This paper first provides some basic information from the Occupational Outlook Handbook about the health care industry. The rest of the paper is a reflection paper about an interview conducted with a health care professional. This reflection relates to my findings about the health care industry and how it aligns with my career objectives.
¶ … Interviewing
The healthcare industry has tremendous growth potential. America's population is aging, which combined with the large number of baby boomers entering their senior years means that the market for health care has a long-run upward trajectory. The Occupational Outlook Handbook covers a number of different health care occupations. For example, home health aides is a field that is projected to see a 48% increase in the number of jobs between 2008 and 2018. Medical assistants can expect to see 34% more jobs in that same time period, and physicians will have 22% more jobs available to them by 2018 (BLS.gov, 2012). Positions within the health care industry vary significantly in terms of the education required, with some positions required doctoral degrees, but others like home health aides being able to find work even without a high school diploma. As such, there are also a wide range of skills within the healthcare industry, ranging from highly specialized skills to relatively generic skills such as literacy and work ethic.
Forming an informational interview of about health care positions is important because this interview can help somebody to determine if they want to enter this field, and if so in what capacity. The first step, according to QuintCareers.com (2012) is to figure out who to interview. When that has been determined, the next steps involve deciding what are the best questions to ask. In this case, I have an uncle who works in a health care profession, so that is the person with whom I scheduled an interview.
The twelve questions that I created incorporate a range of issues including career potential and the fit between myself and this career. The twelve questions are listed in Appendix a. I was able to interview my uncle, who knows me well, and therefore I was able to ask questions that related to me specifically, since the interviewee was able to give good answers in that regard.
I think the thing that surprised me most about the health care occupation was just how varied it can be. I know about doctors and nurses and administrators, but I was told there is a lot more to it than that. There are researchers, salespeople, insurance people, and there are a variety of positions with equipment manufacturers. A lot of doctors, for example, do not go into private practice. You can become a lawyer or enter management, too. Basically, training in a medical background is just a contextual thing -- you can apply that knowledge to an incredibly wide range of careers. You can work for a major corporation or start your own business, and you can do just about anything you want. Education is really the key -- the higher your education is the more doors will open for you.
I like the flexibility and the growth potential of the health care profession. To me, being able to have my freedom and set my own course in life is very important. As such, the idea that with the right training I can do just about anything I want to is very appealing. The wide range of career options and working environments I think is so important, because you want to know that if there is a change in the market conditions and you lose your job, that there are other jobs you can move into. That sense of security is very important for someone who wants to come out of school and then feel secure about one's employment for the next forty years.
There are a couple of things that do not appeal to me about the health care profession. One of them is that the corporate culture seems very rigid and bureaucratic. There is a lot of paperwork and everything is very exacting. This is something that does not necessarily appeal to my personality, which is oriented towards the problem-solving aspect of the profession. Another thing that does not appeal to me about health care is that many positions require long working hours. This is okay when I am young, but I also envision a time when I will have a family and not want to work so hard so that I can see my children grow up. My uncle said some things that made me wonder if the work-life balance in the health care industry is right for me.
With my skills there is a high alignment between me and the health care industry. I also feel that helping people and improving lives is one of the biggest attractions for me in terms of values, so in that respect there are few better industries than health care. I believe that I share the same interests as a lot of people in terms of compassion and curiosity about how our body works, because that is so important to who we are as people.
I think that based on this interview the health care industry still interests me. The strong career possibilities appeals to me a lot, because I do not want to find myself looking for work in middle age, wondering where my next mortgage payment is going to come from. I also think that there is a significant alignment between what health care offers me and what I want out of life.
In order to have the flexibility that I want in this career, I believe that I must finish my undergraduate education. After working for a few years, I think I will pursue some sort of graduate education, as this will give me the most flexibility of all in finding the best position in the health care industry.
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