Questions on a potential career change

Daisy Konter

November 28,2023 at 2:20PM UTC

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Questions on a potential career change

I recently graduated with my undergraduate in Healthcare Administration, and I can’t find a job to save my life. To help me boost my resume, I’ve been considering obtaining a certification from Coursera in Human Resources. Note I have no experience in HR, so I’m a little apprehensive about going that route because I don’t know if it will hurt me or help me. I’m wondering how it will be viewed. Help.

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AnonymousNovember 28,2023 at 5:38PM UTC
Without the HR degree to back it up, you are going to need experience (and honestly, painfully, it's one of those things...you need the experience to get the job and need the job to get the experience). Free courses on Coursera may help you when you have the job, but I imagine it won't help you get the job. After I got my degree (and this was before I realized the value of internships), it took me a few years to land an HR job and when I did, it was in a temp to perm role as an HR administrative assistant. It was what I needed to get the experience I needed, ended up staying there 10 years working in various areas of HR.
Daisy KonterNovember 28,2023 at 8:59PM UTC
Thank you for your input. I was afraid of this answer, but you have a valid point.
ChrishoggDecember 1,2023 at 2:31PM UTC
Two things here:
1) If you mean by "can't find a job" you don't know of anyone who's hiring, searching Indeed for "healthcare administrator" shows 113 jobs and "healthcare administration" shows 6,423 jobs,
2) If you mean you have found jobs and have applied but can't get hired (or better, have not yet been hired), you would, I believe, benefit by first reading The Job Closer, and second The 2-Hour Job Search (Second Edition), both by Steve Dalton.
Finally, if all you're doing is finding advertised jobs and applying, you will most likely have way better results by focusing on networking and informational interviewing, and for that see https://www.amazon.com/20-Minute-Networking-Meeting-Professional-Network/dp/098591064X
Zofia JaneczekDecember 1,2023 at 10:50PM UTC
Any certs will help in healthcare but the truth is you really need to know someone or get a recommendation from someone to get into healthcare in the admin capacity.
If no experience you need to get someone's help. Look into healthcare temp agencies. Do you know any nurses, doctors, PA basically anyone in healthcare that can vouch for you? Your field is extremely competitive right now as is most admin in the USA medical or outside of it. Can you volunteer somewhere in a hospital? That sometimes gets your foot in the door. Good luck! It's very tough out there.