What Do Employers Look for in Healthcare Job Candidates?

Key Insights:

• If you're interested in pursuing a career in the healthcare field, you may wonder about the qualities that employers in this industry look for in job candidates. At Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA), we like to provide our learners and grads as much information as we can to help with their job search. So, we asked this question to healthcare leaders attending the 11th Annual Spark Summit.
• Some of the qualities employers said they look for in healthcare job candidates are industry knowledge, readiness to learn, and the ability to process change, along with preferring candidates with drive, consistency, and persistence. They also mentioned that they look for soft skills like empathy, active listening, and communication skills.
• UMA offers a variety of career services to our healthcare degree program learners and graduates, including those related to interview prep, resume writing and editing, job search preparation, and more.

Every year, healthcare leaders from across the nation gather at the Spark Summit to talk about workforce challenges and solutions to overcome them. With so many knowledgeable professionals in one place, we wondered how we could leverage their insights to better help students and graduates from our healthcare degree programs. That's when we came up with an idea: Why don't we ask these employers what they look for in job candidates for entry-level healthcare roles?

We felt that collecting answers to this one simple question could help provide valuable insight into the skills and qualities employers and recruiters desire when interviewing candidates for healthcare roles like medical biller and coder, medical assistant, pharmacy technician, and dental assistant. So, that's what we did, and this is what they told us.

Answering the Question: "What Do You Look for in an Ideal Candidate?"

When we posed this question to industry leaders who recruit and/or hire healthcare professionals, they told us that they look for someone who:

• Has healthcare knowledge. An ideal candidate "shows that they have the adequate healthcare knowledge," says Kim Smallwood, Assistant Vice President at GetixHealth, a healthcare revenue cycle management company. An applicant's use of industry terminology provides insight into what they learned in their degree program.
• Is prepared to perform their job duties. "We're definitely looking for someone that can hit the ground running," says Tamara Thomas, a Recruiter at Concentrix, a global technology services provider. A job candidate who is prepared for their healthcare role can provide value to their employer from day one.
• Is willing to learn and adapt. "We're looking for people who are really ready to learn, ready to do new things," says Christine Clark, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition Strategy at ResultsCX, a digital customer experience solutions company, adding that the ideal candidate is also "able to process change." The healthcare industry is constantly evolving, making it important for future professionals to constantly learn and adjust.
• Displays persistence and consistency. An ideal candidate is "somebody that's truly going to be persistent and consistent with their follow-up," says Tabitha Turner, Director of Managed Accounts / Principal at MMC Group, a workforce services provider. This shows that they really want the job, says Turner, versus being there because they feel they have to.
• Exhibits drive and purpose. "For me, the ideal candidate is someone who moves with a purpose," says Vincent Mahoney, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at PSG Global Solutions, a recruiting firm and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider. "You have to have initial drive," Mahoney says, adding that the applicant also has to "want the opportunity."

Soft Skills Are Also Important for Healthcare Job Applicants

Soft skills are qualities or traits that can help you become more efficient or effective in your job position. Which ones do employers look for in healthcare job applicants?

Clark indicated that both empathy and active listening are important. Someone with empathy can see situations from other people's perspectives. Active listening involves using strategies such as paraphrasing and reflecting to help ensure that you accurately understand what the other person is saying.

Thomas said that his organization is "definitely looking for somebody with communication skills." Knowing how to speak clearly and effectively can help reduce the risk that your words may be misunderstood, which is critical when dealing with medical and health issues.

Is Healthcare Experience Important to Employers?

While some employers may prefer or require experience, not every organization gives this factor the same weight when filling entry-level healthcare roles. "Experience isn't a huge thing for us," says Clark. Instead, they look at the applicant's skills, personality, and other qualifications during the job interview.

That said, if you want to work for a company that prioritizes experience, there are a few actions you can take to get it. You could volunteer at a healthcare facility, for instance, or enroll in a healthcare degree program that includes professional practice experience. These options can help you gain experience in the healthcare field before pursuing a paying job role.

How UMA's Career Services Can Help You Prepare for Your Job Interview

If you are a UMA student or grad, you have access to several career services. We can help you prepare for your next interview, assist with creating or optimizing your resume, or provide guidance with your job search. We may be able to connect graduates with employer partners that have previously hired UMA graduates.

UMA's healthcare degree programs can help you prepare to pursue a clinical healthcare role, such as a medical assistant, dental assistant, pharmacy technician, and more. We also offer degree programs for non-clinical healthcare career paths, providing the knowledge and skills needed for positions in medical billing and coding, health information management, health and human services, and healthcare management, to name a few.

Contact us to learn more or to discuss how we can help you prepare to pursue a career in the healthcare field.

FAQs

• What qualities do employers look for in healthcare job candidates? Employers at the 11th Annual Spark Summit told Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA) that they are looking for job candidates who are knowledgeable about healthcare, ready to learn, able to process change, consistent, persistent, and have drive and purpose.
• What soft skills are valued by employers in the healthcare field? Empathy, active listening, and communication skills are a few of the soft skills that employers at the Spark Summit told UMA they look for in healthcare job applicants.
• How can I learn the skills needed for a healthcare role? Ultimate Medical Academy offers both online and blended healthcare degree programs that can help prepare you to pursue roles such as medical assistant, medical biller and coder, pharmacy technician, phlebotomy technician, and more. We also provide academic and career services to help support and guide you as you progress toward seeking a career in the healthcare field. Contact us to learn more.