12 Ways to Build a Successful Career in Healthcare

Whether you have just started out in the world of healthcare (or you are a seasoned pro), you will want to build a successful career. Of course, talking about success and actually bringing it all together can be two separate entities. So, just what can you do to build a successful career in healthcare, and where should you begin the process?

Have a Vision

A vision is going to help you get clarity on your goals, and it is going to allow you to push forwards. Without a vision, you will not know what you want to achieve within healthcare, and you will certainly struggle to achieve it. So, with this in mind, what does your vision consist of, and what do you see yourself doing? For instance, do you see yourself being a nursing leader, or would you like to improve the standards and quality of care? What does your vision look like, and how are you going to bring it in line with reality? A vision may be personal to you, or it may be shared with others. 

Know Your Starting Point

Once you have ascertained what your starting point is, you must then establish what your starting point is. For instance, are you starting from a junior level, are you starting from a position that you have held for a few years. Or are you starting from scratch? What level are you at, and what does your entry/starting point look like? When you know your starting point, you can then push forwards with ease. A starting point will give you a good sense of direction, and it will allow you to start building your healthcare career with clarity. If you do not establish what point you are starting from, then how are you going to be able to reach for more and achieve more?

Focus on What You Love

To build a successful career, you must do something that you love. If you are not focusing on what you love, then your work and your career will be passionless, and this is then surely a recipe for disaster. When you are focusing on what you love, you are, in fact, giving your all to your job and to each day you are at work. When you are ensuring that you are giving 100% all of the time, you can then be sure that you will get the most out of your career. Within your healthcare career, you may find that there will be areas that you do not love or even enjoy doing, and this is perfectly natural. Learning to accept this, learning to grow, and focusing on the aspects that you love is what is important.

Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

You will have strengths and weaknesses within your offering and within your current role. Some of these strengths and weaknesses you may be aware of, whereas you may not be too sure about others. Establishing where your strengths and weaknesses lie and then moving forwards is important. When you can build on your strengths and develop those weaknesses that you hold, you can then become an all-around better professional. If you are unsure about where your strengths and weaknesses lie, then why not evaluate your recent performance at work, and see where there is room for improvement. For example, did you pull your weight in the role, or were you perhaps not as invested as you should have been. Strength and weaknesses can come in many guises, and it may take some time for you to appreciate what they are – so be sure not to rush this process.

Looking at Helping Others

When you are focusing on building your career, it can be easy just to focus on yourself. However, as you will find (especially within healthcare), this will rarely get you very far. However, when you look at helping others, you can, in fact, push your career too. Help other colleagues, build and forge strong relationships, and help patients too. Listen to patients and see how you improve and enhance their experience.

Invest in Your Education

Your education is going to be one of the building blocks you require in your career. It is going to be something that is constant all throughout your career. When you are prepared to invest in your education, you will then find that you are prepared to invest in your future too, and this will help you to build a successful career. Healthcare professionals have to be informed, aware, and knowledgeable about the sector and about their role, and quite a lot of this knowledge will come from enhancing your education – so do keep this in mind. For more information, explore the various educational opportunities and resources available to you, as they will serve as the foundation for your successful and fulfilling career in the healthcare sector.

Build Your Resume

Your resume is going to sell you and sell your skills too. If your resume is not looking (or sounding) as good as it should, then you need to make changes quickly. You only have one shot to impress with your resume, and it is not getting you noticed – how can you expect to build the successful career that you want. When it comes to creating a resume that gets results, you need to follow a format that works. Stick to short and sweet resumes, and make sure that you only create one or two pages. Super-length resumes will not get looked at, and they will be discounted from shortlists as they are boring and not to the point.

Be Prepared to Grow and Change

To move with your career, you have to be in tune with what is going on with you and, of course, within your surroundings. As such, you have to be prepared to change and grow (whenever the occasion calls for it). If you are not going to be prepared to adapt, change or grow, then you may find that this will hinder your career and its success. When it comes to change and growth, you also need to look at your mindset, as this is one thing that can end up holding you back (unnecessarily).

Networking

Sometimes it is who you know that matters and this can be especially true (when you are building a career). Networking with other professionals and building your contacts can prove beneficial to your efforts, and it can even help you to exploit future opportunities too. Networking can, at times, feel tedious – especially if you begin the process without a plan of action. When you know what value you want to get out of each session, you will see that networking is important to your career and to your development. You will meet a lot of professionals who have skills and attributes that are complementary to your own offering, and this is when networking is especially positive.

Set Goals

To end up with the career that you want, you have to set goals. You are going to struggle to realize any objectives – if you have not set workable and achievable goals. When you have goals in place, you have something to work towards, and you have something to aim for. Career growth and development can at times feel slow, and it can seem like you are going through stagnant periods. When this happens, doubt may creep in, and this is when you might notice you start to lose your direction. To stop this from happening, you will find it beneficial to set goals. Goals that cover the shorter term (such as the next 12 months), as well as longer-term goals (such as those that cover the next five years), will be good for you and good for your career.

Develop Your Skills 

You have a lot of skills to offer, and these may have been skills that you have built up in your current role, or they may have been skills that you developed in previous roles. When you invest and focus on developing your skills, you commit to making yourself a better professional. When you are a better healthcare professional, you have a higher chance of a successful career. So, looking at your skills, where would you say that there is room for growth and improvement? Are you excellent at teamwork – or is this something you should be focusing on? Hard skills such as education and soft skills such as communication will help you to realize career goals and aims.

Work On Communication

You will not get very far in your healthcare career if you are avoiding working on your communication skills (as there is always room for improvement). Being an effective communicator at all levels is crucial for all healthcare professionals, and it is something you must start working on. Listening more and even changing your style and approach to suit the group of people you are conversing with is essential. If you are not an effective communicator, you will struggle to get your point across, and you will struggle to be heard and understood clearly – and of course, this is not going to be beneficial to your career.