You’re soon to complete your course of study with the Allen School and gearing up to go out and
seek healthcare jobs in the marketplace. Whether you’re a newly minted medical billing and coding pro, a soon-to-be certified nursing assistant or a medical office assistant, networking is a crucial step in moving up the ladder from a good job to the next, better job and so forth.
But networking isn’t just attending job fairs and handing out resumes or business cards by the hundreds. Neither is it posting all willy-nilly on boards like LinkedIn, Indeed and others. Of course, all these activities mentioned are part of networking to land more and better healthcare jobs. But its not just what you do to network, but
how you do it!
The key to successful networking is focusing on building relationships with people where there is a mutual opportunity for both parties to gain from the interaction. Simply accepting the networking requests of anyone who invites you to do so is a waste of time. Find people in hiring positions, or even in positions you’d like to hold within any given company or industry. Reach out to those folks and offer to help them support their efforts in any area they may be in need of help. Do it well, and you’ll build a network of folks who will be happy to help you with your job-related challenges when you need it. Be wary of connecting/networking with people who are only interested in what you can do for them. These people are a time sink and not likely to help you find your next healthcare jobs.
Here are some networking tips from leading business minds:
1. Keep your network fresh and up to date – Jeff Ragovin, Former CSO, Salesforce
2. Focus on building relationships – Aaron Hurst, CEO of Imperative
3. Add value without expecting anything. – Jon Levy, Author and Renowned Influencer
4. Network with people live, not just online. – Allen Lo, Google
5. Join Professional Groups. – Ines Gonzalez, Director at LinkedIn
Share your most effective networking strategies in the comments to help the next generation of medical billers, nursing assistants and medical office assistants get a leg up in the field.
