Opps, I forgot to ask permission. This is a very common mistake. Did you ask your coworker, your supervisor, or the other person you’ve listed as a reference if they were willing to be a reference? If not, that reference call could come as a complete shock to their system, and the surprise may in fact blow any chance of getting the position.

Say what? We often just think that if we can get someone to give us a “good reference”, it will land that job we’re seeking. Commonly overlooked is the communicative ability of your reference reflects directly on you, the applicant. Can the hiring authority understand your reference or do they spend the entire conversation trying to figure out what they are saying; whether it’s due to an accent, or lack of cohesive thought development? Make sure your references are well spoken, and communicate intelligently.

I’m sorry, the number you have tried to reach…. If you have been in a position for several years, and maybe haven’t kept in contact with the references you would like to use, be sure to call through the numbers again to make sure they are still accurate. While you’re at it, ask again if you can still use the person for a reference.

It is important to make sure you provide a strong reference list. Even one bad experience with a reference can cost you the job.

For more on who to include on this list, check out the FREE Webinar through Premier Career Advice next Thursday at 2pm Central: What References Help Most? To attend this webinar, register at Premier Career Advice, and then go to ‘Webinars’.

When it comes to finding your next position, finding people outside of HR to speak with is critically important. Here are some great ways getting in touch with the person who may be able to help you get that job:

1. Try to find the Director, or other management person, who will play a role in your hiring. Often this will be a Director or Vice President. This often entails a little bit of guess work, but can be very fruitful. If you aren’t sure, but you know what department you’re applying to, look at the facility website. Oftentimes there is some form a company directory on these sites. While finding these individuals can be a challenging task, it is very rewarding when you do.
2. Treat gatekeepers with kindness. Oftentimes we forget that gatekeepers can be our key either into or out of a company. If you are rude to a gatekeeper, or less than cordial, it could mean you’ll never get a chance to talk with the person you really are seeking. Try to get this person on “your side”, and it could mean you’ll succeed while others are still frustrated.
3. Engage the person who may have control over your hire. This doesn’t just mean contact them and ask for a job. Rather, it means finding a way to engage them in some way that will benefit them and show them your value and why they would benefit having you as part of the team. LinkedIn is actually a great place to engage these conversations. Find groups this person may be part of, and start engaging conversations. Once you do this, if the opportunity presents itself, send a direct message to the person as a response to something they posted in the group.

We discussed this topic today in a weekly email we send to members of Premier Career Advice. This is a free Career Portal designed to help you keep moving forward in your career. If you’d like to receive these helpful emails, just register for your free account.

In the past…

…it was enough to simply find some basic information about the company. You may look at the vision or mission statements. You may even look to see who the executives are and learn a little about each of them.

However, this is not enough in today’s market.

What you may not know…

…could cost you. We are hearing more and more about companies asking probing questions that go well beyond the basic knowledge of a company. Do you know anything about their competitors? Do you know something deeper than surface about their marketplace? These questions give the interviewer an idea of how much effort you’ve put into learning about their company and general business model.

Additionally, you may be asked why you want to work with the company. While “I need a job” may be very honest, it signals no motivation. Rather, you want to give the interviewer a little tidbit about your desire to work with them over flipping burgers at a local McDonald’s.

Are you ready…

…to tackle these kinds of questions? If not, we’d like to help. Every week, we host a webinar designed to help you progress in your career. If you haven’t done so yet, register a free account at Premier Career Advice, and look under “calendar” for the current class schedule.

The theory is this information sharing will make it easier for medical practitioners to provide accurate treatment based on a more thorough understanding of a patient’s history.

Here’s the nuts and bolts of what this looks like:

Information Sharing: The idea is to share entire medical records between physicians and healthcare facilities.  This allows practitioners to view vital information that can help make more accurate diagnoses and prevent potentially fatal treatment due to interactions or allergies.

Security: The progression is slow at the moment for moving over to electronic records, partly because of the concern for keeping patient’s information secure.  Remember, paper records were not really any more secure than electronic records (as long as security protocols are followed).  The perception of security with paper records is simply a stigma of the uninformed regarding current technology.

Learning Curve: Moving to electronic charting and health records will bring with it a learning curve for all medical practitioners.  I have a friend who has had several trips recently to a hospital with internal electronic records already in place, and while it is a little odd at first to have your nurse or doctor staring at a computer screen instead of a clipboard or folder, the treatment has been great.  Electronic time stamps of when medication was administered helps ease some of the error records.

Personal Records already available: There are several services already available to help you keep your personal health record and share it with others who may need it.  Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, WebMD PHR, and 911 Medical ID are several examples of some of the options available (most are free).  If you’d like to explore other options, check out PHR Reviews.

The best way to be ready for your physician’s office to convert to electronic health records is to educate yourself.  Be sure to talk with your physician, find out their plan if you don’t already know.  Also, check out the information at the following sites:

US Health and Human Services
Health Information and Management Systems Society

As I network with hundreds of professionals I realize that high performers are ones that are continually striving toward perfection, it motivates them, but never stands in the way of them starting something new.  These people have great stories, they have tried many things, gotten pretty good at most of them but have then moved on.

As Michael Stanier explained in Do More Great Work:

“Your goal is not to find the perfect place to start.  That might paralyze you, forever delaying action because it’s not just so. Instead, find a place to start.  Take your best guess.  And choose something that will do for the time being.  Something that has potential – somewhere that’s a good enough place to start.”

You might say that these people are talented and experienced quitters.  Their personal lives are driven by excellence in all they do, but not at a level that prevents them from starting the next new thing.  They are professionals that companies are looking to attract, these are the top performers, the ones that produce great work.

Seth Godin, explores this trait in successful people in his book The Dip.  He stresses that successful people do not allow themselves to get stuck in the “cul-de-sac” of life, that would be going around and around but not getting anywhere new.  The advice in the DIP is right on the money, we all have the ability to be great at many things, maybe even be perfect at a few, but we need to start a lot of things before we can find that perfection.

As companies in healthcare are challenged with situations that are changing on a daily basis they are looking to hire those who strive for perfection, but who are also willing to go in new directions.  This is very true of the challenges that exist around the implementation of health IT systems.  Healthcare professionals that are able to embrace the new systems though they are not yet “perfect” in utilizing them become the most valuable people on the team.

Perfection as a motivator, absolutely; perfection as a reason to stay stuck where you are, no way!

This initially caught my attention by the title alone, and made me start thinking about how the American worker wants perks and benefits that really aren’t needs.  I was geared up to write an article about what’s reasonable to expect from an employer.

But then I waited, I thought about it some more, and I reread the article.  In doing so, I realized sometimes wisdom can be derived from expectations.  I would encourage you to read the full article, but here’s a little of what I gathered.

First, paid sick days are just plain wise for businesses.  Consider the alternatives.  Without having some time off when either the employee, or a member of the employee’s family gets sick, there is a potential public health risk.  A sick employee is more likely to still come to work, or send a sick child to school.  We all remember the Swine Flu pandemic.  Could that have been lessened by paid sick time?

Second, people want to feel valued.  When a company doesn’t offer time off for an employee to care for their well-being, what is that company communicating?  More than likely the perception of those employed is that they aren’t valued, and are expendable commodities.

Should you demand sick time?  Perhaps.  Most of my audience is in health related services.  As such, there is a strong concern for communicable diseases among staff, and most facilities offer the time because it’s good for their business.

If you’re part of the roughly 40 million workers without paid sick time, engage your manager.  Get them to see the benefit of offering paid sick time.  If you can convert them to be your ambassador to the company, you stand a greater chance of the business making a change in policy.

If you don’t think you can get anywhere, and it’s time to start looking for an organization that more demonstrably values their people, check out our Premier Career Advice Portal, to help get some immediate help, free of charge, in moving your career forward.

Artists (graphic artists, illustrators, columnists, etc) have used a portfolios for years to demonstrate their abilities, skills, and accomplishments.  In a recent trend, more and more professionals are employing the same method.

The portfolio is so much more than the resume you’d provide at the initial stages of conversations with an organization.  Here’s a great list we found at QuintCareers.com of what to include in your portfolio.

• Career Summary and Goals: A description of what you stand for (such as work ethic, organizational interests, management  philosophy, etc.) and where you see yourself in two to five years.
• Professional Philosophy/Mission Statement: A short description of the guiding principles that drive you and give your purpose.
• Traditional Resume: A summary of your education, achievements, and work experience, using a chronological or functional format.
• Scannable/Text-Based Resume: A text-only version of your resume should also be included.
• Skills, Abilities and Marketable Qualities: A detailed examination of your skills and experience. This section should include the name of the skill area; the performance or behavior, knowledge, or personal traits that contribute to your success in that skill area; your background and specific experiences that demonstrate your application of the skill.
• List of Accomplishments: A detailed listing that highlights the major accomplishments in your career to date. Accomplishments are one of the most important elements of any good job-search.
• Samples of Your Work: A sampling of your best work, including reports, papers, studies, brochures, projects, presentations, etc. Besides print samples, you can also include CD-ROMs, videos, and other multimedia formats.
• Research, Publications, Reports: A way to showcase multiple skills, including your written communications abilities. Include any published papers and conference proceedings.
• Testimonials and Letters of Recommendations: A collection of any kudos you have received -– from customers, clients, colleagues, past employers, professors, etc. Some experts even suggest including copies of favorable employer evaluations and reviews.
• Awards and Honors: A collection of any certificates of awards, honors, and scholarships.
• Conference and Workshops: A list of conferences, seminars, and workshops you’ve participated in and/or attended.
• Transcripts, Degrees, Licenses, and Certifications: A description of relevant courses, degrees, licenses, and certifications.
• Professional Development Activities: A listing of professional associations and conferences attended — and any other professional development activities.
• Military records, awards, and badges: A listing of your military service, if applicable.
• Volunteering/Community Service: A description of any community service activities, volunteer or pro bono work you have completed, especially as it relates to your career.
• References List: A list of three to five people (including full names, titles, addresses, and phone/email) who are willing to speak about your strengths, abilities, and experience. At least one reference should be a former manager.

Today, setting yourself apart is much different than it was five or ten years ago.  We’re going to take some time to explore what steps you need to look at to really set yourself apart.

Below is an article from a good friend of mine who’s been in the employment industry for over a decade.  Read it carefully, and learn some new tricks for approaching how you draft your resume.

For more free advice on writing your resume check out http://www.mypremierhealthcareers.com

Old dogs can learn new tricks
By: Charlotte Byndas

Weekly we hear from professionals looking to enter the job market for the first time in years are concerned that their job search skills are a bit rusty. Considering the number of surveys that list job satisfaction at its lowest in 20+ years, this group of job seekers is sure to grow. Are you one of these people, could you use a few good tips on how to follow the new “rules” for resume writing? Check our list of “new tricks” that will guide you through the process!

Old Rule #1: Start your cover letter with Dear Sir or Madam….enclosed you will find…

New Trick: Use the hiring manager’s name, skip the fluffy language
If you don’t know the hiring managers name, try doing internet research to surface a name, it is much better to use an actual name than to just send your resume into the pile.

Old Rule #2: Never use an abbreviation in any way on any of your paperwork

New Trick: We now live in Twitter based world so professional abbreviations are widely accepted as long as they are the ones that everyone understands. It is a good rule of thumb to use the full words the first time you use a term you want to make sure everyone understands; you then can use the abbreviation.

Old Rule #3: Hide your personality at all costs, formal, formal, formal!

New Trick: While professional matters, it is a good idea to let a bit of personal side show thru in your resume. Remember people hire people, not paperwork. Your resume should be easy to read, clear, and to the point.

Old Rule #4: Create the “perfect” paperwork and distribute it widely

New Trick: Create a template that has the core information you want to share with everyone; this is the best of your best. Then customize your cover letter and resume to fit the needs of each situation. This helps the reader identify you as someone who can DO the job!

Old Rule #5: List everything in detail that you have ever done in your career

New Trick: Use the space on your resume to focus on the things that you have done that make you qualified to do the job. Every word on your resume takes up valuable space what you did in that college job ten years ago is likely not to be all that important so keep the explanation to a minimum.

Old Rule #6: List hobbies or personal information on your resume

New Trick: Don’t list any information that is not relevant to your ability to do the job, your age, marital status, or if you have kids has no relevance on your ability to do a job so leave all of that information off of your resume.

Old Rule #7: Fancy is good

New Trick: Leave off anything that will not be pleasing to the electronic eyes that may be looking at your resume. Most major companies use some kind of document management system to upload your resume into a database. Make sure you use common fonts and don’t included graphics or images on your resumes.

If you really want to step up your “A-Game”, take a step toward innovation.  Look for how you can improve the processes where you are, or what NEW processes could improve the entire system.  This sets you apart from everyone else who is doing the same that’s been done for years in the same fashion.

If you follow the health IT media, you cannot escape the new and obligatory word, Innovation. Every self-respecting article, blog post, press release or casual comment on line is not complete unless some reference is made to Innovation, its derivatives (innovators, innovative, etc.) or compounds (foster innovation, disruptive innovation, etc.). By now I am ready to add Innovation to the infamous Do Not Use category, along with Synergy, Turn-Key and One-Stop-Shop, to name a few.

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary Innovation means the introduction of something new or a new idea, method, or device. That’s probably a bit too vague for us. The Business Dictionary has a more interesting definition of Innovation: Process by which an idea or invention is translated into a good or service for which people will pay. Since Health IT is a business, this definition makes more sense. It turns out that there are various types of Innovation. From a user point of view there is Evolutionary Innovation, which requires very little learning from the end user and not much change to routine, and there is Revolutionary Innovation which completely disrupts routine and requires learning new ways of doing things.

So are we Evolutionary or Revolutionary in Health IT? If you ask physicians, they will probably say that EHR is revolutionary, since it forces them to change their workflow and the learning curve is very steep. If, on the other hand, you take a step back, it is clear that workflow hasn’t changed much. Patients still make appointments, show up at the front desk, wait in waiting rooms, have nurses bring them to the exam room, vitals are taken, doctor steps in and out and it all ends with a claim to the insurance company. The only change is that paper has been replaced by a computer, and computers are ubiquitous in everyday life. All the talk about workflow redesign boils down to minor simplifications due to the fact that the chart is available to all simultaneously. EHRs are only incremental evolutionary innovations.

Well then, maybe we need a more Revolutionary Innovation, one for which doctors will be willing to pay. This is definitely the prescription from new entrants, or hopeful entrants, to the EHR market: the legacy EHR incumbents have failed and we need a slew of low priced new products, preferably fragmented into sub products, so that physicians can pick and choose from an ever increasing array of choices. We currently have several hundred EHRs to choose from. Maybe if we had several thousand modular choices, every doctor will be able to find a combination that fits his specific needs. It’s all about choices, or is it? There are numerous studies showing that over a certain threshold, more choices only slow down purchase rates and actually make shoppers disenchanted with their purchase. Maybe if we had just a handful of EHRs, things would be different. Maybe too much of this type of innovation is detrimental to an industry as a whole.

More recently our hopes have turned to Democratizing Innovation and hoping that Innovation will come from consumers armed with medical records. It is very likely that a healthy crop of consumer applications will be created to analyze all those medical records, provide advice, second opinions and even therapies outside the established medical settings. Some will be good and some will be harmful. Caveat emptor, as always, will be the rule and we still need to find out if this idea can be translated into a good or service for which people will pay. Yes, pay, either by hard cash or by bartering their private information for services.

To judge by current developments in Health IT, we will be witnessing both Revolutionary Innovations mentioned above, in a few short years. Will they revolutionize Medicine and Health Care? Not very likely. The most likely revolution will come from administrative simplifications, payment reform, creation of Medical Homes, education, medical research and eventually, technology inventions similar in magnitude to the silicon chip. To be sure, Health IT has a major role in all these upcoming changes, and Health IT will have to incrementally create a standardized Clinical Information Highway on the Internet to support change and improvement, but we will not be revolutionizing health care, anymore than desktop publishing has revolutionized literature or financial IT has revolutionized Wall Street.

While storms can be very frightening, they are also very important. Storms help fertilize the soil. They also, obviously, help provide the much needed water for our gardens to grow. Wind is beginning to grow in its importance as well as we continue harnessing power from it. Yes, storms are very important.

Storms in our career are also very important. These storms can be an unexpected layoff, a turbulent relationship with a coworker or supervisor, or maybe life in its entirety is getting a little heavy.

It’s important to remember you can make it through the storm. Sure, there may be some damage at times, but you can always rebuild and repair. Storms allow you grow, and sometimes the rebuilding process helps you build better than it was the first time.

Keep hope, stay positive, you can make it through!