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Overseas doctors have many hoops to jump through before they can take up a post in Britain, but little is done to help them sell themselves. Sonia Hutton-Taylor helps fill this gap and suggests some ways forward
There are three major phases in obtaining a UK job for doctors who originally trained and worked overseas.
Proving you are eligible to work as a doctor in Britain (including
language proficiency and medical knowledge via the Professional
and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) and GMC registration).
Although doctors must complete this process to find a job,
this phase on its own may not be enough
Induction into the UK way of doing things！generally via
courses run by a postgraduate deanery, which cover a wide
range of issues like medicolegal implications of working
in Britain, telling bad news to patients, how the NHS
and training programmes are structured, etc
Learning how to sell yourself as a job candidate (presentation
of your curriculum vitae, interview technique, etc), otherwise
called self marketing.
This article is concerned with last section, as many articles have
covered the first two processes but few have considered the last.
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It is often assumed that a brief lecture on CV writing and a talk about interviews will suffice. For a few this is enough to procure a first post in the NHS, but for many overseas doctors the self marketing phase remains the biggest hurdle they face.
They have to endure an endless round of job applications and interviews often with little or no feedback. The number of attempts may run into hundreds of applications and dozens of interviews, despite their having completed the first two phases. It is misleading for overseas doctors to be admitted into study and induction programmes followed by supernumerary placements. They understandably expect a job at the end of this, whereas this is not the reality.
Learning how to market yourself as an overseas doctor is time consuming and involves addressing three key areas！CV presentation, interview performance, and networking. To be effective, all three need two things.
Firstly, you should have a good knowledge of the NHS system, which is generally covered well in the induction programmes. Regular reading of medical press publications such as Hospital Doctor and BMA News Review can help to raise awareness of current issues and trends. However, not all overseas doctors can gain access to a postgraduate centre library, and subscribing to these publications is quite expensive, especially for doctors not yet working.
Secondly, and perhaps most challenging, is the need to demonstrate good self knowledge combined with an ability to promote skills and experience without coming across as over confident. This is hard to do when there are so many cultural differences in written, verbal, and non-verbal communication. Yet, communicating with patients is a key part of being a doctor so if a selection panel perceives communication as a problem, this is obviously not going to help.
Specific problems
Many doctors who trained and worked outside Britain for the first part of their career come from medical systems very different to the NHS. For example, in some countries
Jobs may be "allocated" rather than appointments being made by
"competitive interview," so that the implications of the latter
process are not understood
Communication style in the workplace is different！more
abrupt or direct in some countries, but more indirect in
others
Terminology, qualifications, and roles are not the same
The culture strongly influences relationships or
behaviour.
These factors mean that overseas doctors are often at a disadvantage in the shortlisting and interview procedures. More specifically, the three marketing areas (CV presentation, interview performance, and networking), can be adversely affected.
CV presentation
It is not enough to have the traditional
structure and subheadings of the CV in place1
！what is written within them is important too.2
Learning how to list and state your experiences and back this up with
evidence is a vital skill for preparing your CV, interviewing well,
and networking. Experiences and skills listed in your CV may seem
very different from what required in the NHS, but these can be
rephrased to sound more in keeping with what is expected without
bending the truth.
Interview performance
Certain questions cause particular
problems for overseas doctors.3
For example, when asked about their management experience some
may say, somewhat disdainfully, that doctors do not undertake
management or administrative work. This is the wrong answer for
Britain, but in their country of origin this type of work may never
be done by doctors. Another question that regularly catches them out
is, "What is your greatest weakness?" This is guaranteed to cause
problems for almost anyone who has not given it serious thought,
whatever their background. Overseas doctors are often desperate to
make a good impression and so often say that they do not have
weaknesses. This is not likely to impress the selection panel.
Networking
Networking is a process of contacting or
meeting key senior staff or members of your peer group who may be
able to give some careers information, job hunting advice, or even
influence a shortlisting procedure if they are sufficiently
impressed by you. Networking techniques include
Going to postgraduate meetings in your desired specialty (but
attending any is better than none, as this lets you know what
is current in other specialties)
Attending conferences (but this is often expensive)
Locating and contacting someone in Britain who has a
similar specialist interest
Asking professional contacts for the names of two people
they would recommend you getting in touch with and
asking if it would be alright to mention their
name.
An important aspect of networking is grasping the relative competitiveness of different specialties and locations. This is often already known by those who have been through UK medical school, so learning how to network may help you develop realistic career expectations. If you discover that extreme competitiveness for certain posts is contributing to your lack of progress, it may be worth a change in tactic in order to secure that first crucial post.
So what
can be done to address the needs of overseas doctors who have passed
all the theory stages of eligibility to work in Britain but who are
stumbling at the selection fence? Solutions might include
Providing access to postgraduate centres so that overseas doctors
can continue to study after the PLAB test, read current medical
publications, and find out about courses or training events.
Those registered as a doctor in Britain should be able to apply
for access to their local postgraduate centre, and these centres
should receive some reimbursement as an incentive to promote
themselves to overseas doctors
Every medical conference run in Britain could have a
defined number of places available for overseas doctors
who are not working but who are classified as "job
ready"
Starting an intensive "How to market yourself" section to
the induction programmes. This early start is necessary
as it can take some doctors over a year of continuing
practice, feedback, and guidance to improve their
interview technique
Running weekly or monthly job clubs at deaneries. This would
help to guide and motivate doctors to try different approaches
and prevent the demoralising experience of regular rejections.
Given that there are empty posts around Britain and some high calibre overseas doctors wanting to fill them, initiatives that help overseas doctors to compete more fairly for jobs by sharpening their selling skills are worth exploring.
Sonia Hutton-Taylor, founder of Medical Forum Career Management http://www.medicalforum.com/
Sonia will be running a workshop, "How to set up an effective interview training programme for refugee doctors," at BMA House on 28 March 2002, cost £140 (for further information contact info{at}medicalforum.com ).
Competing interest: Medical Forum is an
independent career support facility for doctors and S H-T receives
income from consulting work and speaking engagements related to
medical human resources.
References
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