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"Working" Interview- What would you do?


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So, I have been asked to take a week of vacation from my current job in order to have a one week "working" interview with the dermatologist that is considering hiring me.

 

The following was the response given to me when I asked about compensation for that week..."I will be testing your acumen for derm in the form of a working interview so you wont be working as an employee".

 

I can understand her position as she has apparently been burned in the past by PAs who did not have a good grasp of derm. (One supposedly missed an obvious melanoma) So, she wants to make sure I have a good basic working knowledge of derm before investing in me.

 

That said, I don't want to be taken advantage of either. I just don't know if I should argue for some sort of compensation or just suck it up and do the one week interview. I really want to work in Derm and as we all know it's extremely hard to find a derm job without significant experience. This will also be me interviewing the doc to make sure we mesh well, etc...

 

What would you do?

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She would pay for my travel and expenses involved with the position. the loss of my pay is my investment if i am positive i am up for the move and if the position is offered at the end of the "interview" I would expect and require an offer at the end of the week. this would be a minimum.

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^^^ What He said^^^

 

5 days of your "Vacation" will be spent working for free, jumping through hoops in a "dog and pony show"...

 

This is 5 days that you are supposed to be relaxing... and getting paid to do nothing.

 

She needs to pay for that along with all expenses for the "audition."

 

Be careful about setting a precendence... where WE will be required to pay to "audition" for free ... for jobs. It is my understanding that even Hollyweird pays the expenses of those "auditioning" for a role.

 

YMMV

 

Contrarian

 

btw... PHYSICIANS miss melanomas all the time... but are probably NEVER asked to work for free...

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So, I have been asked to take a week of vacation from my current job in order to have a one week "working" interview with the dermatologist that is considering hiring me.

 

The following was the response given to me when I asked about compensation for that week..."I will be testing your acumen for derm in the form of a working interview so you wont be working as an employee".

 

I can understand her position as she has apparently been burned in the past by PAs who did not have a good grasp of derm. (One supposedly missed an obvious melanoma) So, she wants to make sure I have a good basic working knowledge of derm before investing in me.

 

That said, I don't want to be taken advantage of either. I just don't know if I should argue for some sort of compensation or just suck it up and do the one week interview. I really want to work in Derm and as we all know it's extremely hard to find a derm job without significant experience. This will also be me interviewing the doc to make sure we mesh well, etc...

 

What would you do?

 

 

 

YIKES RUN AWAY please

 

 

Hand her a PA info booklet from AAPA - tell her tht if she wants a full fledged dermatologist she needs to go hire another doc (at the doct price). If she wants the benefits of a PA she needs to understand what a PA is....

 

And PLEASE don't work for free for a week - that just kills it for everyone else trying to get a job...... Bare minimum is $40/hr for per diem - and this is only if you are really really serious about doing it - nothing less......

 

If she wants you to "observe" for an hour or two just to see you in the office setting - fine... but not for a week...... How would she handle malpractice insurance? Sure she is covered but you would be working with out any coverage.... not pretty...

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Guest Swennerb

I have been on several derm interviews, I have never heard of something like this. NO i would not take a week of vacation off of my current job to go and shadow/work. That is not reasonable. It would be reasonable if she asked for you to come for a day, but a week?!!! That is so absurd! Never heard of it. I agree its hard to get into derm, but asking you to come for a week with out pay, and put your current job at risk - that is a red flag. If she is that worried about hiring a PA, she either has no idea what shes doing, her practice is unstable, or she doesnt know what a PA is and does not respect the profession. An intelligient doctor with great interpersonal skills who is offering a great job and knows what she is doing- should not put you through that.

 

anyways, so what happened here?!

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Is probably too late to influence your decision, but, to throw an OCD twist into your thinking..

 

If you are going to be actually seeing patients, You ARE going to register with the state board of medicine Aren't you? Get registered as a PA? Get malpractice insurance?

 

There is a big difference between interviewing and say, seeing a patient with the doc as a student ( though even that has HIPPA problems), than seeing multiple patients and actually performing as a PA. I think the state would not allow that.

 

In my state(s), you would have to file an intent to practice form, and get approval from the BME before you even stepped foot into the patients room as a PA.

 

Just food for thought.

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Wow. I've worked in derm for 10 years and have never heard of anything like this. I can understand shadowing a day or two while she pimps you but a week? I would be very hesitant. And I know she is too which is why she is going overboard but if this is how she is *starting out* with you, I can imagine it will only get worse. She will not be an easy one to work for.

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Agree with all posts. For my derm job I went in for 3 hours before being offered the job; we did this to see if it was a good fit for both myself and the practice. Then I got paid to train and be pimped, and I was with the doc the whole time. I think a week is too long to work for free. What else will your potential SP ask you to do for free? I'm sure by now you have either done it or decided against it... what finally happened?

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