How to Get a Job in Healthcare Administration With No Experience: Step-by-Step Guide

You've decided to get a job in healthcare administration. It is a commendable and courageous decision. What’s more, if we look inside this position, we can see that the ultimate goal of a healthcare administration professional is to make people’s lives better. While doctors do this with a scalpel and sensible advice, a healthcare administration professional does it by organizing the most effective interactions between doctors and patients and constantly striving for the best quality of medical services provided. Discover how to find a job in healthcare administration in this ultimate guide.

Understanding Healthcare Administration Specifics and Responsibilities

It would be wrong to start a conversation about working in the healthcare administration without talking about its essence, the primary specifics, and responsibilities within this profession. Healthcare administration implies comprehensive management of the processes in a hospital or clinic. The healthcare administration is a supportive platform for both doctors and patients. What’s more, each hospital has an individual and clearly defined range of tasks for the healthcare management specialist. These can be the following tasks:

• organization of doctors' work, control of wages and payments, accrual of bonuses;
• strategic planning of the hospital development, including financial management;
• communication with patients, resolution of their complaints and requests related to service in the hospital, not concern the direct course of treatment and issues solved exclusively by professional doctors
• data analysis and innovation adoption.

The latter task of a specialist in health administration is one of the most crucial in recent years. Many hospitals are actively implementing customized patient management systems, remote treatment and health monitoring systems, telemedicine solutions, and other innovations. The introduction of these technologies requires a specialist who knows the hospital’s work from the inside and understands what current problems need to be solved to reduce costs and provide a higher quality of medical service.

In addition, when these technologies have already been introduced into the hospital’s medical practice, a specialist in the healthcare administration may also be responsible for the correct operation of the system, training of employees, and data security. The security of medical data is extremely important because this information is very sensitive.

What Education Do You Need to Start a Career in Healthcare Administration?

The minimum requirement for a healthcare administration specialist is a Bachelor's degree. However, in practice, specialists of this level face difficulty in finding a job. What’s more, career opportunities for a bachelor are also severely limited. The only chance to expand them is to get a higher degree or after several years of work.

Additionally, completing an internship in a reputable organization will be a very significant plus. The presence of such experience immediately means that you understand the specifics of your future work, and are ready to expand your theoretical knowledge, complementing it with practical insights. So, if you haven't found suitable internship opportunities yet, start by researching current offers from these companies:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Mayo Clinic
• World Health Organization
• Children’s Hospital Network

Is it hard to get a job in healthcare administration? Candidates with a Master's or Ph.D. level have a great chance. Since the healthcare administration tasks span a wide variety of areas of the hospital, it is expected that the ideal candidate will have a higher level of education and a wider range of skills.

Essential Skills for a Healthcare Administration Professional

What skills and competencies should you have to apply for a healthcare administration specialist position? Here are the basic ones.

• Control and management. Every day, a healthcare administrator has to manage dozens of processes, from hiring to working with patients and their families.
• Communication. The health administration specialist is the link between doctors and patients and between the hospital and the state. Interacting with such diverse groups of people requires strong communication skills, active listening, and reasoning abilities.
• Patient care. Physicians take care of patients with the help of medicine, while a health administration specialist takes care of patients by constantly striving to improve the quality of medical services. The introduction of new technologies, the optimization of doctor’s work, and the management of free beds in the hospital aim to improve treatment and the quality of services.
• Data analysis. Doctors use Electronic Health Records to discover necessary information about the patient and to analyze it. The healthcare administrator deals with the organizational and financial data of the hospital. Revealed insights should be turned into actionable strategies to improve hospital efficiency and the quality of the medical services.
• Strategic planning. The main challenges facing healthcare administration today are a shortage of nurses and professional doctors, rising costs, and an aging population. Each hospital is forced to respond to these problems using available human, intellectual, technological, and financial resources. Strategic planning carried out by health administration professionals is essential to address these challenges within the hospital and community.
• Teamwork. The healthcare administration is a separate unit within a hospital. That’s why a single person can’t represent it. The healthcare administration is always a team of several professionals united by a common goal. Teamwork skills are essential in the work of these professionals since when it comes to decision-making, they need to find common solutions approved by every healthcare administration team member. This is one more point where communication skills are essential.

What Else You May Need to Get a Job in Healthcare Administration

Your education, skills, and, most importantly, a strong desire to make health care better and more optimized are the main prerequisites for getting a health administration job. However, there are a few more things that can give you a competitive edge.

Online certificates

You don't have to look far to get worthwhile certificates online. Additional training will not be superfluous even for a candidate with a Master's degree or higher. For Bachelor’s degree applicants, this is a strong competitive advantage that shows an interest in the profession and a desire to continue education. Coursera offers many professional courses in healthcare administration from the world's leading universities.

Industry certifications

You can also obtain industry certifications that validate your proficiency in certain specific processes. There are three organizations, each of which can offer you a specific certificate after completing the training.

• The American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management offers a Certified Revenue Cycle Professional certificate. This certificate will be useful for those who focus on the financial management of the hospital.
• The American Health Information Management Association. Here, you may get a Certified Compliance Technician certificate if you want to work with the hospital’s IT issues.
• The Professional Association of Healthcare Office Management. This organization offers a Certified Medical Manager certificate for those who want to manage a medical office or a unit.

Conferences and professional meetings

Attending conferences and professional meetings of specialists will allow you to stay updated on industry trends and best practices. What is more, professional conferences are the best places to meet experts from the industry, connect with them, and promote your candidacy in a non-formal environment.

Professional group membership

To start networking among professionals and future colleagues, you can join professional groups. Belonging to one of the groups will allow you to stay updated on the job opportunities and exchange professional experience. Here are the main groups you may choose from:

• Medical Group Management Association
• Professional Association of Health Care Office Management
• American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management
• American College of Health Care Administrators
• American College of Healthcare Executives

How to Get Into Healthcare Administration - Tips, Tricks, and Lifehacks

According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a 32% growth of new jobs for healthcare managers and related specialists. A healthcare administration professional’s average salary is nearly $70,000 per year and can reach $100,000. Despite the number of new jobs, this industry is still competitive, which means you should use all opportunities to promote your candidacy. Let’s start making steps towards your first job in healthcare administration.

Revise your resume

The first thing to do is write (or revise) your resume. However, what can you write on your resume if you are an entry-level specialist?

• First, it is worth mentioning your education. You can also mention the topic of your thesis project if it perfectly matches the specifics of the vacancy to which you are applying.
• Further, it is worth mentioning the internship and briefly outlining the tasks you performed within its framework and the basic knowledge acquired.
• And if you have professional certifications or online course certifications, write them down on your resume indicating the year you received each certificate.

Draft your first cover letter

Once your resume is ready, move on to writing your cover letter. A cover letter is a document that allows you to start a fruitful dialogue with your future employer. A well-written cover letter enhances the positive impression of your candidacy. It enables you to say a few important words about yourself and your desire to improve the spital or medical organization’s operations. Take advantage of this opportunity, especially if you have no experience. With its help, you can tell about your motivation to join the healthcare industry, explain why you choose the profession, and present your skills and personal qualities that ideally correspond to the open vacancy. The candidate’s personality and sincere desire to develop in their first workplace often become decisive factors.

Of course, your cover letter can’t be universal. Like a resume, it needs customization depending on the specifics of the position you are applying to. However, writing your cover letter manually and from scratch will be too time-consuming each time you need to send it. So it makes sense to automate the process of writing your cover letter a little. Our cover letter builder can facilitate this task even more.

Research job opportunities

Now is the time to start looking for suitable vacancies. There are two types of sites where you can find relevant jobs — general job portals and specialized platforms for healthcare professionals.

The first ones contain jobs from all industries:

• Linkedin. This social media platform is excellent for networking with industry professionals and staying updated on new job opportunities. Use both of these LinkedIn’s advantages to your benefit.
• Scouted. This is a great website for college graduates. Check it out if you are looking for positions without or with minimal experience.

And here is a list of specialized job websites for healthcare professionals.

1. HospitalCareers
2. Nurse.com
3. HealthJobsNationwide
4. Health eCareers
5. CareerVitals
6. MDJobsite
7. DrJobs

Use all of these websites to open up as many opportunities as possible.

Apply for every suitable position

The more healthcare companies learn about you, the better. Therefore, at this stage, your task is to apply for all potentially suitable vacancies. Moreover, many companies save potential candidates’ resumes in their databases to come back to them later. Therefore, it is also a chance to get a fair offer in the future.

After you have sent the application, track its status. If you have not received an answer to your resume within a week, сall the organization to politely find out whether your application is received and it’s status. Be proactive and carefully work through every opportunity.

Getting a Job in Healthcare Administration Without Experience - Is It Real?

Yes, it's real. However, there is one crucial thing you need to understand. If you are applying for your first job and have no work experience (or have minimal internship experience), you need to have realistic expectations. At first, your salary may be slightly lower than the industry average and the average for your level, and there may be more work tasks and difficulties. This is what philosophers call the disciple's path.

What’s more, the first job that you can take without experience should not be your last and only one (unless you want it to be). As you gain valuable experience and practical knowledge, you will begin to feel much more savvy and confident. This confidence will allow you to apply for higher positions and confidently pass interviews.

What Documents Do You Need For an Interview?

After you have received an invitation for an interview, it's time to collect a package of documents that will help you make the right impression and increase your chances of getting this job. Here is the list of essential documents you need at your first interview - make sure to double-check them.

Personal documents

Typically, an ID card is sufficient to verify your identity. The representative of the organization will notify you if additional documents are needed.

Diploma

Whether you have a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. degree, you need to bring your diploma to the interview. This document confirms your theoretical foundation, competencies, and qualifications.

Resume and Cover letter

It will be the right decision to prepare four to five copies of your resume and cover letter so that each interviewer can review your candidacy. This will prove your foresight and responsible approach and add extra points to you in the selection process.

Conclusion

As you can see, it is enough to get into the health administration even if you have no experience. Your scientific degree, internship experience, certificates, highly specialized knowledge, and a specific set of professional skills may open many doors in front of you. However, don't be discouraged if you didn't find your first job as quickly as you expected - getting hired for the first time is rarely quick and easy. We have provided you with a step-by-step strategy to start acting now, but the rest of the success will depend on your persistence and motivation.