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How to be Successful: Being an Introvert in an Extrovert World

According to Susan Cain in her book ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,’ before the turn of the 20th century, our country had a culture of character. You were trusted and people did business with you on the basis of your integrity. Around the turn of the century, though, the culture began to change to the culture of personality. Everyone should read this book, since it’s incredible. Extroverts should read it so they understand the introverts, and introverts should read it so they understand themselves. Until you can, let’s talk about how to successfully be an introvert in this day and age.

Fortunately, you have done well with your chosen career. Many people enter veterinary medicine believing- incorrectly- that they get to work with animals more than people. So it seems the profession may select for more introverts than, say, business. This means there are more of Your People around, which will make things easier. You don’t have to explain as often why you don’t want to go out after a hard week of studying and test taking. You can spend time with your small collection of close friends without much pressure to do more. Not everyone is an introvert, but it’s not hard to find them in vetmed.

I personally think introverts have an easier time with my first rule: Aim for Zero. Introverts take time to observe before acting, and deliberate, and therefore tend to make more thoughtful actions. It seems that extroverts are the ones who may try to put themselves out there attempting to be a +1 and fail miserably. I personally prefer people who are quietly competent, and this seems easier for an introvert than an extrovert.

On the other hand, it’s also important to show up and smile, which may be harder for introverts. So you may need to do something outside your comfort zone. Fortunately, this is good, because it forces you to get better at something which is difficult: a key concept embraced in Kaizen. If it’s hard for you to go socialize with people, then work on this. Develop it like any skill, and it will pay strong dividends for you.

Give yourself permission to be an introvert. If you are at a social function and you are Just Done, feel free to ghost. Push yourself a bit, but in measured amounts. Give yourself time to recharge. If you want to have quiet time to read at lunch, find a little nook on the top floor where nobody goes and curl up with your book.

Although introversion and social awkwardness and anxiety and shyness are not synonymous, they often co-exist. If you are socially awkward, that is just fine, PARTICULARLY for academic veterinary medicine! You don’t have to be the most flamboyant, expressive, bubbly person. None of the suggestions I give in the How to be Successful series hinge on being an extrovert. Because you don’t have to be sociable. You DO have to be pleasant to work with and hard working, but quiet people can do this easily.

Academic veterinary medicine is a great place for an introvert. You can (generally) set your own schedule and decide how much or little you want to interact with people. Yes, you do need to teach, but with practice you will get better and more comfortable. You can engage in highly detailed and cerebral pursuits. You can lock your office door or go for a walk to recharge. If you’re an introvert, seriously consider a career in academia. It’s pretty great.

How To Avoid Making a Damn Fool of Yourself on Externship

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I don’t want to write this blog post. I don’t feel like I should have to. It’s common sense, isn’t it? It’s a waste of data to send this through the interwebs. Unfortunately, I have experienced veterinary externs who made a damn fool of themselves. They besmirched the reputation of their home institution, irritated colleagues and faculty, and sank any hope of getting a letter of recommendation or being ranked at the institution. So, since I have seen it, I am here to help. If you are an RFHB, you may go to the next post. If not, here’s how to avoid making a damn fool of yourself on externship.

1) You are a guest. Would you go to someone’s house and denigrate the way they load their dishwasher? “Man, they’ll never get clean if you do it like that!” Don’t insult your host school in any way. Don’t talk down about their students or their faculty or their processes. You may make a polite remark like, “Oh, how come you do it like that?” or “Oh, why do you do that” or “Oh, what was your rationale for deciding to do it that way?” if it reflects a genuine interest to learn. But just because they do things differently doesn’t mean they’re bad. Try to see the good in the differences. Heck, I learned how to place coccygeal art lines at CSU during a 3-week externship which I would have never learned otherwise. Be open-minded.

2) Learn the system. There is always a painful learning curve the first week, but pay attention and try hard to figure it out. If you work at it, you will be more effective by the second week. You may not know where the Q-tips are, but at least you can fill out a medical record and find ICU.

3) Show up. Set two alarm clocks if you have to. A student at their home institution may get a one-off if they miss a day or show up late. You don’t have a whole year to impress these people, you have 2-4 weeks. A single day of a bad showing represents up to 10% of the experience these people will have with you. Make sure you know the route to the hospital and budget plenty of time in the event of an accident or road closure.

4) Work hard. Come in early, stay late, don’t complain. You are representing your home school as well as yourself. You don’t want anyone to have the slightest inkling that your home school trains slackers. Represent your home school with honor.

5) Smile. Be pleasant. Be engaged. Ask polite questions. Be helpful. Be positive. It’s only for 2-4 weeks. Even if you are not by nature a particularly outgoing person, you can still appear happy to be there. Because you SHOULD be happy to be there. You’re in god-damned-vet-school, how amazing is THAT?!? And this place had the good grace to accept you in as a guest! That is pretty amazing.

6) Treat everyone with respect, especially the technicians. Obviously, this is true at your home school, but is even more important when you are an extern. Technicians are amazing; be sure to treat them with the utmost esteem.

7) Be appreciative. Make sure to thank your colleagues and mentors for the experience. If you had a particularly good connection or may be interested in a letter of recommendation, a follow-up thank you card may not come amiss. In particular, thank the technicians.

That’s it. It seems simple, doesn’t it? It seems like it shouldn’t need to be said. But believe me when I say this: it DOES need to be said. And YOU may be the one to whom it needs to be said.

How to Negotiate a Faculty Salary

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The Vetducator - coins indicate that money is the least important variable in deciding on a job. — Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

So you have an offer of employment- congratulations! This is one of the most exciting experiences I have had in my professional progression (although I also enjoy interviewing). Salary is only one piece of the negotiation package, but it is the one many people spend the most time thinking about. I would encourage you to focus less on salary, but you do need to earn a FAIR salary. Fortunately, for most institutions, a fair salary is easy to determine.

Your goal with salary negotiations should be to get a FAIR salary. You can always ask for the moon, but I believe it is better to be reasonable. If you make a high salary a sticking point, you may put your future department chair and colleagues in an awkward position. Because of salary compression, existing faculty may not make as much as incoming faculty. If you come in at a SUBSTANTIALLY higher salary than them, this may create resentment.

You should take advantage of a new offer to make your own life situation as good as possible without alienating your future colleagues. You do this is by doing research. For most state schools, you can find the salaries for existing faculty. Find your rank (Instructor, Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor) and identify those current faculty at that rank. Then search the salary database to get an idea of the range.

I would generally recommend choosing the median value within existing salaries, but you may adjust this up or down depending on your experience level and what else you are asking for. For example, for my last negotiation, I came in as a Full Professor, but I am relatively young compared to many of the existing faculty. If I asked for a salary above what the highest-paid current Professor with 10 years’ more experience earns, I may have created some resentment. And the median salary for current Professors was more than enough for me to be happy, so that is what I asked for.

Once you receive an offer of employment, you can indicate you are very interested and you need time to consider and get back to them with what you would like in your negotiation. Many institutions will include a salary in the initial offer. In general, the first entity to give a number will set the bar for the negotiation, and it is preferable for that to be the institution. However, I have been asked twice what I would expect to make DURING the interview, so you should have a fair number in mind. Whether they do or do not include a salary offer, do your comparative research so you can come back with either “That sounds good” or “I would like to ask for X amount.”

If you are applying to a private school or a school which does not publish salaries, you can still do the research. Some institutions will have different salaries for different disciplines- supposedly to reflect the differences in the salaries those disciplines would make in private practice. I personally feel that salary should be based on your rank and number of years of service and be independent of your discipline, but I don’t get to regulate the market economy. Find out approximately what others in your discipline and rank make at other institutions. If you use those numbers, it is unlikely you will get a “Woah, that is way different than what we were expecting.” I expect most vet schools are within $10k of each other for starting salaries. Some may be dramatically lower- like Colorado State University (everyone wants to live in Fort Collins)- and some may be dramatically higher- like UC Davis (SO expensive to live there).

For most institutions, you can probably ask for a 5% increase over an initial offer without ruffling any feathers. An administrator once told me, “Don’t lose a potential faculty member over five thousand dollars.” Some places will have a hard budget and not be able to move. If you are asking for a LOT of other things or a high-cost item like a spousal hire, you may not be able to get any more in salary. If you have competing offers, you can share the salary information with each so they can factor that into their decision-making during negotiations.

Make sure to prioritize your requests so you will know how to respond. It never hurts to ask, as long as it is a fair and reasonable ask. Consider if you will be happy regardless of the response. If you ask for $120k, and they come back with $110k, is that acceptable? I think the most important question is: is that a fair salary for this institution, position, and discipline? If it’s fair, then you need to decide how important cash money is to you.

Some people may be stressed about negotiating salary, but I don’t think you should be. As long as you are professional, consider the impact on your future colleagues, and don’t get greedy, everything should be fine.

Special Announcement: Realize.VET Interview!

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Dr. K, the host of Realize.VET, did an interview with me recently and got it posted quickly! You can find it at the link below. We talk about all sorts of topics I think would be helpful for you on your path through veterinary medicine. Check it out!

Ep. 36: Dr. Hofmeister Loves his Life in Academia and Wants to Help Others Follow in his Footsteps

How to be Successful: Be Appreciative

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The Vetducator - Be a superstar in appreciation of people image.

We were flying home this weekend and saw a guy in first class who wasn’t exactly bad; he just acted entitled. The steward had to ask him twice to put his computer away. On landing, the steward had to tell him to buckle his seatbelt. Before takeoff, the steward was asking everyone loudly about a backpack and no one answered; it turned out it was this guy’s pack and he was just ignoring the steward. He drummed his fingers loudly and hummed, disrupting other passengers. It’s possible he has never flown before and doesn’t know normal air travel etiquette, but I think it’s more likely that he just feels entitled.

I believe a feeling of entitlement is the antithesis of being appreciative. When we fly, we realize what a goddamn miracle it is. We are hurtling through space at incredible speeds with remarkable comfort and luxury. We obey all the rules and try not to disturb the attendants at all. We appreciate how amazing the experience is and want to be Low Maintenance. This sense of appreciation is key to a happy life and personal relationships, but it is also key to being an excellent student/intern/resident/faculty member.

Do you appreciate the technical staff? I read a letter of recommendation recently where the writer pointed out that the candidate regularly thanked the technicians and the techs loved working with this applicant. Holy crap, this student appreciated the technical staff to the point where a faculty member noticed? That stands out to me as an evaluator. That tells me this person cares about other people and appreciates them. This will translate into greater success for them in all professional paths, so of course I want to recruit this person! They will be an awesome resident and great specialist, spreading positivity where they go and enhancing the reputation of our program.

Do you appreciate your mentors? They spend lots of time helping you, training you, and giving you advice. Hopefully, you express some thanks for what they give to you.

Do you appreciate your peers? Your students? Everyone around you in the veterinary world is working together as a team. All it takes is a quick “thanks”. If someone went out of their way or they did a great job that day, finding them and saying, “Thank you, Sean, for rocking out the cases today!” It’s genuine, it makes people feel good, it makes you feel good, it builds positive relationships, and it makes people enjoy their work.

If you can be someone who brings positivity, and not negativity, to work, you are bringing excellent value to that program. If you want to be recognized as a great student, intern, resident, or faculty member, be appreciative. You don’t have to be happy all the time, or bow and scrape to anyone. But if you give a genuine word of thanks now and again, it will work wonders for your career. Do you remember a time when someone sincerely thanked you? How did that make you feel? Share in the comments!

How to Be Successful: Answer Emails

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A while ago, I posted this question on my Facebook wall: “Is answering emails promptly a requirement for white collar work?” My professional friends responded with a resounding YES. “It is, and those who don’t make everything harder for everyone else.” In your endless quest to aim for zero, this is an easy one. Not answering email makes you a clear -1 in professional realms, including veterinary medicine.

Getting an email and not answering it is almost exactly like being late to a meeting where your presence is required. What you are saying, loudly and clearly, is this: “My time is more valuable than your time.” You may not INTEND to say that. But that’s what you are actually saying with your actions. I don’t know why and, you know what, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter why. The end result is me feeling about this small.

The Vetducator - Feeling small when no one replies to your emails. — I feel like the small figure when I don’t get a reply.

I understand there can be an overwhelming flood of emails coming in, all needing attention. There are a variety of systems for handling them. Ignoring them is not an option if you want to be seen as a professional. Here’s how I handle them, but YMMV.

First, when I get an email, I decide whether it needs to be deleted. I get a lot of these that aren’t spam per se, just not relevant to me right then. If I don’t care about it and don’t imagine needing it, it gets deleted. (This baffles my best friend, who insists I should just archive it, but if I can’t imagine ever needing it, wouldn’t it be better to remove that data from my storage? I think so.)

Next, is it an email which can be answered quickly and in a sentence or two? Scheduling events are like that for me. These can be quickly bounced back to the sender with my availability. Others are quick replies like “Thanks” and the like. These are my favorite types of emails. Requests for working with me from this blog also fall under this heading. They get dealt with within the hour or, if I am busy on clinics, that day.

Third, if it’s not an email which can be answered quickly, how much cognitive energy is it going to take to handle? Is it a request to run statistics on a paper with which I have passing familiarity? That will be an entire afternoon project. I generally divide these into two categories: do in under a week or put off until close to deadline. If under a week, I tend to do the more cognitively simple tasks sooner. In either event, I always reply to the email promptly (unless it was automated, as with a journal decision on a submitted manuscript).

Replying to email is just one aspect of being reliable. And hoo boy, if you can get a reputation for being reliable vs. being unreliable, go for reliable. You will get better recommendations, people will want to work with you more, and your career will progress more positively. You must respond to emails in a timely fashion to be considered a professional.

So now I am genuinely curious: why don’t you respond to emails promptly?

Special Announcement: Podcast a Vet Interview!

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Dr. John Arnold, the host of Podcast a Vet, did an interview with me last week and already has it up! You can find it at the link below. We talk about all sorts of topics I think would be helpful for you on your path through veterinary medicine. Check it out!

https://podcastavet.com/podcast/erik-hofmeister-reasonable-human-being

Using Statistics to Decide Your Future

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I wanted to be a surgeon. Specifically, I loved orthopedic surgery. I wanted to just fix something and not manage a chronic illness for years like internal medicine does. It was not to be for me, though, and my life turned out grand. I have reviewed applications from people who have done THREE specialty surgery internships, and it makes me sad because they seem to be throwing themselves at an impenetrable wall. Obviously, you can’t choose what you want to do for the rest of your life based purely on numbers, but let’s start by looking at the numbers.

For the 2018 Match, the specialties with the worst match rate (i.e. most competitive) that routinely participate in the match were exotic/wildlife (2.9%), zoo med (6.6%), and avian medicine (10%). You would not believe the number of vet student applicants who have told me their life long dream is to be a zoo vet. I feel so bad for them. Their dreams will almost surely be crushed. If you plan to do zoo med, you need a backup plan.

The specialties with the best match rate were lab animal, emergency/critical care, and anesthesia. Lab animal often pays quite well and allows you to do diverse interesting things. E/CC can be challenging and complex, but be sure to review the specialty board pass rate for the institution- some of them do not train their residents very well. Anesthesia, of course, is great- you don’t have to talk to crazy clients or haggle over money with clients and you can do small animal, large animal, or both.

Small animal surgery is actually higher than I thought- 20%! I have heard some programs receive 190 applications for one small animal surgery position. But the overall statistics don’t seem terrible for small animal surgery.

Obviously, the match rate includes _every_ applicant, even those who are clearly not viable candidates. So your odds are probably much better, assuming you are reasonably competent and pleasant to work with. You may be able to improve your odds by having a great application packet and doing an interview well, with which this blog will help you.

So what to do with this information? Well, I would suggest analyzing your future career considering the statistics. Are you SURE the only thing you could be happy doing would be surgery or zoo med? A lot of other clinical specialties offer a similar quality of life, intellectual challenge, and freedom.

The evidence indicates that people can be happy leading life one of three ways – seeking pleasure, doing your best work, or helping others. You can do your best work doing a lot of different things in veterinary medicine. If you don’t match the first time for a residency, maybe re-examine your future and consider other alternatives before you waste years of your life pursuing an impossible dream.

How to be Successful: Smile

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I have no intention of smile-shaming anyone. I know people- women especially- get told all the time, “You should smile more.” I don’t want to make those with Resting Bitch/Asshole Face feel worse. All that being said, I am going to give you a piece of golden advice: during interviews, smile more.

This came into prominent focus for me during vet school interviews. We had a batch of 6 applicants to interview. They were all basically good, and then we had one candidate who really grabbed my attention. Her answers were similar to the others, but she seemed more engaged and interested in the whole process. After her interview, my partner and I said to each other, “Did you notice how much she was smiling?” It made her interview instantly better and her more likable.

Dozens of job-focused websites advocate smiling, probably all for reasons you know about. Our nonverbal cues are important. Smiling helps to recover from a gaffe. It influences first impressions. The science indicates smiling improves the likelihood of being shortlisted. Professional job advisers all advocate smiling.

One note of caution is to make sure your smile is genuine. And it should be! You’re excited to be interviewing for a position. Show that excitement and enthusiasm through your smile. You’re allowed to be nervous- nervous excitement can manifest in a smile. Realize that the interviewers are there to support you and not knock you down. Make sure your smile is genuine and not forced. If you’re not feeling it, don’t stick a plastic expression on. Try instead to find within yourself a reason to smile. You got an interview! That’s great!

I will also advocate that you smile during phone and video interviews. Even though those on the phone can’t see you smile, it alters the way you speak and this, amazingly, comes across over the phone. Video interviews obviously add the visual aspect, but it is amazing how often people forget basic interview tips. Remember this one- naturally smile during all interviews.

I understand it can be difficult. You may not have a naturally bubbly personality. Heck, I fall into this category. But when I am on an interview, I am genuinely happy to be there. I am excited to meet all the people I may be working with and find out what they have to say. I feel that excitement internally, so I just remind myself to display it externally. Try to find your inner cheerleader and let them out during the interview. Do you have strategies you use to smile more?

Should I Send a Thank You Note?

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The Vetducator thank you note for interviews.

Interviews are tiring events for everyone. The interviewee has to be ‘on’ all the time. But the interviewers are taking time out of their busy schedule to meet with you. Academics always feel overwhelmed and time-stressed. Staff are often underappreciated. Thank you notes acknowledge the time and energy dedicated to your interview.

Should I Send Thank You Notes? Yes. You won’t be cut from the shortlist for not sending a thank you. But you DO appreciate people’s time, don’t you? Why not show it? This reflects a level of class and professionalism. Who wouldn’t want to hire the classiest, most professional applicant?

Should I Send a Thank You Note to Staff? Yes. I always send a thank you note to the staff who helped arrange the interview. I have gotten reports from my admin during faculty interviews ranging from, “She seemed really nice. She asked me questions and was interested in the area” to “We drove in silence the whole way.” Staff can subtly alter the perception of your visit- let them know their hard work is appreciated.

Should I Send a Thank You Note to Faculty? Maybe. I recommend sending one to anyone you spent a significant amount of time with. These will be the individuals who directly interviewed you. If you had a large session with 20 faculty for an hour, I wouldn’t send a note to all of them. But if you had lunch with 2 faculty, a note to each is suggested.

Should I Send a Thank You Note to the Hiring Managers/Committee? Yes. If applying for an internship/residency/faculty position, you should send thank you notes to the decision-makers. For faculty positions, this is the search committee and the department chair, possibly to include the Dean. For internship/residency positions, this is whomever is in charge of those programs, assuming you met with them (Intern Training Committee, group of specialists for residencies, etc.).

What Should I Say? I recommend personalizing each note as much as possible. If you can remember a specific topic discussed with that person, mention it in the note. If not, you can make it generic. It does not need to be long- 3 sentences are plenty. Begin with “Dear Title Lastname,” and end with “Salutation, Yourfirstname Yourlastname”. Do not use your title in your salutation. Respectfully, sincerely, with thanks, and regards are all good salutations.

What Form Should the Note Take? This is up to personal opinion so I will not be prohibitive here. Your options are email and a physical thank you card. I personally prefer to send a physical thank you card, but an email in this day and age is acceptable. I feel a physical thank you card is a little classier and more consistent with my professional image- I am a little bit old school and a little bit formal. It can also be hard to find email addresses for some individuals. If you are concerned about a physical card arriving after the decision-making group meets, an email may be preferable. Decisions are rarely made less than a week after an interview, though, giving plenty of time for a physical note to arrive.

What Happens if I Don’t Send a Thank You Note? Probably nothing. For vet school, those who interview you may not be on the selection committee. In this case, after the interview is over, they have no say in your selection. For internships, residencies, and faculty positions, those who participate in interviews will probably have varying levels of influence on any hiring decisions. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Well, that person didn’t send a thank you note, so I think we should put them lower.”

Does a thank you letter change them from a “no” vote to a “yes” vote? Unlikely. In the event of two equally qualified candidates, does getting a thank you letter cause them to vote slightly higher for that candidate? Possibly. It is a very low-cost action to take which may ever so slightly improve your chances of success. Why not send a thank you note?