With over 16 million people working in healthcare in the US, it’s clear how popular these jobs are. There are so many benefits to working in healthcare, but for many, the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives is what makes these positions a dream job.
However, these careers are in high demand, and there’s lots of competition, so how can you stand out from the crowd and land your dream job?
Why Healthcare?
Healthcare is an extremely varied industry that gives you the opportunity to make a difference in other peoples’ lives. From hands-on positions to public relations, and research, there’s a position for everyone in healthcare, and it can be a particularly rewarding industry to be in.
Whatever stage of your career your reach, there are always options to study further and learn new things, and the industry tends to offer above-average salaries. This allows you to take your career wherever you want to go and shape the work you do.
There’s nothing better than loving going to work in the morning, and over 16 million people in the US have the opportunity to do this in the healthcare industry. It will be challenging, but you’re also going to find it’s a great journey.
So, how can you look at getting a job in healthcare?
Explore Your Passions
Everything in life is easier when you have a passion for it. The same is going to be true when you start trying to get into your dream healthcare position. The more you love it, the greater the rewards when you finally achieve your goals.
If you feel like healthcare is the right industry for you, then explore this passion from an early age. Learn about the industry and the different career options, and really get a feel for them.
There are so many different roles within healthcare, so do your research and think about what it is you would like to do. Of course, your passions might change with time, but if you’re proactive, and are building clear plans for yourself, then you’re going to be able to adjust your plans and give yourself the best chance of achieving what you want to achieve.
Assess Your Skills
Truly understanding what it is you’re good at is a great skill to have. It’s not easy to objectively think about our strengths and weaknesses, but it’s something that can help you in your career.
Accepting you have a weakness doesn’t mean you can’t go on to achieve your career goals. It just means you’ve got areas you can work on to take you closer to your goals. By analyzing your skills, you’ll better understand what roles you might be good at and work on the things that could be holding you back from your dream job.
It’s not an easy skill to be able to accurately assess your skills, but if you can learn to do it, then it can be a huge help in preparing you to land your dream job.
Immerse Yourself
One of the best ways to explore your passions is by immersing yourself in healthcare. Subscribe to industry magazines, read books associated with healthcare, think about how major news events affect the industry.
When you’re going for your dream job, you’re going to face stiff competition, so any advantage can help you. To you, this might just feel like you indulging in your passion, but to recruiters, it shows an immense commitment to the industry, which can only be a good thing.
Adopting your chosen profession as a big part of your life makes it much easier to learn all the skills you need to learn, and this is easy to do when you have a strong passion.
Volunteer
There are lots of opportunities to volunteer within the healthcare industry, and they can make all the difference in giving you the real-life experience you need. Not only does this look good on a resume, but it helps you better understand the work you might be doing in the future and whether you’re well suited to it.
As a volunteer, you won’t be able to do exactly the things you aspire to be doing with your career, but it is a chance to dip your toe in. The relationships you form can help you throughout your career, and it’s just a great place to start your career journey.
Always keep your eye out for volunteering opportunities, and don’t be afraid to test yourself at something new.
Think About Your Educational Path
What do you need to do to put yourself in a position to achieve your career goals?
Once you’ve settled on a career path, the next stage is to understand the educational requirements you need to reach your goals. This is going to vary greatly based on the type of career you choose, so it’s worth researching.
If you’ve got a good idea of what you want to do and how to achieve it, then there’s nothing stopping you from achieving your goals. For example, if you aspire to be a nurse, you would want to keep a close eye on developments in the nursing industry by looking at sites like this to understand what changes might be coming and what you need to adapt to.
You don’t want to be caught out by not having the right qualifications, so carefully plan your educational path and give yourself the best chance of landing your dream job.
Set Goals
Goals are vitally important, no matter what you’re trying to achieve. There are many highly competitive jobs in healthcare, so you’ve got to be setting clear goals and working towards them.
If you can set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, then you’re going to improve your chances of landing your dream job.
Working towards long-term goals such as achieving a certain career position isn’t always easy, so it’s great to be able to break things up into lots of smaller, achievable goals. It’s a long journey, and you need to have plenty of motivation along the way.
Work Hard
It might seem like an obvious point, but it’s an important one nonetheless. It takes a lot of hard work to succeed in the healthcare industry. No matter what position you’re interested in, there is a road of learning and dedicated hard work that’s required to get you there.
Once you achieve your dream job, it can often turn out to be extremely demanding as well. People don’t get into healthcare for the easy ride, but that’s part of the reason this industry offers so much satisfaction. You work hard, and there are great rewards.
Tailor Your Resume
You might have the right educational background and all the experience required for your dream job, but there’s still the process of applying for the position to navigate. This can be another tricky step, and again, with lots of competition, it’s not easy to stand out from the crowd.
This means you have to put a lot of care and attention into your resume. Make sure it’s perfectly tailored for each position you’re applying to, and don’t neglect the cover letter.
Employers get so many applicants, and they don’t have a whole lot to judge each one by. If you can make sure your resume perfectly fits the job you’re applying for, then this can give you the edge you need. It’s a difficult time if you’re applying for jobs and not hearing anything back, but you’ve got to keep going and keep putting the effort in on your resumes.
Do Your Research on Interviews
If you’ve managed to get your resume picked out, and you’re invited in for an interview, then you’ve got a great opportunity to impress.
If you’ve followed the steps above, then it’s likely that your passion for the industry is going to show through, and it’s going to give you a great chance of landing the job. However, you’ve still got to make sure you’re doing your research for each interview.
Learn about the company you’re applying with, and take an interest. This is your dream job, so demonstrate that.
Explore Different Opportunities
This can be a difficult balance to strike because you want to stick to jobs that are going to take you in the direction you want to go. However, sometimes the path to your dream job isn’t what you might have expected.
If different opportunities come your way, then be willing to look at them and see if it might work into your career plans after all. Sometimes, you need to do something slightly different to get that first break, and exploring different avenues could help you do this.
The key thing to remember is that you have no obligation to take it if you get offered a job. You’ve got lots of opportunities to go out and discover what’s out there without making a full commitment, so explore your opportunities and make sure you find something that’s a good fit for you.
