Breaking into a new industry can seem overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be
The idea of changing industries is exciting. Finding an entry point can feel challenging, but it doesn’t have to be — especially if the industry is rapidly evolving and growing, such as the healthcare industry. Throughout the pandemic, this field has steadily shown an increasing demand for a wide variety of workers, including many where you can harness skills learned in other industries.
Healthcare has a growing demand for skilled workers in IT (information technology), accounting, sales, marketing, human resources, or administration, and many more. Entry-level clinical or non-clinical roles can be the perfect stepping stone to these areas or more specialized roles such as x-ray technicians, medical assistants, and phlebotomists.
Healthcare – A field that leads with heart and the customer in mind
Due to emerging technology, the traditional healthcare experience has shifted. Healthcare providers are creating tools and resources to let patients feel empowered with how they manage their healthcare journey. Because of this shift, this industry is becoming more customer-centric than ever. If you are considering making a leap into healthcare, you may already have the skill-set required for entry-level roles — especially if you’ve worked in hospitality, customer service, other customer-facing frontline jobs.
Having an eye for attention to detail, a passion for delivering customer service, and the ability to multi-task are necessary for healthcare professionals in this customer-centric landscape.
A passion for healthcare can lead to a customer-facing or non-customer-facing role.
If you are passionate about providing care and delivering service in a role where you have a high amount of human interaction, there are various roles in healthcare that are suited for your background and experience. Additionally, if you want to do more behind-the-scenes work for an organization committed to providing care and impacting the community you live in, there are also a variety of options.
Having the ability to work with the public and to adapt to varying situations are qualities that can make someone successful in a frontline medical role, without prior experience. Additionally, if you have this same experience but want to make an impact behind the scenes, enrolling in a reskilling program to learn IT or HR to shift into the administrative aspect of healthcare is another avenue to explore.
Five steps to make a shift to healthcare
• Network with professionals in the medical field and learn about different jobs within the field. Conducting an informational interview is a great way to learn more about a role that interests you. This guide can help give you a start point to planning an informational interview.
• Research trends in healthcare to broaden your industry knowledge
• Learn more best practices for transitioning into healthcare without prior experience.
• Look at your current skills, do a skills inventory, and compare to the skills needed for the role you are looking for. Use this tool to get started.
• Explore an upskilling program where you can learn the skills needed to successfully switch fields to healthcare. SkillUp offers a variety of healthcare training opportunities.