As a full-time employee, you’ll spend the majority of your adult life at work. Settling for the wrong job can therefore have a major impact on your lifestyle and mood. Conversely, finding the right career path can fuel your ambition and give you a renewed sense of purpose.
Studies have shown that job satisfaction correlates to your overall happiness, which means the right career can transform your life. However, choosing a job path based on salary potential or location isn’t always the best way to carve out a career. Instead, factoring your personality into the equation can give you a better insight into the roles you’re most suited to.
While a career in healthcare is ideally suited for anyone who wants to help others, there are many different options to consider. If you want to find a healthcare career to suit your personality, be sure to ask yourself these questions:
1. Do You Enjoy Being Part of a Team?
Successful patient care relies on input from a myriad of professionals. From doctors and nurses to researchers, radiologists, and support workers, there are literally thousands of roles that make up the healthcare sector. However, some roles require you to work more closely with your colleagues than others.
As a hospital doctor, for example, you’ll be working alongside nurses and other healthcare professionals to deliver patient care in a medical facility. In comparison, a nurse practitioner may operate from his or her own practice or from within a doctor’s office. Alternatively, you may prefer a role delivering care in the community, in which case you’ll be working largely alone.
2. Are You Ambitious?
Working in the healthcare industry can require significant training, depending on the roles you’re considering. A job as a data entry clerk in a hospital may not require specific qualifications, for example, whereas a position as a registered nurse typically requires a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
If you want to enhance your skills as you progress through your career, there are plenty of opportunities to do so in the healthcare sector. Once you’ve qualified as a registered nurse, for example, you could complete an online DNP neonatal program to acquire the skills you need to deliver neonatal care.
Alternatively, a career in medical research may begin with a role as a research assistant and culminate with a position as a clinical scientist.
3. Are You Empathetic?
Being empathetic means you’re able to understand the feelings of another person and, to an extent, put yourself in their shoes. As you might imagine, naturally empathetic people are well-suited to careers in healthcare. When you can understand your patients’ worries and fears, and put them at ease, you can make an invaluable contribution to someone’s life.
If you’re eager to put your naturally empathetic nature to good use, then a role which involves direct patient contact might be just what you’re looking for. Being a licensed practical nurse (LPN), certified nursing assistant (CNA), registered nurse (RN), nurse practitioner (NP), or doctor can give you the opportunity to interact with patients on a day-to-day basis and provide them with the care they require.
4. Do You Work Well Under Pressure?
Some people thrive when they’re in a high-pressure situation, while others struggle to perform well when they’re under constant pressure. There are a considerable number of healthcare roles which do involve working in high-pressure situations, so this is an important factor to take into account when you’re choosing your career path.
If you respond well to pressure, then specializing in Emergency Room care or qualifying as a surgeon could give you the challenge you’re looking for. Conversely, if you prefer to deliver patient care in a slightly less intense setting, then working in an outpatient setting, such as a doctor’s office or medical clinic, might be a better option.
5. How Adaptable Are You?
Working in the healthcare sector means you’ll constantly be learning new things and responding to the environment around you. To do this successfully, you’ll need to be adaptable. Even when you’re working at the same place every day and performing the same role, there will be significant differences in your day-to-day duties. This means you’ll need to adapt to the changing surroundings and constantly adjust your duties to meet the needs of your patients and your colleagues.
All healthcare roles require you to be adaptable, to a certain extent. To ensure patients get the best care possible, you’ll need to monitor them and modify their treatment plan based on their response, for example.
However, people who are highly adaptable can often respond to fast-paced environments more efficiently. This can lead to a successful career as a paramedic or EMT, particularly if you also work well under pressure.
Are You Ready for a Career in Healthcare?
No matter how committed you are, joining the healthcare industry can be daunting. When you have limited experience, it’s understandable to feel nervous and even anxious. Of course, everyone who enters the healthcare sector has thorough training to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need.
In addition to this, new recruits are given plenty of supervision and day-to-day support, so you can be confident that you’ll be able to access help when you need it. As you gain more clinical experience, you will begin to feel more competent and confident.
With so many different roles available in the healthcare sector, the industry really does offer a career path for everyone. From working in an administrative capacity to gaining your M.D., there are a variety of different routes you can take if you want to become part of the healthcare sector.
Although your skills and aspirations play a significant role in your career development, your personality is just as critical. With a little introspection, you can identify the traits and idiosyncrasies that will be most relevant to your professional life. By using these to help you find the right role, you can be confident that your career in healthcare will be satisfying, challenging, and utterly fulfilling.
