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Where to Start Looking for Healthcare Jobs

By Hsien-Hsien Lei on April 10 2006

A little while ago, I read the blog of a friend who’s still in college. She was looking for a summer internship but didn’t know where to start. She’d responded to a few calls for applications here and there not because she really found the jobs appealing, but because she wanted to be able to say she’d been trying.

How many of us have found ourselves in a similar situation? While some people claim “there just isn’t any jobs out there,” others of us find that there are actually too many jobs out there. Haphazardly applying to one here and one there doesn’t improve our chances of snagging one that really suits us.

My suggestion to job seekers is not only to think about your ideal job, but also think about your ideal workplace:

Where is the company/organization located? Would you have a long commute or could you walk? Or is it in a part of the country/world where you would love to be?
What kind of place is it? Is it big/small, modern/old-fashioned?
Who works there? Are the people friendly and welcoming? Do they have a similar vision or approach to the company mission as you?
Why will this specific company/organization succeed? Do the people have high morale and ambition? Is the company organized with good infrastructure and funding?

Based on these criteria, my friend was able to refine her search to a handful of organizations where she’d be happy working. Going to their websites, she found some contact names and posted job openings. Now she has a much higher chance of job success and happiness.

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Contributor: Hsien-Hsien Lei

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WURK profile: http://WURK/profile/healthcare
Contributor website: http://healthcare.wurk.net/

COMMENTS

By Alicia
April 10, 2006 10:42 am

These are excellent tips – I wish I had had them to follow back when I was in the business of searching for traditional jobs! Maybe subconsiously I did. Now that I think about them, I believe that my inability to find available jobs that fit those criteria (due largely in part to the area in which I live) led to my seeking a freelance career.
By Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD
April 10, 2006 10:53 am

Thanks for stopping by, Alicia! Freelancing is definitely a great way to work, but very difficult to make a steady income. I’ve been trying too!
By Jessica Otte
April 12, 2006 2:23 am

Every job I’ve ever had – in science teaching and biological research mainly – has not been through a ‘job posting.’

So many positions are never advertised formally so word-of-mouth can be the best way to hear about who is seeking. Failing hearing about something, you can make your own opportunity.

I searched for what I wanted to do, not what was already out there. Looking for where I wanted to work( according to the workplace criteria you listed), who I wanted to work with/for, and the usual other “what is my ideal job / what do I want to get out of it” sort of factors, I came up with a list of people I needed to see. E-mail and phone calls helped set up meetings. These weren’t job interviews per se, but a forum within which I could discuss my interest and what I envisioned doing.

This is, of course, a lot easier in a campus environment when there is usually some leeway with grant money, but it can work elsewhere. Even if it doesn’t get you a job right then and there, the interest and persuasiveness that you’ve shown will put you on the tip of the tongue next time an employer needs to fill a position.

You are both much braver than I. “Freelancing” is something for the skydiving fanatic in each of us. But I think I need to pack my parachute first, before I try!
By Alicia
April 12, 2006 11:58 am

Too right you are about word-of-mouth advertising! I took a 2 week course last year on, in a nutshell, job hunting, and it’s amazing how so many people rely on the classifieds, yellow pages, etc., for job leads, when the perfect job for them could be right around the block and they have no idea because it wasn’t formally posted.

Your research and meetings were exactly one of the suggested paths for job searching in that course. Doing things that way let an employer know that you are serious about what you want to do, and that you really are interested in working for his/her company, because YOU sought THEM out.

Freelancing is definitely a skydive! I’ve been fortunate enough to have an extra income “support system” from people who believe in me and don’t think freelancing is just “playing around.” I’ve been freelancing now for 4 months, and am starting to find my niche that brings me the most income; however, I would never have been able to do that had I not had that support system.
By Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD
April 12, 2006 11:42 pm

Jessica: Thanks for sharing your experience! To us it seems like common sense but to many, I think they really do need some guidance.

Alicia: It sounds like you’re doing pretty good after only 4 months!
By Alicia
April 13, 2006 10:13 am

I’m doing much better than I ever thought I would by just making initial contacts online – I got really lucky with the main gig I’m working on right now, but unfortunately that project will be over in around a month and a half, and then I’m back to the hunt!