard of living
• Superstars are still available: Most practices would love to hire an optometrist who is motivated, great with patients, can keep procedures in house and who will be a boom to the practice for years to come. Optometrists like that are rarely available long. These are the optometrists who are partners or practice owners within a few years of practice.

ETS Vision is a Vision Recruiting firm specializing in finding and placing Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, and Vision Staff throughout the United States. www.etsvision.com

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.