Tag Archives: healthcare support

How to Stand out During an Interview

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As of September, 2018, there were more than six million Americans look for a job. And while there are at least that many job openings, many are in lower paying job sectors. To say that the competition is fierce for permanent, well-paying, career positions is no understatement. With so many applicants, it’s more important than ever to make yourself memorable (in a good way) after you’ve been chosen among the sea of job seekers to have an interview with the company you’re looking to join.

  1. Be polite and respectful

    While we agree that this should be expected of all applicants, the reality of today’s society is that not all people take the time to be polite and kind. Your demeanor counts and that note thanking the interviewer for his or her time could just be the small thing that sets you apart.

  2. Look professional

    Dress as if you already held the position you’re seeking (and not on a casual day). Your look will help the interviewer to envision you in the open position.

  3. Do your homework

    Again, every applicant should learn a little bit about the company they are looking to join, but many don’t take the time. Ask a few thoughtful questions that show you are interested enough to learn whether the company will be a good fit for you.

  4. Answer questions with examples

    When an interviewer asks you about what skills you’ll bring to the open position, answer with an example of what you’ve done in the past rather than a generic (an unsubstantiated) trait.

Job interviews are undeniably stressful, and the competition for most jobs is considerable. Make your time in front of the person doing the hiring count by being polite and respectful, dressing for the position, taking time to do your homework and trying to answer questions with examples rather than platitudes.

How to Write a Thank You Email Following an Interview

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Congratulations! You nailed that interview for your dream job. Rather than simply wait around to hear from your prospective employer, there are a number of proactive steps you can take post-interview to reinforce your interest in the position. One of the simplest and most effective ways is to say thank-you.

Why Say Thanks?

Most importantly, it’s common courtesy to thank someone for taking the time to meet with you. But it’s also an additional opportunity to put yourself out there and possibly impress your next employer. In a competitive job market, small things can make the difference between two equally qualified candidates.

Tips for Crafting an Effective Thank You Email

  • Don’t delay; send your thank you within 24 hours of your interview. HR decisions are often made quickly, and you’ll want to cement a good first impression as quickly as possible.
  • Send it to everyone who met with you, not just the lead interviewer. They all took the time; they should all be thanked. And you never know who will be in your corner should the hiring decision be made by committee. That said, avoid a group email and take the time to craft individualized messages.
  • Don’t be overly casual, but try to be friendly and positive rather than formal. If it’s appropriate, remind them who you are by touching briefly on a laugh or point of interest that came up during your interview.
  • If you promised to send additional information about yourself (social media profiles, an online portfolio, work samples) or some point of conversation shared during your interview, include links.
  • Gracefully, reiterate why you are the best person for the job.
  • Check for grammar or spelling – there should be no mistakes in your thank you note.
  • Be sincere. You are grateful for the opportunity to interview so express that clearly.

Writing thank you notes may be a dying art form, but real courtesy never gets old. Keep your post-interview thank you email brief, relevant and warm. That way, even if you don’t get the job, you’ll be leaving those who interviewed you with a great impression that may yield future opportunities.

Writing a Resume the Right Way

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It’s time. You’ve put this off for months now and it’s constantly nagging you in the back of your mind. It’s time to update your resume. Resume work is one of the most tedious tasks because there are so many wrong ways to do it and contradicting tips across the internet. There’s also the common rule that resumes should be one page long, whether you’re struggling to fill it or your experience is overflowing, don’t let this trip you up. We’re here to make resume writing a skill all can succeed at!

So, what should be put on it and what should not?

A resume is composed of four main sections:

  1. Contact Information

  2. Skills/Professional Summary

  3. Experience

  4. Education

The way it is organized should be based on how you want to format your resume and how you want to prioritize your information.

  1. Contact Information

The important contact information you must include on your resume:

  • Your name
  • Current email address
  • Current phone number

Adding your mailing address to your resume is optional, but certainly makes it easier for recruiters to make sure they are contacting you only for positions that are near you. Remember that if any of your contact information changes you should update your LinkedIn and any other locations your resume is housed.

  1. Skills/Professional Summary

Consider this a snapshot of your experience and the part that will capture the reader’s attention and determine whether or not they’ll continue reading your resume. The ‘Skills’ or ‘Professional Summary’ section is a list compiled of your best skills and is most commonly shown using bullet points.

You might list something like:

  • 5+ years medical front office experience
  • Sufficient in Microsoft Suite, specific scheduling software, etc.
  • Ability to answer multi-line phone with 100 inbound calls per day while operating check-in window

  1. Experience

This section will take up a good chunk of the space, but keep in mind that not every job will go on it. You only want the jobs you’ve had in the past 10 years or the most relevant ones. Also, make sure there are no gaps in your job history.

You want to have your most recent job at the top of your ‘Experience’ list and then have your jobs listed in reverse-chronological order. When labeling your experiences, you should have a maximum of five bullet points under each job.

Here’s a tip! If you are applying for a job, go off the advertised job description and elaborate your experience for that skill on your resume. When you get the chance, use numbers to quantify your experience.

  1. Education

The ‘Education’ section should list the schools you attended and the degrees you’ve earned. Just like in your ‘Experience’ section, this should be in reverse-chronological order. If you’ve graduated from schools higher than high school, leave your high school off.

Add your major and what you studied or concentrated in. Along with your studies, fill in any awards or honors you received whether it’s Valedictorian or Honor’s Society. If you don’t think your GPA is good enough, don’t put it. And, if you’re not a student, don’t put it at all. Also, make sure to put the month and year you graduated.

Now that we know what to put in your resume, let’s go over some things that absolutely shouldn’t be on your resume.

  1. Anything personal such as your height, weight, social security number, marital status, your religious beliefs, or your sex.
  2. Don’t be that person who has the word “Resume” written at the top of it. The employer will know 100% that it is, indeed, a resume.
  3. Leave your photographs out of it. Selfies cropped to remove friends from the picture and even some professional head shots can be a laughing stock. And due to Equal Employment Opportunity legislation, an employer would never ask for this.
  4. Grammar and Spelling Errors!!! Make sure you double, triple check that you have no errors on your resume.

At HealthCare Support, our recruiters are resume writing experts. In fact, one of our recruiters average at least 20 resumes a week. If you feel stuck and need a hand, we are here to help you display your skills to the best of your ability and land your dream job!

Are you Dreaming of a White (and Worry-Free) Christmas?

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! People’s cubicles and offices are decorated in all things merry, seasonal candles are being burned, and holiday music is flowing out of speakers. Everyone’s getting antsy and they know it’s almost time to get out of town to be reunited with their families. Some people may have mentally checked out already, these people are part of the Great Christmas “Click Off”. December 16th is the day of the Great Christmas “Click Off”, meaning this day is the point when productivity plummets in the office. Don’t be a part of the “Click Off”, push until the holiday. We even made it easy for you by brainstorming some ways to make sure all your responsibilities are done, and you are worry-free before heading home for holidays!

  • When you know the dates of your vacation, let your manager and coworkers know. Put your hours in early and make sure it’s not around any important deadlines or meetings.
  • There is nothing worse than coming back into the office from a long weekend and having your desk be a mess. Before heading out for the holidays, go through your drawers and organize them. Get some Windex and give your desk a wipe down. If someone needs to find a file in one of your drawers, it will be easy for them to find. Plus, you’ll be all set to grind in the new year!
  • Have two separate to-do lists. One needs to be time-sensitive. These involve things that absolutely must be done before you leave. The other list includes things that aren’t as time sensitive but still need to be done before you go. Also, check your calendar and see if there is anything coming up when you get back from the holidays.
  • Clear your schedule for the last two hours before you leave for the holidays and the first two hours you get back from the holidays. A coworker may have an important, last minute task that you need to attend to or someone might need your undivided attention as soon as you return.
  • Find a coworker to cover for you. Make sure they have everything they need during your time off. Meet with them before you leave and answer any questions they may have. Tell your coworkers and boss this person will be filling in for you while you’re gone. Lastly, bring them back a little something for all they’ve done!
  • People who are out of the office might want to put an automatic email responder. You should include how long you are going to be away from your email for, when and if you’ll ever be checking into your email, and who to contact in case of an emergency. Even add a touch of holiday to them, if you’d like.

Some good examples:

For the Grinches –

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, I will be out of the office from December 21st to January 3rd for the holidays. I will be checking my email sporadically throughout the week. If this is an emergency, please contact John Doe at johndoe@company.com.

Wishing you a happy holiday.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

 

For the people with some holiday cheer –

Happy Holidays,

Thanks for your email! You caught me on my holiday vacation in Colorado! I will be out of the office, away in a cabin, with little to no service, making snowmen from December 19th to January 5th. If there is an emergency, contact Bob at bob@company.com. Until then, I’ll see you all in 2019.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

[Your Name]

 

For Buddy the Elves’ –

Ho-Ho-Hello there,

It’s my favorite time of the year! That means I’m at the north pole, helping Santa pack up the last of the gifts! I’ll be up here in the land of the holly and jolly until January 2nd. In the meantime, if you have an emergency you can contact John at john@company.com. I’ll try to check my emails every time Santa gives us a break, most likely every couple of days!

Until then, I hope your stuffing your face with Christmas cookies, making snowmen, and decorating your tree with tons of Christmas Spirit! – Oh, Santa’s looking for me, I got to go finish these dang wooden horses!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night,

Santa’s little helper [Your Name]

Make sure you’re enjoying yourself over the holidays, you deserve it. Recharge and be ready to come back fresh for the new year! And, if you want some more career advice, subscribe to our blog here !

9 Ways to Foster a Positive Environment in the Office

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These days, most of our time is spent in the office, working our tails off, constantly being surrounded by the same people. It’s the same thing every day of the week and it’s hard not to get caught when there is a negative vibe going around. So, how do you establish a positive work environment? It’s simple. Encourage your employees to have positive attitudes. How do we do that? Here are a couple examples:

  1. Make your employees feel appreciated. Constantly.

I can’t begin to express how important this is. The best feeling you can achieve is feeling good about the work you have done. You’re doing so much, and some might not realize just how much blood, sweat, and tears you are actually putting in to your projects. Let your employees know all their hard work isn’t going unnoticed.

I appreciate you doing this…

I am really impressed by…

You are doing a great job doing…

I admire the way you…

The team wouldn’t have been so successful if you didn’t…

Thank you so much for doing this…

Something so little as a small compliment can do a 180 on someone’s attitude.

  1. Flexibility

Most of your employees have families. Some need to be home by a certain time to pick up their kids from school. Others need to schedule doctor’s appointments but they are almost impossible to get because of our work schedules. Offer your employees some flexibility in their work hours. Give them the chance to work remotely, even if it’s just for a little bit at the end of the day when all their kids are in bed. Allow them a little freedom to choose their own schedules and in return you will have less stressed-out employees.

  1. Random Acts of Kindness

Do something simple and sweet for one of your employees. Catch them off guard with some sincerity. Bring them a sweet treat from a bakery, a nice-smelling candle from a store, or write a positive, motivational quote for them and place it on their desk while they are at lunch. You never know the mood some people could be in and you don’t know what they are going through so sweeten up their day with a random act of kindness.

  1. Now, Walk it Out, Walk it Out, Walk it Out

Get with some employees and go for a little walk around the building or to the cafeteria. This is a great way to learn more about your employee’s lives outside of work. Also, walking improves your mood, increases your heart rate, and burns calories. I can’t think of a better way to burn calories than to walk around the building while gossiping about the latest Kardashian scandal!

  1. “Fun it Up”

Allow your employees to fun it up a bit with their cubicles, offices, and outfits. Have “Costume Tuesdays”, “Casual Fridays”, or “Workout Wednesdays”. Is it the holidays? Give your employees a chance to dress up their cubes in all things Christmas. Someone’s birthday? Decorate their office by sprinkling confetti on their desks, blowing up balloons, or creating a cute poster for them. Have music playing throughout the office with the latest hits. Get creative with it, everyone loves having fun!

  1. Don’t you Dare Micro Manage

No employee likes to be constantly looked over their shoulder by someone, especially their boss. Give your employees space to do their work and allow them to have the freedom to do their own thing. Macro managing will build trust and honesty throughout the company by giving them the satisfaction that they are bettering the company on their own.

  1. Company Incentives, YAY

Your employees will work harder if there is something in it for them as well as the company. If your sales team meets a goal, treat them to lunch or a round of drinks after work. Have company weekend trips for people who break records. Motivate your employees by giving them something for all their hard work.

  1. Exude Happiness

This one’s easy. It doesn’t take much. It’s easy to turn around someone’s day. They could be having the worst day of their life and need a sign of something good. This could be giving them a smile, asking how they are and listening to what they are saying, holding the door open for them, or cracking a joke and making them laugh. Show happiness everywhere you go, after all, your employees are human beings too.

  1. R-E-S-P-E-C-T *cue our girl, Aretha*

Back in kindergarten we learned one very important rule that is forever engraved in our brains. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Take this one to the grave and I promise you’ll have a more positive attitude because of it.

Here at HealthCare Support we encourage our employers to have positive attitudes day in and day out. It’s part of the reason our employees love coming to work. We have employees celebrating 5, 10, and 15-year anniversaries. It also plays a big factor in our ratings on Google, Glassdoor, and Facebook.

If you’re looking to partner with a positive team of staffing professionals, look no further than HealthCare Support.

This HEDIS Season

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HEDIS season is upon us and what better way to get a HEDIS position than teaming up with our recruiters here at HealthCare Support! At HealthCare Support, you’ll work with one recruiter and they will have up to ten positions to submit your resume to.  We have positions on the Pursuit Teams, Abstractors Teams, Research Teams, and Over Read Teams.

To apply for a HEDIS position, go to hcs23.wsoa.biz and click the ‘Job Openings’ in the ‘I want to work’ section. Type in HEDIS in the search bar and apply! Make sure you read the description carefully and answer calls from numbers you may not recognize. Please note: when you are applying for a remote position, you MUST be in the state where HEDIS position is based in.

HealthCare Support starts looking to hire for a HEDIS position around October and these positions usually go from January to May. Some candidates may get the chance to be rolled over into other positions during the summer once HEDIS season is over. To maximize your chances of employment this season, be sure to connect with our recruiters on LinkedIn and respond to emails and voicemails in a timely manner.

We’d love to answer any questions you have about HEDIS Season! You can reach any recruiter from HealthCare Support at 407-478-0332.

How to Achieve that Work-Life Balance

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These days, a work-life balance can be pretty much impossible. It’s especially hard when you’re not really “logged off” and calls, texts, and emails come straight to your cell phone well after 5 PM. We know that people are exhausted when they come home from work and we know people need to take care of themselves. There are other factors that come in to play when talking about a work-life balance, such as, having to entertain your kids, relaxing, or socializing with your friends. These things help us obtain a healthy lifestyle. So how do you accomplish a healthy work-life balance?

  1. Exercise

There’s a lot of things we make time for, including eating, sleeping, and scrolling aimlessly through social media. But, shouldn’t we also make time for exercising or meditating? Working out for at least 30 minutes a day has some major health benefits that will impact you at work. Working out boosts your energy and it also makes it easier for you to fall asleep at night. It reduces stress and is healthy for your heart, brain, and your overall happiness. Most offices have gyms onsite or offer a discount for gyms that are close by; make sure you’re taking advantage of this.

  1. Unimportant people and activities

We all know that it’s easy to get sucked into surfing your social media pages or watching funny videos on your phone, but you should be using this time for other important things. Make a list. Write down important people you should be connecting with or important things you should be doing every day. These things can range depending on the type of person you are, but writing a list ensures you get this stuff done every day. Whether it’s calling your mother, cleaning your surroundings, prepping lunch boxes for the next day, or even a little time for yourself to read a book, you need to put aside what is wasting your time and what is necessary for you to do.

  1. Turn it off

When you are done for the day, turn off your work notifications. You don’t want to get sucked into replying when this time is supposed to be yours. In fact, put your phone and computer fully away so you have time for your family, friends, a book, or even that Netflix series you want to catch up on.

  1. One word: No.

Are you the type of person who, when asked a favor, says “yes”? Well, we’re here to tell you it’s alright to say no. Taking time for yourself over others isn’t selfish because if you don’t do it for yourself, who’s going to?

  1. Prioritize and structure at work

It’s important to make sure all your urgent tasks are getting done first. Determine what work is most important and then structure your day around them. Tell yourself you’ll do activity 1, 2, and 3 and then reward yourself with a walk around the building for 10 minutes. Breaks are important too! Take more personal moments for yourself to daydream or compliment the weather.

  1. Company holidays

When work holidays are coming around, use this time to recharge yourself. Relax. We often end up “spring cleaning” or hitting our to-do lists but you also need some down time. You want to be in the right mindset before you go back to work. Take a day trip to the beach or the city to take your mind off work and give yourself some personal time to reflect on your life.

Let us help you find the perfect job. We have positions with hundreds of companies across the nation. Visit our website to see our current openings, or join our Talent Network to stay connected with future opportunities that match your interests.

Economic News Release: Employment Situation Summary

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October 2018

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate of 3.7% remained unchanged in the month of October. Hurricane Michael had made “no discernible effect on the national employment and unemployment estimates.” The unemployment rates showed little or no change for the major work groups: adult men (3.5%), adult women (3.4%), teenagers (11.9%), Whites (3.3%), Blacks (6.2%), Asians (3.2%), and Hispanics (4.4%).  However, job gains did occur in manufacturing, construction, transportation, warehousing, and health care.

The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents to $27.50 for the month of October and it rose by 83 cents for the past year. In October, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls went up by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours.

There were 36,000 added Health Care jobs including 13,000 in hospitals and 8,000 in nursing and residential care facilities. In ambulatory health care services went up by 14,000. The employment grew by 323,000 over the past twelve months.

Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 218,000.

Sarah Krufka

HSS Social Media Specialist

Why a Clean Social Media is Key for Job Searchers

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Social media has become so popular that almost everyone has it. It lets you connect with old friends, share the latest online trends, and keep up with the news. So, when you are job searching, you may want to consider cleaning up your social media. Some people don’t realize this but, having inappropriate things on your pages can determine whether or not you get the job you’re applying for. Just skimming through your social media can even dictate getting an interview!

Why is it so important? Your profiles show who you really are as a person – your likes, dislikes, hobbies, what type of people you hang out with, and the list goes on and on. It reveals your social life and whether your personality would be a good fit for the company. Your social media profiles are movies everyone can go see. Whether they’re rated-G or rated-R, is up to you but, they’re not private journals. So, it’s always smart to display yourself elegantly on them.

Now, what kind of “inappropriate postings” are we talking about? Here are a couple examples:

Those Darn College Kids and their Photos:

We all have those hilarious photos from college parties that we like to go back and reminisce on, but college is over and done with. It’s probably for the best to delete them and keep them stored elsewhere.

Know When to Keep Your Opinions to Yourself:

We constantly see celebrities badmouthing other celebrities on twitter but let’s not follow their lead. When you’re expressing your opinion over social media, do so at your own risk. Don’t badmouth or swear at anyone or anything, especially if it’s a company you use to work for or and old coworker.

Here are some other things you can do to your profile in case a hiring manager checks out your social media:

Privacy Settings:

It’s always good to set your profiles to private. This will guarantee that anyone you don’t know can have access. Your pages hold some seriously private stuff that you might not want to be displayed all over the internet, like where you live, your phone number, and your email address. Also, all your photos are in chronological order, so your first picture that an employer might see when scrolling through your Facebook, could be a Halloween photo that your friend tagged you in. Ask yourself if you really want them to see that.

“Friends”:

Back in the day, it was “cool” to have tons of friends on your social media pages. You probably don’t talk to about half of them anymore. It’s time to go through your friends and delete the ones you don’t want to be associated with. Hiring managers spend some of their time going through people friends list on their social media pages trying to determine what type of person you are by the friends you hang out with. Will Smith even stated “You are who you associate with. Look around at your five closest friends and that’s who you are. If you don’t want to be that person, you know what you gotta do.”

Keep it Clean:

Once you’ve cleaned up your profiles, make sure it stays that way. Don’t ruin all the hard work you’ve put in to make it nice and clean! One easy tip to ask yourself before you are going to post something: Would your grandmother approve of your post?

Here at HealthCare Support, we care about the success of your job hunt. For more tips, follow us on social media and subscribe to our blogs.

Sarah Krufka

 HSS Social Media Specialist

Millennials are Transforming the System

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Take a look around your office. How many people are millennials? How many are living up to the millennial stereotype that people go on and on about?

In just a few years, the majority of the workforce will be millennials. Some say millennials are going to doom us all. Some say they’re going to kill the economy. The common stereotypes include being stubborn, spoiled brats that don’t work hard, are lazy, and are obsessed with their smart phones. However, I’ll tell you why they’re going to revitalize the workplace.

Slowly but surely, millennials are already making an impact by changing everyday work life. Generally, it’s hard to have a work-life balance, especially in the healthcare industry. A lot of healthcare professional work jobs that require them to work long hours, but this is changing thanks to millennials. One of the most important thing to millennials, is a work-life balance. William Hartenbach, M.D., executive vice president of anesthesia services for physician staffing firm EmCare, let his employees have more PTO and vacation time because “it’s increasingly important to make sure that you don’t get burned out. It’s a long career and it’s fairly intense and the stakes are high.”

Managers are also allowing employees to have more flexible schedules and are able to create their own hours. Not everyone is working the same 8-5 time. Also, thanks to technology and the way millennials understand it, some companies give the option to work from home. Having flexible hours and working from home means you have time to be with your kids when they get back from school and for some even allows them time to make breakfast with them before heading off to work.  In 1975, the average time mothers and fathers spent with their kids were 9.7 hours a week. In 2018, that time has doubled to 20.7 hours. Could this be because parents get to create their own schedules? Absolutely. And spending more time with your kids creates less emotional and mental problems when they get older. (Thank you, millennials.)

Millennials like to build relationships. They’re friendly people, need emotional attachment, and want to personally connect with everyone around them, including their bosses and managers. They’re more open to their personal lives and connect with people better this way. This allows for a more comfortable atmosphere and it causes work to be bearable for everyone involved. Happy employees equal a happy company.

Given a choice between working by yourself and working in a team, millennials choose working with a team 90% of the time. Teamwork makes the dream work. They also like to receive feedback and constructive criticism, that way they know what they’re doing wrong and what to do to make things better. Millennials received participation trophies and “A for Effort” so they are used to receiving something for the duties they fulfill. (Also, counterpoint, they are blamed for receiving participation trophies, but they are not the ones responsible for giving them out in the first place, now are they?) Along with constructive criticism, they like to be mentored, given advice to, and they genuinely want to know how to succeed. Millennials make determined and energetic employees, so they can outshine others. The more determined your employees are to exceed, the more successful your company.

In healthcare, treatment plans change so much because technology and research are evolving each day. Cures are created, robots are managing surgery, and patient histories are maintained through smartphone apps. Millennials are the generation that grew up on technology. It’s their baby. Where technology is a millennial generation strength, other generations consider it their weakness. Thanks to millennials the transition to this technological world has been quite simple.

Some hiring managers may get put off at the thought of hiring a millenial because of common conceptions of them being high maintenance and picky.  However these millenials will be what takes your business to the next level. Learning what it is important too them is the first step in a successful partnership. Painting a clear picture of the position and expectations along with flexible hours, relationships, teamwork and technology are what matter most.

Whether you’re a manager with limited time (patience) and need help finding the right millenial or a millenial on the job hunt, you can count on HealthCare Support to be upfront and address any concerns head on.