New Grad Job Searching/Examples of Good Offers

[Bubo101]

Hi all, I am hoping to pick your brains for some information and resources.  My class is getting to the point where job searching is on the horizon.  I realize that some of this post will have crossover with the contracts/negotiation section of the forum but this is a bit broader topic and I wanted some more eyes on it. 

 

1.  What are the best resources to use for job searching in your opinion?

 

2.  I have read on this forum that many new grads take lower offers than they should which ends up hurting the growth of the profession overall and I don't want this to happen to my class.

 

What is in your mind an example of the "ideal" hiring package for a new grad in your specific field?  Assume no residency or fellowship and no extra experience beyond the standard rotation regiment.  I know this varies by location so listing your region may be useful as well.  Thank you!

[EMSGuy1982]

I think you may find what you are looking for at this link.

 

http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/66-resources-for-new-grads-seeking-their-first-pa-job/

 

Hope it helps!

[mandrew1]

The AAPA has great resources about salary's, negotiating, etc on their website. Don't sell yourself short! If you know the average staring salary for PAs in your state and in your field, you will have the facts to negotiate. You should also negotiate for your benefits as they can also change your take home pay for the better or worse. 

 

[Guest ERCat]

A word of advice - the new grad salary report that the AAPA puts out is a total crock. I was shocked to see that average new grad salaries are in the high 70s and low 80s... I did not find that to be the case at all for my class (we are in AZ). To my knowledge everyone in my class took jobs that were paying at least 85K a year with good benefits... As in malpractice paid, two weeks vacation, 401K offered, health insurance offered, and 1500-2000 CME money...seems to be the average benefits offered to my classmates. Some employers including mine reimbursed for licensing, DEA and boards costs. I would say a third of my class is getting paid around 85K, a third getting paid around 90-95K, and then another third of us making over 100K. I did have one potential urgent care job trying to justify offering me an initial salary of 70K/year for the first six months (so 35K for the six months), saying it was a "training salary," then 85K/year, citing the salary report. But I turned down the job because when I started exploring jobs and seeing what my classmates were being offered, I found that PAs in my state are not starting that low.

 

Some tips:

1) Don't take a "training salary." That's a red flag to me.

2) Always ask about the type of malpractice insurance offered. It shocked me how many of my classmates did not ask about this. It's crucial that you know - is it occurrence policy (the kind you want, meaning as long as you had the insurance when you committed the malpractice, you're covered even if you leave the company or if they switch insurance companies) or is it claims made (meaning you're only covered if the claim is made against you when you have that policy in effect... Meaning if you switch jobs and switch malpractice insurance and three years down the road someone comes after you for something in your precious job, you're NOT covered - scary!). Ask for occurrence and if you don't get it, ask if they offer tail coverage on their claims made insurance - which will cover you if you do leave or switch insurance companies. If you're gonna have to pay tail (and you WOULD want to pay tail if you had claims made only to cover you butt) on your own it can be thousands of dollars and you need to factor this in to your decision. This is dramatic but personally I would be very wary of taking a job that didn't offer occurrence coverage, or claims made with tail. I don't know about you but I don't want to have the burden of having to pay thousands of dollars for the tail insurance If I ever leave...