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So right now I do help desk work for a computerized testing company. The problem is that I want to change careers from IT to Healthcare. Went back to school. Almost finished with my health sciences degree and I have one more class to take to get my Health IT certificate. I know Health Sciences can be broad but I was transferring credits in as a former Biology Major. Anyway, how can I get a job if all my experience is working with testing software when I want a job working with Healthcare software. I just need to get my foot in the door.
So right now I do help desk work for a computerized testing company. The problem is that I want to change careers from IT to Healthcare. Went back to school. Almost finished with my health sciences degree and I have one more class to take to get my Health IT certificate. I know Health Sciences can be broad but I was transferring credits in as a former Biology Major. Anyway, how can I get a job if all my experience is working with testing software when I want a job working with Healthcare software. I just need to get my foot in the door.
I work in IT doing software. This is what you do. You create a Linkedin profile and start to join groups and network with people working in the industries that interest you.
Look for the exact jobs you want to have, and them find people already doing them and ask for advice about how to work there and see if they can refer you for any jobs you are applying for. Ask them to view your resume for feedback.
Find user groups to join, and attend the meetings and presentations and find others with similar interests of where you want to be.
Software testing (aka Software QA (Quality Assurance) ) has a use in any IT related industry. So you might be able to get yourself into a good company by doing software QA for Healthcare related products.
Another rejection letter- I don't know what to do. Thank you for your interest in career opportunities with HealthPartners. We have given your qualifications close review for the Clinical Application Analyst position. After consideration of a competitive applicant pool, we would like to let you know that we are considering other candidates who more closely match our current needs.
I work in IT doing software. This is what you do. You create a Linkedin profile and start to join groups and network with people working in the industries that interest you.
Look for the exact jobs you want to have, and them find people already doing them and ask for advice about how to work there and see if they can refer you for any jobs you are applying for. Ask them to view your resume for feedback.
Find user groups to join, and attend the meetings and presentations and find others with similar interests of where you want to be.
Software testing (aka Software QA (Quality Assurance) ) has a use in any IT related industry. So you might be able to get yourself into a good company by doing software QA for Healthcare related products.
I just wish I knew if it's my lack of a degree or if it's the fact that I don't work with healthcare software. If it's the degree, then I can just wait until May then start applying a few months before graduation.
Get some basic credentials such as the CompTIA Health IT certification. And then show interest to prospective employers and apply for jobs.
Also ask and interview people already in the health IT field how to get started and what they did. Follow their foot steps, be patient, don't give up and eventually you will see results.
How to get my foot in the door for a Health IT job.
It starts before you are nine. You know ohm's law, understand how transistors work, and have a passive understanding of Boolean algebra. During junior high and high school, you worked at IT. You can wire an ethernet cable, understand Cat 5 through 8 and have a basic understanding of packet switching. Prior to high school graduation you created a fork of Linux to run a variant of some application like Kodi on something like but not the same as a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3.
When you get to college, your education continues. Then it's easy to get an IT job. My first computer was a digital computer, made to add 2 numbers, and was my science fair project for the 6th grade. Never had any problem getting a computer science job after graduation, during summers before college. my summer job was as a mainframe operators assistant. My first exposure to mainframes was on that job it was a Univac 1108.
During college, the IBM 3705 communications controller source was available, and as a project I added an X25 stack to it, allowing communication via packet switching before Internet. Amazing how many doors were open to me.
I work for a healthcare system in IT, but am not a clinical app analyst. I do work with them.
First, a lot of clinical IT folks have a health background. Many here are LPNs or RNs who have switched to IT at some point. Some had prior IT experience, but the vast majority have clinical experience.
All of these staff are certified from our EHR vendor. Many switch roles within the organization and collect more vendor certifications. Any sort of vendor cert from Epic, Allscripts, Cerner, whatever, will be extremely valuable to organizations using that EHR.
I work for a healthcare system in IT, but am not a clinical app analyst. I do work with them.
First, a lot of clinical IT folks have a health background. Many here are LPNs or RNs who have switched to IT at some point. Some had prior IT experience, but the vast majority have clinical experience.
All of these staff are certified from our EHR vendor. Many switch roles within the organization and collect more vendor certifications. Any sort of vendor cert from Epic, Allscripts, Cerner, whatever, will be extremely valuable to organizations using that EHR.
I work in healthcare informatics (more on the data side) and I started off in IT around 10 years ago as EHR's started becoming prominent. I worked a number of jobs and learned a few systems. since health systems tend to use a lot of the same software, once you work for one, you can kinda work for a lot of them. I also worked for a health care software vendor for a few years before coming back to working for a hospital system. my degree is in MIS, not anything healthcare related. I would be considered a clinical systems analyst.
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Originally Posted by daboywonder2002
I just wish I knew if it's my lack of a degree or if it's the fact that I don't work with healthcare software. If it's the degree, then I can just wait until May then start applying a few months before graduation.
In my experience, with Healthcare it is not a lack of degree that holds you back, its the lack of experience in the healthcare field that holds you back. It's hard to get in if not starting from the bottom and working your way up for most people. "Straight up" IT guys/gals tend not to work well with clinicians.
You applied for HealthPartners which appears to be in Minnesota, have you tried looking for jobs at United Health Group which is also in Minnesota?
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