If you’re looking into a healthcare career then you’ve come to the right place. Hospital Dream Jobs is your source for the latest news and trends affecting the healthcare industry and we also periodically give you tips and insight into finding that perfect job. If you’re in the process of going to school or looking into a career change and wondering whether a job in healthcare is right for you, it’s always best to make a list of pros and cons and ask yourself the right questions.

In an article posted on explorehealthcareers.org, six questions are posted which we think, based on your answers, are good indicators of whether you should continue your pursuit of being a doctor, nurse, physician’s assistant or whatever health career you may be looking into. Check them out below.

1. Do you like to deal with people?

In some sectors, it’s all about people. Nurses, pediatricians and occupational therapists need to have what is commonly referred to as a “warm bedside manner.” If interacting daily with people, and sometimes very sick people, does not appeal to you, a career in healthcare isn’t over, you just might prefer being in the medical lab, working in pathology or even medical illustration.

1. Are you comfortable with science?

If high school chemistry was more or less a foreign language that you barely escaped with a C-, then perhaps taking college level courses of the same fare is not the best idea. Most health careers require you to be a strong science student and some require intensive work in chemistry, physics and biology, just to name a few.

1. Are you prepared to keep up with developments in your field?

Getting a diploma doesn’t mean that your education and studies are over. Most health professionals need continuing education credits and to really stay up on the fast paced changes in the medical world, you’ll need to study and learn throughout your whole career.

1. Are you comfortable in a health care setting?

If you have your sights set on working in a hospital or doctor’s office, then you’ll need to be prepared to deal with sick and dying people. If dealing with patients is not your thing, then you might want to turn your attention to pharmacies, laboratories, and medical libraries just to name a few.

1. Are you a team player?

Successful patient care requires a team working and communicating together. If you prefer working alone or don’t like being managed or managing then you might have difficulty finding your niche in healthcare.

1. What lifestyle do you envision?

If you thrive on long days and high stress, life and death decisions, then a career in the emergency room might be for you. If you’d rather have set hours with a work life balance, there are other careers in healthcare that will suit you. Carefully study the hours and demands of whatever position you are looking into, if it’s something you might have a hard time embracing then perhaps your focus should fit more with what you can live with.

And whatever career you decide on, always check out Hospital Dream Jobs for that dream career in whatever health profession you choose.

Perhaps the most difficult part for job seekers is the interview. Despite all of your schooling and even years working in tense life or death situations, you may still not be prepared for what could be a grueling interview to make sure that you are the right fit for today’s fast-paced healthcare positions. Being prepared for an interview is key, of course, but we’d like to cover a few “Don’ts” when it’s your time in the hot seat.

1. Speaking of hot seat, don’t turn it into one. The interview is not an interrogation (when one party asks all the questions with the other giving all the answers). It’s a conversation and not necessarily a conversation about you. Think of the interview as a conversation about your skills and what you bring to the healthcare field and specifically to the company you’ve applied to.
2. Don’t just sit there and answer questions. Ask questions too! After all, the interview is not only for your potential employer to get to know you but for you to get to know them. By asking questions you may just find that their not the right fit for you. If you go into an interview without prepared questions it’s a tip off to the interviewer that you really have little interest in the position. Besides, if you just sit and field questions, you unwittingly turn the interviewer into an interrogator which only serves to make them uncomfortable.  Our tips for asking questions include inquiring about the company and the position. We do not recommend asking about salary or benefits during a first interview-it is a turn off to your interviewer. If things are going smoothly, you may want to ask some general questions about the career path of the person interviewing you.
3. Don’t give a list of weaknesses. If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know a likely question will be about the non-perfect parts of your personality or character. And of course, you hopefully will be honest that you have one. But note that we said ONE. Stick with that-don’t start a verbal list of all the areas you are hoping to improve in.
4. Don’t turn a weakness into a positive. It’s been done so often that its borderline cliché so just stick with the facts and be upfront about what you’re doing to try and improve.
5. Don’t forget to study yourself. You may end up spending all your time researching the company and the position you’re applying for but when the interviewer asks you a question about the job you held 10 years ago you’ll have no answer. So, be sure to run down a checklist of accomplishments as well as anecdotal stories about how you handle stress and even difficult situations or employees. Remember, you need to be prepared to discuss any part of your past work experience.
6. Don’t leave your cell phone on during your interview. Forgetting about it is not an excuse. It’s important so turn it off so do so before you even enter the building.
7. Don’t wait for them to call you back. You’re most likely not the only candidate so what will separate you from the rest if you’re all on an equal plane with your skills and education? Follow up and gentle persistence (not stalking) can be the key to getting the job.
8. Don’t forget to say thank you after the interview. Send a card, email or give a call with your thanks.

Now that more and more people are applying quickly for jobs when they become available, acing the interview is a very important to step to obtaining your dream job. In this competitive market, standing out is essential. Here are some tips to help get you there:

1. Only apply for jobs that you are well-qualified for. The old adage “apply for every job possible” is usually a waste of time. For every job open, there are a ton of applicants who have the specific experience for that job and you will only stand out above those people if you have more than they have. Stick to your niches and to your areas of strengths to put yourself in a position to ace the interview.

2. Assume that everyone else is as qualified as you are and that they have great personalities. Seek other ways to put your best foot forward and truly make yourself irreplaceable to your future employer-even before you become employed. What can you bump yourself up on?

3. Before your interview, research the employer. Reviewing their website and printed material will give you a heads up about the company and help you appear more knowledgeable about them during your interview.

4. Consider advanced training. Where else can you go in your training? Can you continue education in your field? What about management classes? Consider the education that will help you become more valuable to a potential employer and follow through on it.

5. Ask questions. The interviewer might give you a chance to ask questions during the interview. Questions that are somewhat in-depth about the company are great as they show that you want to learn more. Be wary about asking for specific salary, benefits, etc. Of course you have the right to know these but it can give the impression that those are the only important things to you. Save them for after the employer calls you about the next step in the process.

6. Bring your references to the interview and a copy of your resume, even if you have already turned them in. I can’t tell you how many times an employer is unable to dig them up for interviews or “didn’t have time to go back to the office to grab them” but it has happened to me. It saves everyone time and grief if you can just hand another copy over.

7. Dress professionally. Shake hands firmly. Look your interviewer in the eye. Beware of nervous habits such as leg bouncing, twisting hair, and “umm’s”. Enough said. See an interview here with an HR Director on more of that.

There are a few techniques that you can employ (pun intended) to gently steer potential employers towards scheduling an interview, after you’ve sent them your killer resume. Here are some techniques that I’ve seen used:

1. Follow up your resume submission with contact-Keep a list of where and to whom you submit your resume and follow up with each one. In the current economy, your resume might get lost in a stack of 100 applicants. But an email or call can go a long way in helping yours to get pulled out of the stack and looked at more closely.

2.Ask for an informational interview- I have had two people contact me over the past six months and request an “informational interview”. This is an interview where you questions about the company. I’ve seen it used when people are exploring the industry, wanting to network or needing a job. Does it result in one? I can’t answer that. I can only say that if I had had an opening, I would have been more likely to hire one of the two people that I provided an informational interview to because their questions and comments impressed me. There is much to gain (including knowledge) and nothing to lose with contacting employers and requesting one.

3. Follow the employer on the social sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked In (notice, I did not say stalk)-This shows your interest in the organization. Keep in mind that with larger organizations, the HR department may not even realize that you are a follower, but this will give you up-to-date information from the company and possible questions to ask during your interview.