How do you handle a bad recommendation?

There are a lot of steps to getting hired as a Physician Associate / Assistant.  One step that you can count on is needing recommendations from a few people.  It might be at the beginning of the hiring process or it might be later when you are credentialing at a hospital but it usually does happen.  Yes, someone does look at them.

So what do you do if one of those recommendations comes back suboptimal?  Obviously avoiding this situation completely is the best option.  Think carefully about who you choose to write you a recommendation, your boss is not always the best option.  It is true the physician you work most closely with will know your clinical skills the best but they may also have the most to lose by you leaving, especially if they own or run the practice.  They might see you leaving as a betrayal and become vindictive.  Even if it’s only subconsciously it could color a recommendation for the worse. 

The first step is avoiding anyone who may see you differently when they know you are leaving.  However this is not always possible.  What if you are a new grad, or you have been working in the same job for a long time and there are not that many other providers that work there.  If you end up asking for a recommendation from someone who you suspect might not give you a stellar review, be prepared for it in the interview.

You definitely do not want to get blindsided but if you know a mediocre or bad review may be coming then prepare for it prior to the interview.  Think about what this person might say and how you can counter it.  If they say you’re slow, perhaps you know you are above the office average in RVUs proving you are not slow or you can say you are thorough and have very few patients bounce back with the same complaints.  If they complain about your sudden departure as a lack of being a team player then put it back on them by saying something like, my boss was very upset when I told them I was leaving.  Clinical skills deficiency, that was my first job out of PA school and was still learning a lot, or my first job in this field.  You can counter anything except an attack on your work ethic or your professionalism, so never give anyone a reason to doubt those things. 

Keep in mind if the worst happens and someone does manage to mess up a job opportunity for you, it’s only one employer.  When you apply to the next one you will obviously not use the person who torpedoed you.  It is perfectly fine to use other PAs you have worked with or a nurse, it does not alway have to be the physician you worked with the most.   There are other people who know you well. As long as they worked with you at some point a recommendation from them would work fine. 

Good luck out there.

Pharaoh Sargent PA-C