Preparing for a new role

You'll know when it's time (hopefully) to move on. For some, that decision may come years or decades into their current role. How does one prepare oneself for this new challenge? It's deep-dive time.

Our case and your situation

I would like to pursue opportunities for non-clinical work. I am thinking of XXX or YYY - something that can be remote or part time. Any key words you think I should use in my search?

Most of today’s healthcare professionals will leave their current/first position for something new. Some will start their own venture - for which we have a lot of great content to help you start successfully. Others will move onto a new employed role, but may be rusty after years or decades in their current position. Getting yourself noticed by a hiring manager requires its own skill set. Here’s a high-yield suggestion that can get you to the next round.

Disclaimer

I don’t recommend you lie, fabricate, embellish, exaggerate, or commit errors of omission/commission of your credentials. Be prepared with and honest about the skills you have and want to develop. Fibbing about your talents can cause a mismatch between the needs of the role, the firm, and your expectations. Nobody wants a mismatch.

Collect job descriptions - the more, the better

Grab as many job descriptions as you can. Each job description in your target industry provides data for the analyses that we’ll be recommending (see below). Even if you’re not actively looking, save job descriptions so that you can refer back to them when you are ready for a jump.

Job descriptions (no matter how detailed) == data

Believe it or not, human resource teams and/or recruiters carefully craft job descriptions. The effort (and cost) that they put into developing job descriptions increases the probability that they have the most appropriate candidates apply for the position. Use that attention-to-detail and careful crafting to your advantage.

Sample job description (click to unroll)

Below is a sample job description in the tech industry, circa 2023.

Job Title: Software Engineer

Job Description:

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Software Engineer to join our dynamic tech team. As a Software Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining software applications and systems that drive our business forward. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business requirements into scalable and efficient technical solutions.

Responsibilities:

Qualifications:

Note: The above job description is a general outline and may vary depending on the specific requirements of the organization and the software engineering role.

Analyzing the job description(s)

Creating a word cloud is an easy and fruitful way of analyzing a bunch of text (which is, basically, what a job description is). Parse each word from all the job descriptions you’ve collected and filter out every article (e.g., a, the), preposition (e.g., about, beyond, beside), and conjunction (e.g., and, or, but). Below is a word cloud from the job description above ↴

Word cloud (eliminating articles, conjunctions, prepositions) from the sample job description. Word size is directly proportional to frequency of appearance in the job description.

For this particular role, the following features are important to the hiring manager/firm:

Application #1: Getting a sense of an industry’s direction

If you’re new to your target industry, or you’ve been out of the job hunt for some time, you’ll want to know how the industry is trending. What skills and/or deliverables are firms looking for in the talent they acquire? Analyzing job descriptions can give you a sense of what hiring managers are looking for. Once you know (or at least have an idea) of what skill set(s) are in demand, you can evaluate your portfolio of skills and highlight pertinent talents or strengthen existing ones.

Application #2: Leveling-up your resume

Healthcare providers often use a curriculum vitae (CVs) to communicate their background, credentials, accomplishments and deliverables. The longer the CV, the more of each that you have. Length is your enemy if you’re entering into an industry that uses resumes. Brevity, accuracy, and pertinence are the desirable features in a resume.

Brevity is a skill in-and-of itself and is better exemplified by those who are adept at conveying complex messages in short spaces (i.e., on social media). Analyzing job descriptions will help you determine what is pertinent.

Accuracy goes back to our disclaimer at the start of this substack. Hiring managers depend on you to convey the truth.

Pertinence is learned by analyzing various job descriptions. These descriptions offer insight into what matters to hiring managers. Be sure to note the verbs that are used - you’ll want to use those verbs to highlight your credentials (as long as use of those verbs keeps your resume honest and accurate).

Application #3: Mentor the next gen

You’ll be surprised at how many colleagues and friends in your circle will ask you for job-searching advice. Your sphere-of-influence is far greater than you think. Use the quantitative data that you can ascertain from the word cloud to guide your mentees in the right direction.

Tell us how you prep for a new role? What techniques have or haven’t worked? Comment below.