“There’s no masking or disguising who you work for,” Dunagan said. “What’s most important is putting down in the most powerful way possible your achievements and your skills, using words that are as powerful as possible.”
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October 2012Prospective employers might want to know what the otolaryngologist has learned from his or her experience of working for a practice that doesn’t have a good reputation, Dr. Bell said. “It doesn’t necessarily rule them out,” she said. “The question is: Do they have insight into what are the challenges in the practice?”
If a recruiter or employer directly asks an applicant why they’re working in a certain practice, it’s helpful for the applicant to have an explanation that promotes her skills and positive qualities, Dr. Thorsheim said. For example, a physician can make the case that it’s an underserved area where there’s a need for talented people who aren’t intimidated by challenges, he said.
Applicants should avoid speaking negatively of their current employer, Dunagan cautioned. “That’s a very bad thing to do, even if everybody else thinks the employer is terrible,” she said. “Throwing your employer under the bus does not show a very good trait.”—LR