Receiving an online degree in health care management takes a great deal of hard work and determination. Once your diploma is hanging on your wall, you can begin exploring the job opportunities you’ve earned. Hunting for a job can be intimidating no matter what field you’re entering, but below are a few ways you can increase your chances of getting the position you’ve always wanted.
Search Online
You can leverage some of those savvy Internet skills you’ve built up while earning your online health care management degree to find open positions. A few minutes of typing and scrolling can reveal a wealth of job opportunities that are being advertised online. You can start your search on health care-related job sites like Comphealth.com or HealtheCareers.com, but don’t rule out generalized employment websites like Monster.com or Indeed.com.
Network
Keeping a job in a clinic, nursing home, or hospital requires you to know a lot. Getting one of those jobs in the first place sometimes depends on knowing a lot of people. Building strong professional relationships with your professors, fellow students, and alumni in your program can be very beneficial in the weeks following graduation.
If you received your online degree without fostering these kinds of connections, don’t worry. There are still opportunities to meet professionals by joining organizations like the American Association of Healthcare Administration Management (AAHAM) or the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Membership in these associations comes with a price tag, but the connections you make can be priceless.
Perfect Your Resume
If you’re entering the health care management field, you’re probably prepared to deal with all the paperwork that comes with this kind of position. Launching your career, however, often begins with placing and organizing information on a single sheet of paper: your resume. It’s a good idea to reach out to former professors or counselors in your school’s career services center and ask them to review your resume to ensure that it accurately reflects your experience and qualifications. Spending some extra time proofing your resume can also eliminate embarrassing typos and grammatical mistakes that could make you appear unprofessional.
Gain Experience
While you’re hunting for the perfect health care management job, you can make the most of your time as an unemployed professional by taking an internship or volunteer position with a local organization that has a need for you specialized skill set. Some internships are paid, but even unpaid and volunteer positions allow you to build your professional network, add some impressive lines to your resume, and expand your skill set. You never know what doors will open if you take the initiative and offer to work for little or no compensation while searching for the perfect paid position.
