The healthcare industry today isn’t what it used to be.
• Go to school and get a degree or learn a technical skill.
• Get a great job and stay at the same place for years.
• Get raises and great benefits, take your vacations, retire.
Not anymore.
Today healthcare is under siege. Corporate America wants a BIG slice of that pie. Private investors want to own and control chains of hospitals, urgent care clinics, labs, whatever they can get their hands on.
And they really don’t care as much about you as an individual employee as you’d like to convince yourself they do.
Not even close.
Virtually gone are the days of simply working for a small medical practice- they are being swallowed up by larger practices and medical groups with a focus on the bottom line.
Simply being one of the bunch will not advance your career, or set you apart from everyone else when job cuts, lay offs, or consolidation inevitable occurs.
You need to stand out, or at the very least, make it clear what your particular expertise and value is. Certainly, you possess years of knowledge and experience that is immensely valuable to organizations. If they only had a way to know it.
Here are 3 quick and easy steps to take toward starting your personal brand and establishing your own sphere of influence:
1. Identify your personal niche.
What is something you’re passionate about in your field?
Maybe it’s patient experience, patient safety, clinical research, HR, provider credentialing, billing and coding. Healthcare has a ton of moving parts, all requiring expertise. What’s yours?
2. Create or update your LinkedIn profile.
Write about your niche in your About section. Write a handful of posts about your niche. Explain why it’s important to you. Teach us something we’d never know about it. Update your Experience section to reflect your work history and how you’ve applied your expertise in practice.
3. Join and follow an appropriate industry association.
Find and join whatever association that’s related to your expertise. Is there a nursing association? A billing and coding association? An urgent care association? Join and follow the activity. Go to live or virtual events. Network with other members and talk about your passion and niche. Consider submitting articles to their publications or newsletters, or speak at their events.
These 3 simple steps will go a long way toward improving your self confidence, reaffirming your knowledge and expertise to yourself, and to others. With a little luck these steps will build momentum and start to open some career doors you wouldn’t have otherwise found.
Let me know what you think and if you have any questions. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned on my own journey and help you on yours.