The Healthcare sector has long been viewed as a safe-haven, economically speaking, for professionals. Insulated from most recessions, downturns, and bear markets.
When the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) began, the logical initial thought would be that a health-related crisis would most likely stimulate the sector, and maybe even add more jobs. Right?
Guess again...
Recent data collected from the Peterson Center on Healthcare depicts a very different tale this time around. This is because the current economic condition is being driven by a pandemic which we have not seen the likes of before (at least in recent years).
In response to concerns that hospitals and health systems would be overburdened by COVID-19 cases and that supplies would be scarce (PPE, Ventilators, etc.), non-emergency, elective, and/or routine medical services were either delayed or cancelled. To top that off, public concerns of contracting the virus led signaficant numbers of people to delay or stop seeking medical care that they may have otherwise sought out.
Due to these reasons, healthcare revenue fell sharply acorss the nation in March and April of 2020, and more than 1.5 million healthcare jobs were lost from February through April of 2020.
There is "some" hope on the horizon however. In May, 300,000+ jobs were added back into the sector mainly due from the relaxation of quaratine mandates and the easing of social distancing that greatly affected office-based physician, clinical, and dental services. It is worth mentioning though that hospitals and nursing care facilities continued to lose jobs in May.
The future is still unknown, but if you're in healthcare and have been displaced or laid off by the pandemic, we'd love to help in anyway we can.
See some quick tips below to better your chances at landing your next opportunity.
(1) Spruce up the resume and LinkedIn profile
Tell your story, pull the numbers, list your accomplishments and most importantly convey the impact they've had on your team, department, patients, community, etc. Be sure to upload that headshot for LinkedIn too!
(2) Get "Video" ready
Prepare for video interviews by practicing being in front of the camera/laptop at home. Get the lighting right, the background set, and make sure your mic works. Seriously check that.
(3) Research hiring managers at companies you want to work for and reach out.
LinkedIn connect requests are probably the way to go here, but if you know someone at a facility, hospital, or tech firm that you want to work for, reach out and ask for a warm introduction to a decision maker.
(4) Get in touch with a recruiting firm that specializes in your field.
A good executive search and recruiting firm in your industry is going to already know hiring managers, decision makers, hiring trends, etc. in the space you want to be in. If they don't, they'll at least be able to point you in the right direction. Get in touch with them. If you do, and you're "presumably" in Healthcare or Health-Tech, I'd recommend Trailhead Recruiting.
But what do I know? I'm just a recruiter who started his own firm in the midst of a pandemic.
Desperate times call for desperate measures...
References: Peterson Center on Healthcare Study
