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Thinking about starting a job search? This checklist will help you with your plans and ensure that you are equipped to address questions from a prospective employer. Step One: Identify Your Job and Career GoalsYou feel as though you want a change, but a change to what? Do you want a big change or a little change? Do you want a new location, a new work environment, a new specialty, or a new field all together? Making this list will help to ensure that you apply for the right jobs and will stop you from wasting your time and the recruiter's. • Identify your skills,
interests, objectives, and priorities and write them
down.
• Identify the type of
employers that have jobs that would interest you,
e.g., hospital, home health, government, or education. Step Two: Create Your RésuméA résumé is a tool that prospective employers use to assess, quickly and easily, whether you have the right qualifications for the job. The quality of your résumé is extremely important. Here's how to make sure your résumé lands you an interview rather than landing in the recycle bin. • Identify a résumé
format that will best showcase your experience. There
are three types: chronological, functional, and combination.
The chronological is the most popular and puts information
in order from most recent to most distant, thereby,
showing your educational and career growth and illustrating
job continuity, professional growth, and achievements.
The functional type focuses on credentials, skills,
and accomplishments. This type emphasizes what you
did, not where and when you did it, so it can be
misleading about the currency of your skills in a
particular area. A combination, just as it sounds,
uses both styles – including a listing of skills
and a listing of education and employment in reverse
order.
• Read Write
the Right Résumé.
• Ensure that your résumé
includes your work history, skills, interests, education,
and licensing.
• Obtain copies of written
professional references from previous jobs or education,
or maintain up-to-date contact details of former
employers or teachers who have agreed to act as references
for you.
• If you want to attach
a cover letter, read Write
an Effective Cover Letter.
• Make sure you proofread
the résumé and cover letter and/or
have a friend or family member do it. Do not rely
solely on the computer's spell check – even
if a word is spelled correctly, it may not be the
right one! Step Three: Prepare for the InterviewCongratulations! You have an interview. The job you want is in sight, and you don't want to miss out now. Remember to take the interview seriously. You don't want to be halfway through an interview, find that you are really excited about a job, and then lose the opportunity because you were't prepared. • Research the employer
to ensure you know about the hospital or company:
its mission, its strengths, and its weaknesses. This
knowledge will also demonstrate your interest to
the interviewer.
• If it is a different
job than you've held in the past, talk with people
in the same area of practice to find out more about
it.
• Read the job description,
to know what is expected.
• If the job will entail
a move, research the geographic location to assess
whether it would be an attractive place to live.
• Be able to answer questions
such as: "Tell me about yourself?" "Why are you interested
in working with us?" "What do you hope to be doing
in five years from now?" "How would others describe
you?" "What kind of work environment is best for
you?"
• Prepare a list of questions
for the interviewer. These may include a request
for contact details for people in the department/unit
in which you will work, details about benefits (e.g.,
continuing education and child care), specifics of
work expectations, etc. Step Four: InterviewingRead our article Interviewing for Success. Step Five: Assessing the OfferYou aced the interview and have an offer. You should have decided already that you're serious about starting a new job, but, with the new information you received in the interview, is this job right for you? • Were all your questions
answered in the interview? If any remain, contact
the interviewer.
• Is the salary/pay scale
offered comparable to what others are offering?
• Even if the salary/pay
scale is not quite what you want, do the benefits,
cost of living in the geographical area, work environment,
etc., make up for it?
• Is there an opportunity
for career advancement?
• If you decide you are
not interested in the job, politely decline the offer
as quickly as possible. Don't become discouraged
– continue your search for the job that is
right for you.
• If you do want the job,
congratulations and enjoy your new position! Discuss This ArticleHave something you'd like to say? Tell us what you think! Read and post comments for this article. Like this article? Read more! Browse our archive of 1,505 career resources. Also, see our master index of all MedHunters articles! Find a JobChoose your career: MedHunters is the world's biggest healthcare job board. Our job directory has 16,641 jobs with 2,422 hospitals and other direct employers. We want you to find your next job on MedHunters. Need Help? Call us at 1-888-884-8242, email us at info@medhunters.com or sign up now. Have an article or story for MedHunters? Email us today at submissions@medhunters.com. |
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