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Looking a job in health care? Make sure you have these skills.

The health care job market is hot for business grads. (Check out these five jobs that combine health care know-how with a business degree).

But how do you land one of those coveted jobs? Here are five skills that will help you get ahead:
 

1. Industry Smarts
If you know the lingo, you’re more likely to survive and thrive, says Bentley University professor Helen Meldrum. “If you’re in the pharmaceutical company training program, for example, and don’t know anything about health psychology and biology, you would likely be a slow learner.”

2. Big Picture Thinking
In her course on Human Relations in Health Care, Meldrum challenges students with real-time consulting projects to analyze data and make recommendations on issues such as competition, website design, mission and outreach strategy.

This skill even helped Jake Fochetta ’11 ace job interviews: “I could demonstrate my business acumen and also speak intelligently to the intricacies of the U.S. health care system, the economics driving some of the inefficiencies we face, and strategies I would employ to improve how care is delivered.”

3. Creativity
Bentley grad Calli Mudge ’10 sees the need for fresh thinking when it comes to U.S. health care reform and its implications to business. “Health care reform in the U.S. has started to shift risk from payers to providers and, in turn, to consumers. In response to this fundamental change, she sees her clients focusing massive efforts on innovative ways to take cost out of the system, demonstrate superior health outcomes, and improve patient experience and satisfaction.”

4. Curiosity and Flexibility
Health care is a highly changing landscape and people have to be comfortable with not knowing all the answers and how things will play out, advises Tyler Lakin ’11. “The business aspects of the health care industry are complex and you’re not expected to know everything, but you are expected to be curious and passionate about making a difference in the industry, and driving change.”

5. Passion
Fochetta warns against getting into the industry for money or job security. “Get into it because you are passionate about health care and improving the efficiency of something that helps millions of people every day. The people who do best in health care are the ones who could never see themselves doing anything else.”

“I knew that it was not likely that I would ever become a doctor, or any kind of direct care provider, for that matter,” Mudge says. “However, by working on the business side of the health care industry, I can focus my efforts on initiatives such as developing new collaborative business models between pharmaceutical companies, payers and providers, which in turn delivers improved patient outcomes. Figure out what motivates you professionally and find a way to make it part of your everyday job.”

Figure out what motivates you professionally and make it part of your everyday job, says @bentleyu grad #careeradvice #preparedu

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Find out more about the benefits of combining business and health care education.