Career Planning
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Defining the Ideal Position
Assess Your Personal Needs
There are several considerations when it comes to assessing your personal needs, priorities, and values in terms of where to start your post-fellowship job search.
Often times, personal preferences serve as the starting point for which practice opportunities to focus on for your search.
There are several considerations when it comes to personal needs, priorities, and values in terms of where to start your post-fellowship job search. Often times, personal preferences serve as the starting point for which practice opportunities to focus on for your search.
You’ve already made many sacrifices on behalf of your training to this point. It is absolutely ok to also prioritize spouse and family considerations now as these are an important aspect of planning your ideal practice location.
For many, this may be the most important factor impacting their career choices.
As you review the topics and questions outlined below, let them serve as a guide for identifying which personal values, needs, and priorities will frame your job search.
Geographic Location
Knowing where you want to live will impact your search substantially. Proximity to family, access to recreation, and local weather are just a few of the factors that can influence decisions about location.
- Is there a specific city you have already decided on?
- Do you prefer a particular region of the country?
- Do you want to live in a small town or large city?
- Do you enjoy the hustle and bustle of an urban environment?
- Does living in a suburban area sound attractive to you?
- Is the type of climate an important factor for where you decide to live?
- Do you want to be near family, friends, or relatives?
- Are your favorite recreational pursuits available in the areas you are considering?
- Is access to major airports or mass transit important?
Affordability
Economic factors may be an important consideration when deciding where to live or practice and could be useful to rule certain cities or geographic locations in or out.
Contrary to some other careers and industries, high cost-of-living locations don’t always provide commensurately higher salaries in neonatology.
For some, however, the amenities of these locations may offset the differences in compensation.
- Is cost-of-living an important factor for you?
- Do you have student loans or other debt that you need to repay?
- Will local and state taxes influence your choice of location?
- Are you interested in finding a federal or state-funded loan repayment program?
- Do you want more “house” for your money?
- Are there things you are willing to do without to make a high cost-of-living location feasible?
- Would you work in a hard-to-recruit-to location, knowing that it may significantly increase your compensation?
Family Needs
If you have a family, there may be certain needs and requirements to consider to ensure the city and location will also be a good fit for your spouse and children.
Don’t ever underestimate the importance of your family’s satisfaction with where you live.
No matter how good the practice, if your family doesn’t love the place you call home, you won’t be able to succeed long-term.
- Is finding a good school an important factor?
- Do you need to consider your spouse’s employment opportunities?
- Is the availability of certain healthcare services a priority?
- Do you have specific childcare needs?
- Do you need to be in close proximity to your family? Friends?
Lifestyle and Recreation
To be successful and avoid burnout, you should always consider the amenities and recreational opportunities available in the locations you are assessing.
Quality of life should be a priority if we are going to be our best for our patients. While you will likely continue to put in more hours than the usual 40 hour work week, many practices are recognizing that longevity of practice partners is far greater when there is reasonable work-life balance. You want to be sure that it is easy to enjoy the non-work things that you love when you do get that precious time off.
- Is having a wide variety of restaurants or certain cuisines important to you?
- What types of local entertainment and community events do you enjoy?
- Do you enjoy travel? Is close proximity to a well-connected airport important?
- Is air quality or green living a priority?
- Are crime rates an important consideration for you?
- Do you want access to parks and open green space?
- Do you want to be in close proximity to beaches? Mountains?
- What kind of recreational activities do you want close by?
- Does commute time matter to you?
- Do you want access to public transportation or mass transit options?
Personal Values
A number of personal values may influence your search. Finding a location and practice that aligns well with your core values can markedly improve career satisfaction.
- Is cultural diversity of patients, practice partners, and community, an important factor for you?
- Is the local or state political climate important to you?
- Are you tolerant of colleagues with markedly different views than yours, or do you prefer to practice with partners who have similar perspectives?
- Are there certain spiritual benefits you need to look for?
- Are you searching for particular lifestyle tolerances that may be more available in a certain area?
- Is there a particular cultural “feel” in a community that you are looking for?
Additional Resources
Provides a light worksheet to gather information on needs from family members, such a job needs from your spouse, interests or wishes from your children, and any school considerations you might to plan for in your search.
