15 Years of Marketing Product Experience but Would Like to Move into the Healthcare Industry. Any Suggestions?

Matthew T. Grant, PhD Minister of Enlightenment

AQUENT

Question

I have over 15 years of Marketing product experience but would like to move into the healthcare industry - Healthcare marketing (specifically sales & marketing to the over 55 communities). I have seen numerous positions available but can't seem to get their attention. I have a great understanding of senior needs (from family experience), great customer services skills, compassion, empathy and a real desire to work in this field. Can you offer any advice?

Answer

With a strong interest in the field and a decade-plus experience in marketing more broadly, it should be very possible to get the job you are looking for. The crucial thing is, as you say, getting the attention of hiring managers and then, of course, translating that attention into a desire to meet you and bring you on-board.

First, getting their attention. If you do not have healthcare experience, it will be difficult to get their attention by posting your resume on-line or even responding to a job post because that’s exactly the kind of experience they’ll be looking for! You need someone who will direct their attention to you. For this reason, job number building and working your network to get an introduction to hiring managers working in the companies you have targeted in your job search.

Once you have the introduction, you need to engage this person by demonstrating not just an interest in the job, but moreover an interest in what they are trying to accomplish. What challenges are they facing? What does their ideal candidate look like? What specific challenges will that person face in their role as healthcare marketer? Etc. In a sense, you have to think more like a recruiter than like a candidate.

Then, having gotten to know this person and what they are trying to accomplish through this hire, you need to present yourself (first in a cover letter, then in person). The key here will be tying your strengths, skills, and experience to the challenges they mentioned and demonstrating what you have in common with the ideal candidate they described. I said, “think like a recruiter” before, because you will be doing what recruiters do, presenting a candidate (in this case, you) as the best solution to the problem that the hiring manager is trying to solve.

People moving into a new field often think that the key thing is rewriting their resume. I think this is the wrong way round. I think instead that one should focus on getting a personal introduction, researching the open position in depth, presenting oneself as the ideal candidate for the position, and then tailoring the resume to support this presentation (not to match the job description in the ad).

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15 Years of Marketing Product Experience but Would Like to Move into the Healthcare Industry. Any Suggestions?