Have you ever thought of using a Health IT Job video resume?

Usually spanning one to three minutes long, a video resume can be an excellent complement to a traditional resume. It allows job applicants to highlight certain skills such as leadership, presentation, and creative abilities. Video resumes are commonly circulated in professions that are influenced by appearances, such as singing, dancing, and acting. However, they are now successfully being used in more conventional fields like Information Technology, and more even specialized groups like Healthcare Information Technology.

Today, quality digital recording devices are readily available, making a video resume couldn’t be easier.

Here are some of the advantages of a video resume for a Health IT Job:

• You can review an applicant’s communication skills

• You will see how an applicant presents their technical skills orally

• You will learn about an applicant’s personality

Here are some of the advantages of a video resume for a Health IT Job seeker:

• It may open doors to a targeted employer

• It can set you apart from other potential applicants

• It may move forward a stalled phone interview process

A video resume IS NOT a replacement to a written one, but will complement a written resume nicely. Click on

www.hitpermjobs.com

to upload your video resume.

-Sheila

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of HIT Perm Jobs.  She can be reached at sheila@hitpermjobs.com.

Is care provided by nurse-practitioners as good as that of doctors?  An expanded US Agency is about to conduct studies to determine if that is the case.

The agency, called the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, was created by the 2010 health-care legislation. According to the website: “The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent organization created to help people make informed health care decisions and improve health care delivery. PCORI will commission research that is guided by patients, caregivers and the broader health care community and will produce high integrity, evidence-based information.  PCORI is committed to transparency and a rigorous stakeholder-driven process that emphasizes patient engagement. PCORI will use a variety of forums and public comment periods to obtain public input throughout its work.” Republican opponents of the law say the institute will lead to government-directed rationing as it judges treatments.

The agency may spend as much as $2.5 billion on research through 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. Comparing treatments will be one of five broad areas the agency plans to explore, according to the website.  Other research priorities include treatment disparities among people of differing races, gender and other characteristics; health-care systems, including the quality of care provided by nurses and physician’s assistants; how to communicate the best care options to patients and doctors; and shortening delays between lab discoveries and their clinical use.

The institute plans to announce an initial round of about 40 grants, drawn from 856 applications, in March.  To find out more, you can go to their website here: http://www.pcori.org/about/.

I, like you, need to keep up to date on the trends in healthcare IT.  I believe that good healthcare IT employees and employers need to stay one step ahead of the competition in knowing where this market is going.

In 2012, there are several trends that we all need to keep a close eye on in healthcare IT:

1. Healthcare IT organizations are beginning to adopt cloud computing.
2. ICD-10 will start to impact the healthcare organization soon, if it hasn’t already.
3. [i]pads, iphones, slates and other “mobile” devices will continue to breach the hardware platforms within healthcare IT.
4. Hiring experienced HIT talent is difficult.  Where will you be able to find the experienced and qualified healthcare IT talent needed?
5. Adoption of technology within healthcare will continue to improve.

We at HIT Perm Jobs try to keep our clients and job seekers up to date on the trends in healthcare IT.  To keep plugged in to the pulse of the industry, register here.

-Sheila Rogers

Sheila is Founder and CEO of HIT Perm Jobs.  She can be reached at 214-929-8959, or via email at Sheila@hitpermjobs.com.

• Be on time for the call.  Show the interviewer that you are serious about the position.
• Be succinct and ensure you are answering the interviewers specific questions.
• Research the background of the company that you will be interviewing with.  Many times companies will issue press releases which will give great insight into the company’s goals and recent activities.  Also be sure to go to the company’s website and view their “about us” page as well.
• Be sure that you are in a quiet environment and that you have blocked off sufficient time for the phone call.
• It is always good to have a notebook with you that you can take notes on during the phone interview.
• Because you are on the phone, it is important to be conscious of the attitude that you are presenting via your voice.  It is important that you keep energetic and try not to be monotone over the phone.  Your voice is all the interviewer has to go on – s/he cannot pick up things like body language over the phone.  If you smile while talking, your tone will immediately improve!
• If on a mobile phone or any possible phone issues, immediately when call begins, explain the use of mobile phone or bad line, and apologize in advance any dropped calls or bad signal that comes from it.  The typical understanding is the person who initiates the call always calls back if dropped.
• Bring up details about the hospital you are interviewing with, for example:  faith based organization, moved from Cerner to Epic, etc… something to make a connection.
• Don’t answer a question with just a “No” answer.  If you don’t have the experience they are asking about, relate what they are asked to something with which you have experience.
• Be flexible.  Strange things can happen during interviews.
• Always remain positive.  It can be very detrimental to an interviewer if a candidate talks negatively at length about a previous employer or about the environment of a previous position.
• Be prepared to answer technical questions.  Be sure to review the technical specifications on a job description.  If it has been a while since you have used a particular technology, be sure to re-familiarize yourself with it so you do not get surprised by any questions.
• Expect questions that are designed to be open ended.  Many times you will be expected to answer questions that don’t have a definitive answer.  There may be questions like “tell me about your responsibilities in your last project” or “tell me about your ideal work environment.” If you feel that the question is too broad, ask for clarification.  For example, you could ask, “Which responsibilities would you like to hear about…my management responsibilities?”
• Many hiring managers will ask you what you believe to be your own strengths and weaknesses.  The weaknesses are sometimes difficult to admit for a person, but it is important to show that you know your weaknesses and how you try to control them.
• Also be prepared to give examples of times that you were in a difficult situation.  For example: “Tell me a time of when you and your manager had disagreed.  What did you do to resolve the disagreement?” or “Tell me about a time in your career when you had a difficult task.  What steps did you take to complete this task?”  Managers will ask these questions to gauge how you may fit in with the team and how you might react when you disagree with them on some issue.
• It is always good to have 1 or 2 questions prepared for the your question part of the interview.  It shows him/her that you are taking this interview seriously and that you are interested in finding out more about the position.

With these interviewing suggestions for your next Healthcare IT position, you should “break a leg”!  Good Luck!

-Sheila Rogers

Sheila is Founder and CEO of HIT Consulting Jobs and HIT Perm Jobs.  She can be reached at 214-929-8959, or via email at Sheila@hitconsultingjobs.com, or Sheila@hitpermjobs.com.

Renee and I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for your support in 2011, and wish you all a very happy 2012!

The HIT market is very good, and we all have a lot to be thankful for.

My wish for you is a healthy and prosperous new year!

-Sheila

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of www.hitconsultingjobs.com andwww.hitpermjobs.com.  She can be reached at 214-929-8959.