While health information is a rapidly growing field, finding the right entry-level position can be a challenge in any profession. The difficulty often lies not in acquiring the necessary skills or credentials, but rather integrating yourself into the professional community. To become a health information management (HIM) or health informatics professional, you'll have to think like one, and work with the collaborative nature of the industry.
Volunteer
Volunteer at a hospital, physician's office, or other facility where you'd like to work. Think of volunteering as a way to help patients and demonstrate your commitment to health information in a low-pressure environment. By volunteering, you'll build your network from within, and will increase your chances of being notified about job vacancies.
Job Shadow
HIM curricula and internships are designed to expose students to a range of opportunities and job settings. Once you've established a professional relationship with someone in health information, ask to shadow them for a day. Gain a perspective that can't be taught in a classroom or through intern experience. As a natural next step after an informational interview, job shadowing can be a great way to observe intangibles, like culture.
Join a Professional Association
Joining AHIMA's professional association automatically extends your potential network by the thousands. By attending local chapter meetings, students can have several informal "interviews" with established professionals and recent grads. Associations like AHIMA offer students the resources to turn knowledge and connections into opportunities. Best of all, most professional associations extend discounted membership offers to students.
Network
Estimates reveal that 70 to 80 percent of jobs are obtained through networking. Networking does not involve directly asking for a job, but rather developing a broad list of contacts and professional relationships within a given occupation.
In most areas,health information is a tight-knit field. Ask your professors, friends, or mentors if they can introduce you to someone in your area of interest. Most are happy to oblige and genuinely want to see students succeed.
Find others with similar career goals online through AHIMA's Communities of Practice & or sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Offline, attend professional association meetings to stay current and become a true part of the health information sphere.
Cast a Wide Net
Since employers prefer to hire from within, don't rely exclusively on Internet job postings. Find industry-specific job boards (such as AHIMA's Career Assist: Job Bank). Work with a healthcare recruiter, leverage your network, and attend virtual and real-world job fairs. By spending too much time on any job search method, you'll miss valuable opportunities.
Translate Prior Experience
Past experience is as relevant as you make it. Just as health information bridges departments and professions, entry-level job seekers should illustrate the connection between past experience and future performance. If you worked in a retail store as a student, for example, you likely learned problem-solving and attention to detail. Playing on a sports team or leading a club requires flexibility, leadership, and listening skills. Make the connection for employers and professionals, carving out a niche and defining your potential role at an organization.
Show Your Personality and Passion
Don't be afraid to convey what sets you apart, either in person or through your resume and cover letter. If you have a compelling story concerning why you chose health information or internship experience, share it when speaking with professionals or during interviews. Demonstrate your passion for health information by joining the conversation and treating your job search as seriously as you would your future job.
Exclusively for AHIMA members: Career Prep Webinars to jump-start your job search, sharpen your skills, and explore your many career options. Whether it’s resume building, interviewing, networking, or discovering AHIMA member benefits, the webinars are available to stream and get you prepared for the next awesome stage of your career.
Check out webinars facilitated by field experts—career coaches, HIM recruiters and academics, AHIMA staff, and new grads—and download the helpful worksheets and handouts from the presentations.
Currently available webinars:
CAREER PLANNING AND GOAL-SETTING
- HIM as a Second Career (New in 2016!)
- AHIMA Certification Overview (New in 2016!)
- AHIMA Certification Prep: Advice from Newly-Certified Professionals (New in 2016!)
- Making the Most of Your AHIMA Membership
- It's Not About the Color of Your Shirt: Three Secrets to Showing Up as a Professional Every Day
- Considering Career Advancement through Education? Questions You Need to be Asking!
- Launching a Career with Your First Job
- Three Tricky Truths to Avoid Undermining Your Career Advancement
- Discover Your HIM Career Path: AHIMA’s HIM Career Map©
- From First Job to Career Success
COVER LETTERS AND RESUMES
- Resume Building: Get Noticed and Get Hired
- Resumes for Results: Get That Interview!
- The Write Way to Get a Job
INTERVIEWING
- Five Steps for Interviews That Rock!
NETWORKING
- The Courage to Network: Setting Yourself Up for Success
Want to access these presentations, but can’t because you’re not a member? AHIMA Student membership is only $45 and includes amazing benefits, including discounts on textbooks, certification exams, convention registration, and more! If you’re not a student but could use excellent members-only career prep benefits, AHIMA Active membership is an affordable way to ensure you have the tools to grow professionally. Join now!
Are there career prep topics you’d like us to focus on for an upcoming webinar? Let us know at newgrads@ahima.org.
Student Academy Recordings
Couldn’t attend the Student Academy during AHIMA’s Convention and Exhibit in October 2015? AHIMA members can now stream the presentations and view the slides. Learn from field experts and Student Advisory Council members about: the future of the profession and finding your place in it; nontraditional career paths; networking and volunteering; understanding data; and strategically using AHIMA member benefit career resources. Log in and attend the Academy on your own schedule.
Student Open House Recording
Have you ever wanted to visit the AHIMA office to hear from staff and experts on HIM profession hot topics and other concerns for health information students? AHIMA recently welcomed local students to a morning of presentations to prepare them for their careers, including sessions on certification, using AHIMA online career prep tools, and the AHIMA Apprenticeship Program. Check out the recording and come visit us next spring for the next Student Open House!
Questions related to the recordings? Contact students@ahima.org.
We understand that the thought of beginning your job search post-college, or looking for a new job after being out of the industry for years, can be daunting. It doesn’t have to be! By using AHIMA’s Career Prep Workbook, you’ll actually be working through some of the steps to make each of these tasks a little easier. This member’s only tool will walk you through the process from the start: map out your career, prepare yourself for that perfect job, start searching, and finally, accept the job you deserve!
*After you open the PDF document, but be sure to save the file to your computer before working through the fields to ensure your work is saved*