Dear Sushi Doc, if You dont mind I will give You the unofficial version...
For academic fields,
When an academic department of a university rank applicants, they use the following criteria:
1)Whether the applicant has spent time previously in the department
very important, You may even be unable to spell Your name but the time You spent in the Department is gold.
2)Result of the entrance exam for the department
If You refer to the residency: You have to pass a test that should reward the best students, but...the exam is tailored on the people that "have to get the residency"; i.e. the maximum score is 100: 70 points come from a ridiculous test where You have 70 mcq's: these questions are taken out of a pool of 3000 questions/answers or so available well in advance, just have a look at the "MP3" in homepage of this website (even if You dont speak italian, as long as You can memorize questions and answers You get 70points!!); Your marks in some subjects (the "commissione" will choose the ones considered important to make the trick legal) will get up to 5 or 10 points... the dissertation can get up to 5 points and the "commissione" can fail a very good dissertation and may prefer a useless one: no matter what, You cannot oppose thir decision, even if You publish on the NEJM, and so on...
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My question is, do they also use the following criteria to evaluate applicants?
3)Whether the applicant has research experiences in the particular field:
They dont care much. Some time ago an old colleague told me how he could buy for few dollars the right to have his name on any research on his university: he had to go to the right place and ask (in this case was a photocopy shop: this was a way fot the underpaid university staff to get financial funds and why often probably the italian publications of this university have lots of editors/authors).
4)Whether the applicant has good communication skills/motivations by conducting an interview:
the only real skill needed is "ass licking": as long as You manage to make the right professor happy(usually the one with power, not necessarily the oldest one) the job will be yours for 5 years (ass licking included!)
5)Whether the applicant has good letter of recommendations from other physicians in the same field
In italy letters of recommendation are veeeery important! but they are not based on Your previous job, like in the US, but rather on kinship. If You have an important relative in any field, it is very important; if You manage to get a politician or a priest (I mean a Bishop, a Cardinal) to make a phone call supporting You, even if they have never seen You before, that'll help to secure the job. Everyone in Italy before any test or competition has his/her secret supporter, but officially it is illegal. You know the place is the cradle of Mafia for a reason, we are a bit crooked...
3), 4), 5) are very important to get a residency in USA.
How about in Italy? Are 3), 4), 5) important?
most of all if You dont have any support is LUCK: in many departments You know well in advance the people that wll get the residency, i,e, the relative of a professor, etc...sometimes You may be lucky and there is no designated candidate...so, to summarize here it is how they rank candidates, in order of importance:
1)who is Your next of kin?
2)who is You secret supporter
3)how good Your ass licking skills are
4)pure luck
I wish You good luck but I dont know why I feel that You are never coming here but just writing an article...am I right?
