School of Public Health

During the time of economic crisis finding a right job for an entry level international health professional is not easy. It is a process and you need to plan the process in advance.You need to practice preparation and develop your skills for getting a job. Hunting a job, conducting a successful interview, starting a job and maintaining the job need a lot of skills. Communication skills, stress management and technical skills are among most important skills that you need to master.

Remember,  job market is very competitive during the economic crisis. Suppose you are an employer with a lot of financial stress and for an important task you want to hire somebody, sounds like gambling. There is no room for making mistake. On the other hand, because of the economic problem a lot of qualified people are out there looking for job. If you are an entry level professional you have very difficult time to find a right job. So be prepared.

The first step is that you must be patient. The average job search is 2-6 months. Get ready for 6 months of hard work. Keep calm and remind yourself you need to keep trying hard. Job hunting is a job itself. You need to work day to day on this job. Everyday work on it and let your friends know that you are on the process, so you may take advantage of their social networks as well. Don’t wait for the job to come to you, go and get it. Walk around; go to companies, meet people and ask colleagues in different companies to set an informational interview with you (1) . Sitting with middle and high level employees in your job category and asking them to tell you about their experiences for job hunting and the nature of the job will give  you a better picture of the process and it is a kind of formative evaluation.

Knowing the job market means knowing who is hiring. Increase your network, participate in professional events, conferences, seminars, and meet as many as people you can. Let everybody know you, as a hard worker and enthusiastic professional, are looking for a job. Go review your courses and books. Sharp your professional knowledge. Be flexible, don’t be idealistic, reduce your expectations, you need to go through the door, so start with a low level job, if you are qualified soon you can get promotion or even find a right job in another company with your experiences in the low level job.

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, get your career plan flexible, and have different strategies. If there is no job in the field of international health, find a domestic work. If there is no program manager position available, ask for research assistant position. Job hunting is a job itself, as soon as you start it, you actually start a job, so don’t postpone it. You need to make a living, work on it and Good Luck.

[1] I learned this fact from Professor Donald Thea at the BU School of Public Health when I asked him for job hunting advice last week.

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