Insights: How to land the healthcare job of your dreams

In this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast, we’re joined by Lauren Swanson, SPHR, Sr. Manager of Human Resources Talent for MGMA. Swanson has nearly a decade of healthcare HR experience and has unique perspective of both sides of the industry’s ever-changing job market.

To post a job or browse hundreds of available positions nationwide, visit the MGMA Career Center at careers.mgma.com. You can also search for related articles, podcasts, books, webinars, member tools and other resources at mgma.com/resources.

Don’t quite have time to listen to the entire episode? No worries. We’ve compiled highlights from Swanson’s and Voss’s interviews for your convenience: 

• (9:44) “If you want to live in the mountains, if you want to go to the ocean, if you want to be in the big city, there’s a lot of opportunity there. … It’s thinking about where you want to be as a human, where you will thrive and seeking out employment there.” – Lauren Swanson
• (12:02) “In the constant changing healthcare industry, there’s always changes that are coming. You have to be cutting edge, and a huge, key element of that is being resilient. There’s going to be quite a few questions that potentially your hiring manager may ask to identify how is this person going to be a change agent? Are they going to be resistant or are they going to be willing to step up to the plate and to help guide, even when things might feel a little uneasy?” – Lauren Swanson
• (24:30) “I think a key thing to ask and what I think excites me is specifically when a candidate asks, ‘How will my role specifically impact the vision? How will I be a bigger part of the whole sum of its parts?’” – Lauren Swanson 
• (29:08) “Unemployment is so drastically low that this gives the candidate greater opportunity to sometimes step outside your comfort zone. Is there a different specialty I want to get into? Is there another leg of the healthcare industry? … There’s a multitude of opportunities right now because there’s a high supply of jobs, so take the opportunities and don’t be afraid to take risks and guide your way.” – Lauren Swanson
• (32:35) “A lot of the demographics that used to be in the comp survey have now moved into that practice profile setting. Really, it’s a one-stop shop for all their practice information, which they can go ahead and set up now. And then they can really dive into the provider side and really focus on that and the management staff level as well.” – Ashley Voss

Here are some links and reference related to this week’s show: 

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook – Healthcare 
• Strong September healthcare hiring behind historically low unemployment rate 
• How Can Medical Professionals Avoid Compassion Fatigue? 
• 5 of the Toughest Health Care Interview Questions – And How to Answer Them 
• Health care jobs will keep the US labor market going – even if there’s a recession 
• How to Successfully Negotiate Your Healthcare Job Offer 

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We love hearing from listeners about the show. If you have topics you’d like us to cover or experts you’d like us to interview, email us at podcasts@mgma.com or reach out to MGMA Sr. Editor and podcast host Daniel Williams on Twitter at @MGMADaniel. 

MGMA Insights is presented by Decklan McGee, Rob Ketcham and Daniel Williams.