When you’re nearing the end of your college education, it’s time to start thinking about finding a job. As a college graduate with a certificate or degree in your field, you’ll have an advantage during your job search. However, landing your first job after college can seem intimidating. How can you make the most of your education while navigating the job market? The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP) offers career services to help grads with the job-hunting process.

What Does CHCP Career Services Provide?

CHCP offers valuable career services that help you improve or develop skills needed to assist you in your job search after college. Our career services also include practical help that allows you to use the skills you’ve learned during your classes in a workplace setting. With skills training, practical applications, and job placement assistance support, you’ll be in great shape to find a job in the healthcare field as a recent graduate.

Soft Skills and Professionalism Coaching

During your healthcare education, you develop the practical skills needed for providing patient care, handling healthcare administration duties, or performing other tasks, depending on your career path. While these skills are necessary for your career, having soft skills is also essential. Soft skills can help when meeting with a potential employer or carrying out tasks after being hired. Displaying professionalism is also a necessary part of the job search process.

At CHCP, our career services help you improve or develop soft skills and professionalism. You can sharpen soft skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, emotional intelligence, time management, leadership, and active listening through these services. Developing these soft skills and professionalism can help make you more marketable as a job applicant while also helping you thrive in your career.

Externship Placement

The externship takes place before you graduate from CHCP. This is the last part of your curriculum as a healthcare student. During your externship, you’ll be placed at a site or workplace that provides opportunities to use your skills and knowledge. This real-world experience helps you learn more about what to expect in your career while providing networking opportunities. You’ll see and participate in the kinds of tasks you’ll be doing once you find a job, whether that’s performing nursing tasks, administrative medical assisting tasks, or other healthcare tasks.

Doing an externship gives you firsthand experience in the workplace that can sometimes lead to a job offer. Remember that anExternship Administratorwill ensure that you’re placed in an externship site or workplace that fits your education and career path.

Job Search Assistance Support

CHCP Career Services also includes job search assistancefor students with services such as resume support, interview prep, and salary negotiation tips. These services can help you become a well-rounded job candidate who is fully prepared to meet with potential employers. CHCP maintains a statewide network of employers familiar with the quality of education CHCP students receive. Students and alumni have access to this network, making your job search easier. Our job search assistance support services are designed to help you find a rewarding job where you’ll be able to put your education and skills to good use.

Resume Support with Career Edge

Career Services and Career Edge at CHCP provides valuable help with creating your resume. You’ll need a resume highlighting your background while helping you stand out from the competition. Writing a resume on your own can be challenging, but our resume support makes it easier to accomplish. With Career Edge, you’ll have access to a resume builder that helps you create an impressive resume based on your education, skills, and other background information.

Career Edge also gives you access to social tutorials on job searches, ePortfolios, a job board, and mock applications. These services can help you search for jobs in healthcare, learn more about job applications, set up a portfolio showcasing your skills and accomplishments, and create a resume and cover letter that catches employers’ attention.

Interview Prep

At CHCP, our Career Services Advisors understand the importance of being prepared for job interviews. An impressive resume isn’t enough to help you land your first job. You’ll also need to ensure you can impress potential employers during your job interview. This involves knowing what to expect from these interviews and going through practice or mock interviews ahead of time. As part of our Career Services, our Advisors will conduct mock interviews, where you’ll have a chance to answer mock interview questions. This helps you prepare your answers to these questions before your actual interview.

Our interview prep services also include employment research. Before your interview, you’ll need to learn more about the employer you’re meeting with. This allows you to come up with questions to ask during your interview and tailor your answers to interview questions based on the organization or company’s values.

Job Search Assistance

When you are a CHCP student or graduate, you’ll be able to access our statewide network of employers who have partnered with our school. These employers know that job candidates with a CHCP education have been well-trained in the skills needed for their careers in healthcare. This gives you an advantage over other job applicants who do not have a certificate or degree from CHCP.

With access to our network of employers, you might also find it easier to conduct your job search. Our network helps narrow down potential employers, so you can focus on finding job opportunities that align with your career goals. We offer both personalized support and tools to help you with your job search.

Salary Negotiation Tips

When you receive job offers, you’ll have a chance to negotiate pay. Instead of going with the salary offered, you can negotiate for a higher salary. For example, you might negotiate higher pay if you have previous work experience in your field or if you have an advanced degree. Successfully negotiating pay involves knowing how to go about it and having the right skills.

CHCP Career Services includes guidance and tips on salary negotiation. This can put you in a better position to get a higher salary when you accept a job offer. With our salary negotiation help, you can look forward to having a more rewarding career right from the start.

If you’re planning your healthcare career, please contact CHCP to learn more about our career services and our available certificate and degree programs.