The Right Paperwork for the Right Audiences.

Physicians can be communications-challenged, particularly when the written word is involved. The illegibility of physicians' handwriting is legendary. The potential for danger is certainly there in creating professional "paperwork" that's intended to display your qualifications and sell your candidacy for a new position. When physician executives write about their professional accomplishments (in the form of a resume or curriculum vitae [CVI]) it's important to exercise considerable discretion, care, and judgment--just as when preparing a prescription or compiling a medical record.

Paperwork is intensely personal. It must be a true reflection of you, your achievements and goals. Others read it to learn more about you. Those you fail to convince, you're likely to lose--along with your chance to meet and charm them in a personal interview. The consequences of less than thorough paperwork preparation can have a major negative impact on any executive's career hopes. The reverse is also true; an individual's thoughtfully prepared written expression can result in him or her being offered terrific opportunities for career growth. The paperwork is a self-constructed gateway through which you can properly approach hiring organizations--and how it reads is totally under your control.

Meeting different needs

Thinking in provider terms, your career paperwork will have at least two key audiences--management and the medical staff--within the hospitals or health care systems to which you apply. The needs of each audience have areas of overlap but there are enough differences to make it advisable to prepare both a resume and a CV.

The CV--a fact-filled document.

Your fellow physicians in an organization, including those in practice and those within administrative ranks, will naturally be interested to see where and with whom you have worked and studied. Your CV, with its detailed accounting of your academic attainments, honors and awards, research and teaching engagements, publications and other scholarly works, will therefore be of more interest to physicians than your resume. Physicians are accustomed to reviewing CVs as the basis for legitimacy and credibility. Thus, the CV is a key communications tool aimed primarily at other physicians.

The CV is a factual document with a long tradition; writing it means following a formula of rules and customs. Any number of reference books can assist you in preparing your CV. And you can go as long as you like, though it's always wise to be succinct. Just be sure that your CV is impeccable--no typos or spelling errors and, obviously, no misstatements of facts.

The resume--a showcase for achievement and talent. The function of a professional resume is to present your genuine achievements and display your leadership abilities to an audience of senior executives (and perhaps board members, in some situations). Its purpose is to be compelling, to highlight your skills and experience in such a way that the management team will want to invite you to meet with them for one or more interviews.

Your resume should focus on contributions and legacies, as well as each of your titles, and less on the formal responsibilities of each position you've held. Potential employers are largely interested in your capacity to achieve and accomplish goals in their complex health care organizations. Your resume should demonstrate how you are able to make great things happen.

Getting in the door

But paperwork only gets you in the door. I see physician executive paperwork every day. I am not a cynic, but when I see paperwork that looks particularly impressive I can find myself not wanting to get my hopes up too high. I have enough experience to know that seeing wonderful paperwork does not guarantee that the individual represented will be equally impressive.

On paper, an executive can seem to be a fabulous catch, with degrees from the best schools and a succession of increasingly responsible jobs in prestigious health care organizations throughout the country. That's why a personal interview is so important, to ensure that an individual's demeanor and presence accord with the paperwork. How to explain the disparity between an executive's profile on paper and his or her in-person impression? It comes down to separating substance from reputation--as Gertrude Stein once said about a city she disliked: "There is no there there."

A whole industry is devoted to the development of impressive paperwork, so I won't trod on that turf--except to add a few cautions that are based on my own years of experience in executive search.

Be succinct. Brevity is appreciated. Our collective attention span is limited, and no one will take the time to read pages and pages of material about you. You'll learn a lot about yourself in the process of editing down your strengths and successes to a document that's three pages or less. Remember, you can recount the long version in your second interview. Less is more.

Don't overstate. Not even a little. One of the most common complaints by hiring organizations is that an individual in person was not as impressive or appealing as the one they thought they'd be meeting, based on a superbly crafted resume The last thing you want is to have the interviewer feel let down when you meet. It's always better to exceed expectations than to come in under them. Control and discipline are required to keep your resume "real." If friends read a draft and indicate surprise at the content, take it back to the drawing board and rewrite until it truly represents you.

Use both documents. Each plays a role; each communicates important information about you to two different groups. It may be more time-consuming to prepare and write both a resume and a CV, but you can look on the extra effort as an opportunity to double their exposure to your work.

Do your homework. One size does not fit all. It makes sense to tailor a resume for a specific job--if you have the time to do it well and maintain quality control. The resumes for a position as Vice President of Medical Affairs and for a Group Practice Administrator should obviously be different to reflect the skills demanded for each role. To do that well, you'll have to do your homework. Get a current job description. Research the organization's issues. Know what they need--and showcase yourself appropriately if you're the solution to their problems.

Be ready for the next steps. Once you've attracted the interest of an organization or a search consultant, you'll be contacted for personal follow-up. And this is where you want to be certain your presentation has the same high professionalism as your paperwork. The next step is an in-person interview--and this is when you should put new energy into preparation. Look at your paperwork with fresh eyes and be ready to talk about your accomplishments in detail. Think about what you can say or show that will make the organization feel that you're just the person for this new role. You can't do this preparation from a distance; you have to get to know them on a personal basis, and risk that you might ultimately be rejected.

Assume good will

While this is often a disconcerting time, be reassured--we are sincerely and with good will looking for talent. The hiring organizations or search consultants are not always looking for flaws, or wanting to catch you out in some kind of "gotcha!" moment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Potential employers want your paperwork to communicate your talents while projecting your personality and professionalism. They're delighted to read the particulars of someone who appears to have the background to address their specific challenges. Your paperwork should make a strong case for you, accurately depicting your professional status, interests, and achievement, and generating enthusiasm in readers about meeting you and learning more.

There's no greater satisfaction for me than to discover excellent executives and present those persons to organizations who need their special gifts. This is the core of my work, and it's an intense thrill every time I can identify and introduce the right person to a hiring organization. When a match occurs, when there's mutual interest and both parties agree on the fit, I know I've brought genuine value through my work.

Mary Frances Lyons, MD, is a Senior Consultant at Witt/Kieffer, Ford, Hadelman & Lloyd in St. Louis.

KEY CONCEPTS

* Preparing a Resume and Curriculum Vitae

* Developing Impressive Career Paperwork

* Accurately Selling Yourself

* Opening the Door to an Interview

Physician executives need to exercise considerable discretion, care, and judgment when they write about their professional accomplishments in the form of a resume or curriculum vitae (CV). This paperwork is intensely personal. It must be a true reflection of you, your achievements and goals. Others read it to learn more about you. Those you fail to convince, you're likely to lose--along with your chance to meet and charm them in a personal interview. A physician executive's thoughtfully prepared resume and CV can result in him or her being offered terrific opportunities for career growth. The paperwork is a self-constructed gateway through which you can properly approach hiring organizations--and how it reads is totally under your control. Some suggestions to consider in developing your resume or CV are: be succinct; don't overstate; use both documents; do your homework; and be ready for the next steps.