Now is the time to look for your next healthcare job.
Today's job market has excellent opportunities for talented healthcare executives. Recognize that it is to your advantage to expect changes in your career path. Executives who are flexible, proficient and effective are valuable. In this fast-paced business environment, preparation is critical to making the right career move.
Even if you are satisfied with your current job situation, the following advice is just as applicable to someone who is looking for a better opportunity. The key is positioning yourself well in advance for a job change.
Lay the Groundwork
Every executive today needs to spend a certain amount of time dedicated to his or her own career development by becoming visible and networking.
You become visible within your industry by authoring articles and/or being featured in your industry trade publications. Speaking at trade shows or conventions is another avenue.
At the very least, join one or more professional or trade associations and attend some of their meetings and conferences. Better yet, take an active, leadership role in the organization.
Make the Time to Network
Many successful executives don't give themselves the luxury of networking. They say they don't have the time. However, of the jobs filled each year, fewer than 5% are filled through responses to want ads or Internet job postings. Less than 15% are filled through the work of executive recruiters. Most are filled through relationships, especially at the executive level.
Network by getting out and meeting people. Make it a point once or twice a week to have breakfast or lunch with someone. Although most of your networking likely will focus on coworkers, do not hesitate to network with superiors within and outside your company, consultants and recruiters. If the opportunity comes along to meet the CEO, CFO or COO of your own or any company, take advantage of it. Call or meet the colleagues or chiefs of several major companies in your area to set up a lunch or dinner to discuss a new healthcare issue, compare notes or ask for advice. When traveling, set up a lunch or dinner with someone in those cities.
By making it a point to schedule a career advancement meeting once a week, you should be able to develop 30 or more new relationships over the course of a year. One of these is likely to be the source or key to your next position.
Keep Relationships Alive
Maintain contact with key career sources by staying in touch several times a year to stay visible and top-of-mind. Creative and subtle ways of doing this, include:
- sending a pertinent article with a short, personalized note;
- emailing a short congratulations on a promotion or other good news; and
- sending holiday cards.
People know you through informal relationships; not just your resume and track record.
For example, one of your contacts needs someone to run a larger marketing department or join the executive team of a new health care services company. Although your experience may not be an exact match, you have established value with him...and it is just the type of career move you are seeking. Your contact may think of you first, before going through an executive search firm. Someone who knows you is often willing to bet on you as an ideal employment referral.
If you're not interested, be sure to give him suggestions of other people you know when he does call. That's part of networking too.
Working with Executive Recruiters
When broadening your range of contacts, include several successful executive recruiters. Allow yourself to let them use you as source of candidates as this is an effective way to stay in touch with meaningful and current opportunities in your industry.
However, don't ask a recruiter for a job directly. That puts him in an awkward position if he doesn't have one at the moment. Simply let him know you are available or ask questions to help you market yourself to other companies such as, "I'm interested in Company Y. Do you know anyone there I could talk to?"
The old truism about finding a move up through people who know you still applies in the 21st century. Begin your next career move by gaining personal visibility now.
Making a Career Move
Beyond actively seehcprking visibility position yourself for a career move by:
- Expanding your skills: Keep yourself challenged with wider supervisory/management responsibilities to expand and hone your managerial skills.
- Learning what you don't know: finance, computer applications, human resources, customer service.
- Building on your strengths; build up your weaknesses.
- Expanding Your Thinking: Look for opportunities to apply your skills in other positions within your company and in other industries. Avoid being "pigeonholed."
Gary Kaplan, with more than 25 years experience as a senior human resource executive, is founder and President of Gary Kaplan & Associates, an international retained executive search firm headquartered in Pasadena, California.
He can be reached at 626/796-8100 or by email:[email protected]. For additional articles on personal career advancement, visit http://www.gkasearch.com.