Oh Jobs Where art Thou!! – Healthcare That’s Where

By Ian Cropp, Correspondent – Business@GW

With the job and internship search in full swing for first and second year MBAs , the economy isn’t quite where everyone had hoped it would be.  Many of the previously sure-fire MBA jobs have evaporated, and the prospect of some returning have been nothing but mirages. The good news, however, is that for the desert wanderers there may be a pretty good bet for an oasis: Health Care.

Unlike some of the more volatile industries, such as finance and commercial real estate, the health care industry is quite stable with almost guaranteed growth. There are several factors pushing the growth, including  an aging population that will need more care, a broadening definition of health care to include more social or cosmetic procedures and a growing need for more quality management.

“Because of the growth of health services, the number of organizations becomes greater and greater and all of them need management, and because of budget issues, the pressure to perform and be efficient increases as well,” said Dr. Kurt Darr, a Professor of Hospital Administration at The George Washington University’s Department of Health Services Management and Leadership and former assistant dean of the School of Government and Business Administration.

“Historical, the tradition for MBAs has been to go into the for-profit business – that’s the expected pathway,” Darr said. “I think the development of a professional degree in health services information came about because there was a need for management-trained masters or graduate students who were more focused on non-for-profit.”

Most MBAs may be familiar with the large pharmaceutical companies, but there are plenty of other sectors of the health care industry hiring.

“The GDP devoted to health care is 16 percent and likely to go higher,” Darr said.”And we haven’t even talked about insurance companies. Third-party payers, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield are going to employ, assuming they survive. Also, there will be major players for financing the system.”

“There are a large number of investor-owned providers, hospital providers, nursing homes and consulting firms that employee MBAs to carry out their missions,” Darr said. “Clinics that are predominately owned and operated for the benefit of physicians would be more likely to focus on MBAs.”

While some jobs may not be exactly what an MBA expected upon entering graduate school, opportunities are abound at assisted-living and retirement communities, as well as nursing homes.

In the current economy, however, some MBAs don’t have the luxury of seeking only high-paying positions. “The financial rewards aren’t as great, and the non-for-profit (companies) can’t provide stock,” Darr said. “It’s a different environment in terms of compensation.  On the other hand there are for-profit providers across the board, too.”

Darr foresees growth regardless of the outcome of the health care reform bills floating around in Congress. “Any legislation that passes will have an emphasis on cost control, which means competent management,” Darr said. “People who know how to gain most benefit from every dollar spent. That may mean MBAs.”

Growth in the health care industry will likely foster growth in other related fields, too. “Consulting firms will be very important,” Darr said. “Most (health care) organizations don’t have enough personnel or talent to handle special projects so there will be more need for consulting.”

A key to finding a job in the health care industry is being proactive. “There aren’t many (companies) that come on campus to recruit,” Darr said. “There are about 5,000 hospitals, but no real concentration, unlike the big six or seven banks, or the concentration you find in other industries.”

Unlike some of the finance and consumer goods internships, most health care internships are unpaid.  “If you are willing to work at an organization as intern or doing project work, you can get some entry-level experience and do some networking,” Darr said.

For MBAs looking to live in a specific area that may not have typical MBA-related positions, health care jobs often an alluring alternative. “All health care, like politics, is local — they are all where the people are,” Darr said.

Specifically, areas with high population growth or an aging demographic are likely to have many health care job opportunities. While there may be a few different techniques MBAs should use when approaching the job search in the Health Care field, MBAs can still look to their most basic tools.

“The field is small, but large, so much what happens is a matter of personal contacts and networking,” Darr said.

Job Seeking With Hollywood Celebs

Tired of that same old resume format??? Or is your resume same as thousands others in your business school. Here’s one way you can drive up your resume to the top of the selection pile – get it endorsed from a celebrity. For $300,  B, C, and arguably D-list celebrities, like Lou Ferrigno a.k.a The Incredible Hulk,  will videotape themselves reading your résumé or cover letter. If that’s too expensive, no worries. You can also pay $19.95 for a celeb to leave a 30-second voice mail for a potential boss.

For more, click and read : http://www.newsweek.com/id/216594

 

GMAT: The MBA Job Seeker’s Best Friend

Elite corporate recruiters use GMAT scores to narrow the field of applicants. Some schools are advising low scorers to retake the test. The primary purpose of the Graduate Management Admissions Test may be winning the favor of B-school admissions committees, but that’s not all those four hours of geometry and critical reasoning questions are good for. For many students, the scores they get on the GMAT will reach an audience that might be even more important—job recruiters.

For more click and read: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/oct2009/bs20091019_412671.htm

Health care has job opportunities

The recession may have wiped out a number of jobs in the US economy. But there may yet be a cure for those left unemployed by the economic downturn. Recruiters are saying that the healthcare reform could trigger the job market creating jobs for new MBA graduates.

For more read: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/11/08/bus_554883.shtml

Jobs Ahoy!!! @ The Alumni Network

With fewer jobs being available through job sites nad on-campus recruitment cycles this year, alumni networks are becming more critical for b-school students. An old saying, “It’s not what you know, but it’s who you know” rings particularly true as recruiters are deluged wth qualapplications and seemingly flawless resumes. But even a professional connection, schools are turning towards alumni as a source for fresh job offers, relying on the foundation of trust that many school networks automatically confer.

To read more on this click on to: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2009/bs20090330_869479.htm

The Cycle of Hire and Fire

Not all seems to be lost when it come to high unemployment rates. As many companies have seen lay offs in large numbers, big and small corporations alike seem to have taken a liking to the hire as many as they have fired over the past few months. Boeing Co. cut more than 3,000 jobs in the first four months of 2009, most from its commercial-airplanes unit as airlines deferred orders. But the aviation giant added 106 employees in its defense arm, and is looking for hundreds more.

To read more about this click on to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124198904713604533.html

Not getting any…think about unpaid internships

It’s that time of the year again. With most business schools getting record application for post graduate study this year, getting your dream internship for the summer is going to get more competitive.  But fret not for you can always look  working as an unpaid intern. Internships—temporary positions that pay little or no salary—are typically designed for college students or recent graduates exploring potential career paths .

To read more about this click on to :

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203577304574280201046918712.html

Building Resilient Leaders Is Critical Now – Dr. Kayes

By D Christopher Kayes, Dean’s Research Scholar & Associate Professor of Management, GW School of Business.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, was fired from the top job of the company after leading it into a multi-billion dollar company. He would later tell a group of graduating college students at Stanford that “Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

The creative period mentioned by Jobs included developing Pixar, and many other innovations. Job’s story is about resilience. So, What is resilience? Resilience describes the ability to adapt in the face of adversity, stress, crisis and error and involves recovering from challenging experiences.

Why is resilience critical now?

Never has there been a time when resilience has been so critical to the success of leaders. The constriction of worldwide economic growth evidenced by US unemployment hovering around 8.1 percent with at least four states above 10%. Those who remain employed face dramatic budget cuts, the prospect of future job losses and reorganizations. The current crisis only heightens the frenetic, stressful, and fast paced workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 4.4 million jobs were lost in 2007 alone, it is not overstating the case that in this generation, building resilience in yourself and others has become critical skill almost overnight.

What factors should you consider when building resilience?

Resilience is a learned behavior. Resilience is not a trait, such as hair color or height; we are not born into a predetermined level of resilience. Resilience begins with a set of attitudes and behaviors that you learn over time. The resilient ‘you’ remains open to new ways of thinking, shows a willingness to bounce back from adversity or failure, and develops an evolving set of skills that adapt to changing situations.  Specifically, resilience means that you continually develop new and varied competencies, improve your ability to assess and make decisions in a situation, all the while remaining humble and inclusive.

Four specific strategies to help build resilience.

Updating. Updating as a strategy for building resilience involves adding to or modernizing your skills to better match the current environment. Compared to prior generations, today’s workers change jobs more often, need to update skills, and may even change entire careers several times over their working lives. Updating your skills and knowledge may be one of the most important steps you can take to build resilience during tough economic times. Although the national unemployment rate hovers over 8 percent, the unemployment rate among those with a college education is only at 4 percent. Despite the economic down turn, sectors like healthcare, education, and government continue to grow new jobs.

Taking the long-term view. Western cultures hold a natural tendency to focus on the here and now, the short term. Too often, however, our short term focus prevents us as leaders from bouncing back from immediate failure. In the U.S., for example, goals tend to be short-term focused, while many Eastern cultures, like those in Japan, China, and Thailand focus on the long term. In response to the economic downturn, Japanese car maker Toyota found a silver lining, despite finding sales plummet in 2008. The downturn allowed the company to focus on retooling it offering, in preparation for 2030! It is not just leaders of large organizations that focus on the long term, leaders of all types need to move beyond short term goals, those that can be accomplished in 18 months or less, and focus on fundamental changes that take years, or even decades to accomplish.

Measured optimism. Take stock of your successes to date. Have you started or even finished a certification (or a year of Graduate school!?), worked through the difficulties of a job you didn’t like, started a business, or raised a family? These are the types of accomplishments that we often take for granted but shouldn’t. Appreciate the things you have, not those you want to accomplish. Being optimistic about the future requires being happy with our past.

Developing relationships. The best learning is about teaching others. This development can take many forms such as becoming a mentor, or coaching someone through a tough spot or a career crossroads.  Developing relationships is about creating opportunities for others to learn. Recognizing and reading the needs of others is also part of developing relationships. As we discussed in class this past fall, many studies have shown that money is often not the best or only motivator. Fully engaging in something means finding challenging and interesting work assignments and creating meaning from the work and goals you set. At its core, resilience involves creativity on the part of you, the leader!

To read or hear podcasts by Dr. Kayes, log on to www.theoaktongroup.com

Linking with the Linked In

By Shalini Dua, Chief Correspondent

Looking for that elusive job / internship? Well, LinkedIn may have the answer to all you career search options. Many individuals had their first online networking experience through purely social sites like MySpace and Facebook, and as the first generation of users had to navigate the murky waters of online etiquette through trial, error and feedback from their peers. Linked In, a pioneer for the online networking for careers niche is no exception. However, the stakes are much higher.  A mistake can ruin future opportunities.  So although it’s amazing the number of connections that can be made online, some discretion should be used when using professional networking sites such as Linked In. Here are some specific tips we found at The Business Blog and ezine articles.

1. Be professional: This one sounds so obvious but it’s the little things that can turn people off. Be clear and concise in your writing and make it interesting. If you can’t hold people’s attention they are never going to find out what exactly it is you do.

2. Keep it professional: No one needs to know all of your hobbies or any truly personal details. The ‘what are you working on?’ option is not equivalent to your Facebook status. Make sure it is regarding a substantial project.

3. Privacy Settings: Be familiar with the privacy options and make sure you are comfortable with them.

4. Invite only the people you know: It is tempting to invite anyone to your network, who looks like they have the connections you need, but unless you have an actual relationship don’t approach them. Building a good relationship is what linked-in is all about and that person is going to help people they have had contact with in the past before they are willing to help a stranger. Building a small network of individuals who know your work and are willing to help you and vice versa is going to give you a much stronger payoff in the long run.

5. When establishing a connection: If it’s not someone you are in touch with on a regular basis, remind people of how you know them, or how you’ve been connected. As above, establishing that relationship is key in getting and holding your audiences attention.

6. Be honest: Don’t lie about your experiences for a couple of reasons. First, you may connect with an old boss or co-worker who can see these exaggerations and spread that opinion to others. Second, you may be asked to perform this task at the next job or at least speak intelligently about it to a contact made through Linked In. A lie will not only make you look bad but reflects negatively on the person who connected you. Lying on Linked In can get you into trouble.

7. Do Unto Others: Make sure to pass along the good karma. Even if you haven’t felt the benefits in this tough economy, help anyone in your network when you can because you never know when it will come back to you.

 
References: http://www.intuitive.com/blog/etiquette_for_linkedin_and_the_professional_networking_world.html

 

 

Blog On…Get a Job

With competition so fierce for every open position these days, even the smallest edge can make the difference in landing you that interview or even a job. One way to gain an advantage: Start a blog about your profession or industry.  Recruiters are now Googling blogsites to find the ‘perfect fit’ for vacancies in thier respective companies.

Read more at : http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-blogging_your_way_into_a_job-807