After being a business owner for many years, you may decide the time is nigh for you to step back and rethink your role, and a career in healthcare may be perfect for ex-business owners. If you have decided to put aside the stresses and responsibilities of business ownership for a medical career, here are some of the best ways to start a healthcare career after running a business for a long time.
- Assess Your Skills and Knowledge
In many cases, the skills and knowledge you have built up over years of being a business owner can be incredibly useful when finding a great medical job that you love. You may particularly have the right skills that you need if you ran a healthcare business, such as one that promoted education and training or that produced medical products. In that case, instead of believing that you are only good for business and that you are unable to succeed in any other role, you should sit down and analyze the skills and knowledge that you have to your name. This includes both soft and hard skills, from being IT competent to being a natural leader. You should also write down the knowledge that you have acquired over years of running your business and the types of healthcare jobs where this knowledge and these skills are in demand. For instance, an adeptness at writing reports and handling spreadsheets may be excellent for roles such as that of a nurse administrator. You will usually find that many more jobs will open their arms to you than you might initially have expected, and this will ensure that you can find a bucket-list career in the healthcare industry.
At the same time as assessing your skills and knowledge, though, you should also look into the reasons for closing your business and what you want from your new job within the healthcare industry. This will then prevent you from falling into the trap of accepting a medical job that is similar to your role as a business owner without any of the benefits. For instance, you may want to step back from leadership entirely, and this may make you reluctant to become a hospital manager. Then, you will be able to ensure that the role that you take on manages to bring you contentment.
- Take an Online Degree
After years of working in business, you may have to spruce up your knowledge of the medical industry and blow away the cobwebs with a little bit of learning. Taking a new qualification can help you to refocus and to boost your confidence when it comes to your skills and knowledge. You may also be able to find subjects that you are extremely passionate about and that you would not have thought about specializing in before now. For instance, if you already have a Master’s in Nursing, you might consider taking online FNP programs which can boost your faith in yourself and allow you to update your knowledge of the healthcare industry. You may then be able to work in practical environments such as hospitals and medical centers as a nurse rather than in the sedentary and office roles that you may have become used to as a business owner.
- Look for Leadership Opportunities
Just because you do not own a business anymore does not mean you have to give up on the leadership aspect you loved so much. Natural leaders cannot be erased so easily, and if you find that you quickly start to miss your role as a leader, you should consider looking for nursing leadership positions, which are in high demand because you must be incredibly skilled and knowledgeable to take them on. Becoming a nursing leader will require a lot of good communication and the ability to make difficult decisions. You will have had to cultivate both of these skills as a business owner. If this is the case, you should make sure that your natural aptitude for leadership is constantly exercised.
- Create a Stellar Resume
No matter how experienced or skilled you are, though, healthcare employers may be reluctant to take you on as you may be overqualified, or they may question why you would like a job with less responsibility now. Then, you should make sure that you create a resume that allows your skills and knowledge to stand out and remain relevant to the job in question, regardless of what your previous role was. You should emphasize here the experience that makes you suited to the role and the skills that they will be more interested in, placing these at the very top of your resume. As well as this, it may be a good idea to create a lively and detailed cover letter on no more than one page of A4 where you can discuss your reasons for closing your company, such as stress and the desire for a better work-life balance. It would help if you also wrote about what you hope to get out of the medical job in question, as well as why your potential employers should choose you for the role. This will then ensure that there are no issues with miscommunication and that both you and any potential employers are on the same page.
- Use Your Contacts
As a former business owner, you will likely have known a variety of professional people, including those within the healthcare industry. These professionals are likely to have their toes dipped into a variety of industries and networks. Then, instead of completely ignoring every aspect of your old business life and believing it to be in the past, you should instead consider utilizing this network of people to find a position that you love and that suits your wants and needs. They may be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to getting a healthcare job that you love and will be able to tell you of promising opportunities.
These pointers should help you to start out on your healthcare career if you have been running a business.
