Blog Post: How to Overcome: Experience required?

Hi Misha,

Thanks for the encouraging article. You're right about there being all kinds of job opportunities in health care, but so far I've been coming upon the same stumbling block over and over again. For HR and Training professionals to get into the health care field, it seems to be almost mandatory to FIRST have experience in the health care field. Any suggestions how I can break out of this impasse? Michelle

Well, Michelle, I recently sat in on an awesome presentation by Daisy Swan & Associates, the Los Angeles Career Coach. The topic was career transition. We got to hear from 5 amazing people who had achieved great success in their chosen fields, entertainment, music, PR, but for one reason or another were searching for a change. One of the women was a 20 year veteran in producing live television events. She was a seasoned professional and very successful, but then reality TV came along and itunes and suddenly the days of live long format music type shows were pretty much gone. She is still young and was looking to "find her next career" but wasn't entirely sure where to start. She was smart enough to know that networking is a great way to meet people and learn about different industries so against her own grain, she starting going to networking events. She happen to start talking with a man at one event and learned about his business in product development. Her curiosity was piqued enough to follow up with him.. mind you there was no discussion of a job or any opportunity for that matter. She called the gentleman up after the event and reminded him who she was and asked if she might take him to coffee to learn more about what he does. Long story short, as a grown up women let's say mid 40's with an awesome career thus far (ie she was used to earning some serious cash) she asked him to forgo paying her if she might shadow him and learn... she basically became his right hand - without pay... an internship of sorts or apprentice.. whatever you want to call it - she worked for free so that she could learn this new business. 3 months later he hired her full time and paid her for lost wages (to make up for the 3 months). Two years later she is an invaluable asset to his management team. He travels a lot and in his absence, she basically runs the company and calls the shots. She went from TV producer to product development - very different industries and found much success. I tell you this story, because it illustrates that it is never to late to learn and grow. Sometimes we have to put ourselves in tough situations to get what we want and sometimes we have to take a step back to make a leap forward.

So to answer your question about getting experience... you have to get creative. Maybe you apprentice with a smaller operation in health care, maybe you go back to school for a few classes or an entire degree, maybe you take a lower position to get your foot in the door. If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times, great people are hard to find and when they do come along smart employers know to grab them and many times will even create a position to bring you on board. Get creative. I know most of us can't afford to go without pay, but if you really want to get experience sometimes you have to go to the extreme. Good luck and keep me posted... Don't forget to network!! :)