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mentors who can help you grow your strengths and opportunities to
position for that higher level of responsibility.

If you’re considering switching to a new employer but aiming for a job
similar to what you already have, you’ll be able to demonstrate strong
and recognizable skills that will make you a desirable candidate. Your
familiarity with the job basics will make you a candidate who can “hit
the ground running,” needing minimal job training before you can be a
strong contributor to the team. You may also have contacts at the target
company who can help land your resume on the top of the pile, or a
network connection who knows someone there and is happy to make an
introduction. Most jobs come through personal contacts.
Your salary is likely to reflect your skills and the expertise you’ve
developed, so not only is this type of transition easier to accomplish, but
its financial rewards will be based on all the work you’ve done so far.
Also, in terms of salary, one of the most irrational aspects of workplace
compensation is that often in order to get a pay raise, you have to move
to a new employer. Key take-away: a career move like this could actually
substantially bump up your paycheck.
More challenging. What if, instead of making a change within your
current organization or a switch to a similar employer, you’d like to use
your nursing/healthcare expertise within a different industry? Then you
have a bit more of a challenge, because you’ll need to prove to a potential
employer that your skills can readily transfer to their job requirements.

That means that you’ll need to develop an understanding not only of a
potential employer but also their industry so you can “speak their language”
and understand their market and customers/constituency. Your job is to
convince a hiring manager that you can start contributing immediately, so
you’ll need to do the research and preparation necessary to ensure them
that you can.
A potential “differentiator” or career asset that you may be able to use
in this situation is key knowledge based on your previous job that has
value to your new target industry. For example, if you worked as a nurse
in a rural hospital, that experience would make you very attractive to an
employer who was developing management software for rural hospitals
and clinics. What types of jobs might you do in that case? Perhaps work
with product development, sales, marketing, training, or client account
management, among other options.

The impact of this type of job change on your income could vary quite a
bit, depending on how valuable your skills are to a potential employer.
Can you help them increase revenues, decrease costs, create new
products/services, or perhaps grow their share of their market? If you can
successfully argue that your skills give them a competitive advantage,
you’ll find yourself in a strong position to negotiate for the highest level of
the salary range they’re offering (if not higher).
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4 | Transforming Healthcare Through Education