Career Advice: Pitfalls and Best Practices

The healthcare IT industry is unique, dynamic and changing. General career advice can be found everywhere, but how do you gather career tips to truly help you in your career in healthcare IT? You can seek advice from the Internet (which is general), your family and friends (which is emotional and well-meaning), or external mentors, consultants, or vendors (which can be useful).

Healthcare IT is ever changing, but in many ways, healthcare organizations and hiring managers are ultra-conservative and formal. Your career moves depend on making the best decisions as you compete in this environment. Check out these pitfalls to avoid and positive tips to incorporate into your next career move in healthcare IT.

10 career pitfalls

You should not:

• Keep your resume to 1 to 2 pages
• Put a photo on your resume
• Include references and contact information on your resume
• Leave off the early years of your career on your resume
• Use too many slang words or even swear words during an interview
• Talk negatively about current or past employers
• Attend executive meetings without ever inviting your senior staff
• Dress casually during a video interview or interview on “casual” Friday
• Send a group thank-you note to a panel of interviewers
• Be secretive about compensation or relocation concerns

10 successful career tips

You should:

• Build a large network of other healthcare IT professionals
• Speak, write, and teach
• Be a people person, make rounds, have executive presence
• Look people in the eye and have a firm handshake
• Keep learning and growing, add advanced degrees and certifications
• Mentor, groom and empower staff
• Seek a well-balanced work and home life
• Be flexible and open to new opportunities
• Spell-check and grammar-check your resume, cover letter, and emails
• Keep references up to date and stay in contact

Consider these pitfalls and tips as you position yourself for your next health system CIO or IT leadership position. Much of this advice is common sense, but these are helpful reminders when seeking a new challenge and opportunity in the healthcare IT industry.