PA Student needing advice from current California PA's

[rgrandquist]

Hey everyone,

I am PA student who is graduating in May from a university in TN. I am a home grown Californian. Raised in the Bay Area and a graduate from Cal Poly SLO. I really would like as much feedback as possible so if you have anything to add please do so.

 

After reading some posts I realize that there are a lot of new grads wanting to work in CA (especially the bay). My heart, as well as my wife's, is back in California where both our families live in Mountain View and Cupertino. Up until now it was a no brainer as to what our plans were. After school I was going to study, take the PANCE and move home to start job searching. Over Dec. when I was home for Christmas I ran into multiple people telling me how hard it was for PA's to get jobs. This was again echoed in some of the posts I have read. Let me be clear in saying that while I would love to work in my college town of San Luis Obispo or the Bay, I am totally willing to work in the valley in order to be within driving distance from my family.

 

Like I was saying this decision was easy since every rotation when a preceptor would voice the desire to hire me I would immediately say that my plan was to move home. My current preceptor ignored my usual pitch and officially offered me a job working in-patient with a salary of 90K with benefits and bonuses. He is a stand up physician who would be a great guy to work for.

 

My question for all of you that have been in my situation, or PA's living in California, what are the odds of me finding something? I can stand job searching for 5-8 months. Me and my wife have enough family support and money saved up where we would be able to survive for that amount of time but is the job market really that tough for new grads where staying and getting experience would be the absolute best answer? As mentioned earlier your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[mdance]

I'm in my first year as a PA in California and I would say that there are tons of jobs. It's all about signing up for the job sites:

 

indeed.com

pajobsite.com

linkedin.com

simplyhired.com

CAPA and AAPA websites as well. I even had classmates find jobs via craigslist.

 

I'd also recommend networking as much as possible. Even though you're out of state, get the word out that you're looking for jobs as a PA in CA. There's always somebody who knows somebody else that needs a PA.

I get emails daily about possible job opportunities (through the job websites I signed up with) and messages from job recruiters on linkedin all the time. While I believe there are plenty of jobs, I do think it is hard to get an AWESOME job. By that I mean great salary, benefits, supervising physician and staff. You will come across doctors that try to make very low offers, etc. However, if it is your dream to be back in CA and near your family, I'd say go for it!

 

 

[lov2xlr8]

Can't argue with someone living there, but have heard it is tough to find a job in the big areas (SD, LA, SF) without some experience. A PA I work with on the East Coast just moved to SD, was a hospitlaist PA here for 5 years and even had some trouble finding work. Finally landed a pretty sweet IR job after 3 months, but was tough and not her ideal job. I've heard if you're willing to travel outside of the big cities to more rural areas, it's easier. Good luck.

[Joelseff]

Im on those websites and get emails from them daily....having said that, it appears to be the same jobs so I would not call it "a ton" of jobs. Mostly ortho and pain. Barely any FM/IM/PC jobs. There are some aesthetics/medspa jobs too.

 

I practice in the bay area so maybe down south has more...

 

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