By Kim Bassett
As leaders in the industry, it is our responsibility to get people interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. Mentorship is one way to encourage our youth towards a health career and can be used to encourage adults looking for a change in careers.
You can be a mentor through formal programs, or more informally through casual interactions. Our work influences the lives of people we come in contact with every day. Use this same influence to encourage new talent to pursue a health career.
Below are talking points you can use when persuading someone to consider a career in healthcare.
Five great reasons to get a job in healthcare:
- Job security. With more than 10,000 baby boomers reaching retirement age each day, our population is quickly being flooded with older adults who will need more healthcare as they age. There will always be a need for healthcare employees.
- Portable and flexible. Healthcare is a round-the-clock industry requiring professionals from nearly every area of expertise imaginable, including those that are not necessarily considered healthcare– food service, engineering, culinary, information technology, marketing, etc. This creates opportunity as many of these skills can be done remotely and/or at times that work for various lifestyles.
- Great mission. There are few other careers that have a mission of greater importance than healthcare. What could be more important than taking care of people? A job in healthcare is one that you can take comfort and satisfaction in knowing that you are working toward a greater good.
- Free or subsidized education. Many healthcare organizations will pay for your training and schooling with a promise to come work for them for a period of time during and following your education. This means you can start a career with little to no debt incurred from your education.
- Does not have to involve blood. Many people avoid healthcare because they are skirmish about blood or don’t like to be around sick people. There are so many different areas of healthcare including marketing, finance, administration, etc. that don’t involve working with sick people or seeing any blood.
If you are in a position to encourage careers in healthcare, do it. Set up a formal program with your local high school or community college. Invite students into your workspace to share what you do and encourage excitement about health careers.
If you have the opportunity to be a role model or mentor for individuals looking for a career in healthcare, do it. Accept that request to speak at a high school career day or encourage your employees to speak at career days. Your enthusiasm and passion for healthcare may be the spark a person needs to get inspired and excited about a career in health.
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