How to Decide on a PA Job

You finished didactic and clinical year, graduated from PA school, and passed the PANCE! Now what? If you already have a job lined up, congratulations! But if not, you've come to the right place. I believe that every phase of this PA journey can be challenging in its own way and job search is not for the faint of heart. Now that I have secured my first position as a PA, I feel ready to share some of the things I've learned on the way.

Start your job search as early as you can
Rotations are the perfect time to keep an eye open for a job! If you like a particular rotation, tell your preceptor and ask if there are any open positions now or if there will be any in the future. It is perfectly okay to tell your preceptors what specialty you are interested in even if it is not the rotation you're currently on. They will appreciate your honesty and may even help you with your job search! You can also look on the internet and apply to jobs even before you graduate (more on this in my previous post). You do not have to have a license before applying for a job and can apply to any state you want to practice in!

Know what is important to you
There are multiple factors that go into accepting a position. My points of focus were: speciality, location, staff and supervising physician, salary and benefits. I was willing to be flexible on the location, speciality, and even the salary but the one thing I refused to settle on was the staff/work environment and especially my supervising physician. As a new graduate (and even in the future as a seasoned PA), it is vital for me to have a good, supportive mentor as my supervising physician. No matter how much we learn on rotations, there is definitely a learning curve during your first job and your physician needs to be willing to teach and have patience with you. It is also equally important for me to work in a positive environment where people are kind and get along with each other. I've rotated through clinics where the environment is toxic and it can be quite draining honestly. If I'm going to spend hours of my life working, I want it to be in a healthy working environment.

I really wanted move back to Chattanooga and establish my roots there. I loved living there during my undergraduate years and have been aching to get back ever since. It's also the perfect driving distance from my family so I can go home and visit them or have them over without having to drive all day or getting on a plane.

Emergency medicine was by far my favorite rotation as a student. I loved the variety of patients and cases I got to see, never knowing what was going to walk in through those doors. I loved the procedures, the fast pace, getting to read imaging on a daily basis, and mostly I enjoyed the people I worked with and learned from. I like that I was challenged to get out of my comfort zone and that no two shifts were the same. It is the right fit for me!

Hands on patient care
For me, I really need to do something with my hands ever so often while I'm at work. I love doing procedures and ideally wanted a job where I'd be performing procedures either several times a day or at least several a week. The ER is the go-to place for procedures be it throwing sutures in lacerations, I&Ds, reducing fractures or dislocated joints, etc. It really gives me life on the crazy, busy/hard days and keeps me going.

Continuity of care
While I am excited to work in the ER, I know that I may never see my patients again. I really enjoyed continuity of care on my primary care and pediatrics rotation, getting to see the same patients several times and getting to know them. This is something that I had to make a compromise on because it's just not possible in an ER. If this is something that's important to you, keep it in mind as you apply to jobs.

Know your worth
As a new graduate, it's hard to figure out what's a good salary range for a certain speciality in a certain area. You can always refer to the AAPA's salary report which is free if you're a member. I also asked around to people in my class who got jobs in the ER (even though they're in completely different states) and my professor at my program who was once an ER PA, to get an idea of what the starting range is for new graduates. I say know your worth because there will be places that will try to lowball you and point to your "lack of experience" as a reason for the lower salary. Thankfully I did not have to deal with this but the reason I mention it is because just one new PA accepting a job with a lower salary then appropriate affects a lot of other PAs. If it becomes common practice for new graduates to "accept" a certain range of salary, that will become the new status quo. But at the same time, I do realize that we are not going to be compensated the same as someone who has been working in the field for several years or even decades.

Bottom line: do not be afraid to negotiate your salary even as a new graduate. Chances are that it might not go anywhere but there is no harm in trying (as long as you're not being aggressive or impolite about it). No, I did not go into medicine for the money or the benefits but bills and student loan payments are a real thing and so is our value as a PA. I personally don't believe in accepting a lower paying job just to get a job because that means you're just settling, which brings me to my next point.

Are you truly happy with the offer or are you settling?
During my job search/interview season, I had an interview that went well and I was offered a second interview. Even though they were verbally very enthusiastic to bring me back and talk to them, after thinking and praying about it, I had to turn the offer down because it would never have been the right fit for me. I was so close to an offer and walking away from a potential poison I could start working at was very difficult. But I had to ask myself: is this really what you want to do? Or are you settling? 

Yes, it's tough to get a job as a new PA (and even that may be an understatement); yes, it's important to get your foot in the door and get some experience, but do you have to accept your first offer if you're not 100% sure about it? My answer is no. Better opportunities will come along. Unless you truly are in a fix and need a job ASAP, I recommend being patient and giving yourself a few months to explore your options. This is just my personal opinion and something that has worked for me. Because I waited for the right one to come along, I know that I can see myself working at my job for more than just a year. I didn't have to take it "just to get the experience" and secretly look for another job in a year. Unless life changes and requires me to be elsewhere, I can see myself working there for long term.

Keep in mind that there will be things that you will have to compromise on. It's nearly impossible to have every one of our requirements met but that's when you have to decide what is important to you. I hope this has been helpful. I plan on sharing a few more job search related posts in the near future, especially one about interviews, so stay on the lookout for those!

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