Transfer Your Skills to a Successful Health Care Job

A nurse holding a reportStarting over in a new career field can be scary, and the prospect of returning to school to learn something new can seem overwhelming. Rest assured, even though you may not have previous experience in the career field you’re looking to enter, you likely have skills that can help you be  successful in your future job.
The health care industry will be adding a lot of new jobs, making it a popular choice for individuals entering the workforce for the first time as well as workers looking to make a career change.
If you’re thinking about giving a health care profession a try, start by identifying skills that would transfer well into this field and thinking about the kind of work you will be doing. Important skills include:

  • Communication skills – Most health care jobs require a lot of interaction with people, including those who are sick, upset and experiencing distress. Someone working in health care must be a “people person,” have a lot of patience and be good at talking to people.
  • Taking care of people – Remember that a lot of health care work is hands on and involves working up close and personal with strangers. In order to succeed, you should be a very caring person who is good at taking care of other people.
  • Dealing with stressful situations – Working in the health care field can also be stressful, and it is important that one be good at dealing with their own stress as well as also helping others to deal with the stress they are experiencing.
  • Attention to detail – Paperwork is a big part of the health care field. Successful employees bring an attention to detail to their job to make sure things are properly labeled and enter information correctly into charts.

While you may not have a lot of direct experience in health care setting, think about what your skills and how you can apply them to a future career.
To learn more about the skills required for a specific health care job and to see what transferable skills you may have, visit www.mynextmove.org. Need help obtaining training and getting your foot in the door? Find out about health care-related training programs that may exist in your area:
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