You’ve heard all the things you should do during your practice search – prepare for the interview, send a thank you note, make eye-to-eye contact. However there is one very important thing to do during your practice search that ultimately will affect getting a job as well as ease the job start process.
Obtain a state license! If you don’t know what state you’re most interested in, then this probably won’t work. But, if you have a few states in mind to include tough states to get a license in like CA, TX, and NJ, it is imperative that you apply for your license at least 6 months before you start work. Actually, the earlier the better.
Without a state license, you may be overlooked for someone else who’s interviewing who already has one. And, you can’t start work until you have a license because it is necessary for the payor paperwork to be submitted. The practice/hospital won’t want you to start until they have received confirmation from their payors that their paperwork has been completed and you’re on the payor panels.