Resume Advice

[Saint Nick]

I'm graduating in December 2009 with my degree in MIS (yank). During the Fall 2009 semester, I am also going to begin to finish up pre-medical requirements (chem, org chem, biochem, physics, what have you). Now, my question is about my resume.

I want to get a job in the healthcare field, an internship, whatever. But, if I want to go and do something like labwork or even a regular office job in the healthcare industry, should I remove my MIS job experience from my resume? Or should I leave only certain things on there (knowledge of Windows, Office products, other software). I don't want them thinking I'm a soon-to-be college graduate trying to weasel into an intern position. My current internship at Union Pacific Railroad will expire on December 18th, 2009 and need to find a job in the healthcare field before I head off to medical school around 2011.

I put on my resume that I will be finishing my MIS degree in December 2009, but am pursuing pre-medical studies that are to be completed in 2011. Is that enough or should I do some major overhauling?

Any advice?

 

[Gooberlx2]

I would include the relevant bits of your MIS experience. Look over the job description and see where it and your experience have commonality. There are billions of things you can do in healthcare that can draw on MIS skills, even when you wouldn't assume so. Lots of lab workers have to deal with large databases of analysis results, for example. Hospitals tend to have pretty solid and busy IS/IT depts as well. Radiology depts are entirely computer driven.

 

[Saint Nick]

They say in the job description that they want the applicant to know medical terminology...which I have no knowledge of (right now).

 

[BoberFett]

You're straight out of college with barely any experience as it is. Include it whether it's directly relevant or not until you've built up some relevant experience. You could probably take it off in a few years.

 

[eadInc]

Originally posted by: BoberFett
You're straight out of college with barely any experience as it is. Include it whether it's directly relevant or not until you've built up some relevant experience. You could probably take it off in a few years.

This. If you're fresh, you're fresh and need all the experience you can get your hands on. Prior health experience, of course would be great, but don't not show off the accomplishments you've done if they're valid in a professional atmosphere. That stuff is always transferable and desirable.

When you step up for medical school, beyond MCAT and GPA - these people look at everything you've been doing and what you can handle as a person. It's not about learning the books in medical school - your scores can adequately sum that up for them that you weren't eating paint chips during undergrad. It's being able to juggle the immense classwork they throw at you and still maintain.

Good luck in the next few years. Try to stick out in whatever you do, even if you have to punch a hooker.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: NightDarker
They say in the job description that they want the applicant to know medical terminology...which I have no knowledge of (right now).

Sop, in the interim, take a class in medical terminology at your local community college...

 

[Saint Nick]

There is are usually a few internships that a local hospital organization (Alegent) offers but last time I applied for one, they declined my application after two days. I can't imagine why...the job description said that you need to know Office and Windows and that throughout the internship, you would take part in different duties around the hospital and learn medical terms and medical functions.

Not really sure what happened. But, that was before I put on my resume that I am pursing pre-medical studies, so that might have thrown them off and caused them to think I was some to-be graduate trying to sneak into an internship with almost overqualifications.

 

[Saint Nick]

What other kinds of jobs can I get in healthcare that isn't MIS related? Does working in a lab require a degree in anything? I need some ideas here on what to do for a job. Otherwise, I'm going to end up bartending or something irrelevant to what I want to do.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: NightDarker
What other kinds of jobs can I get in healthcare that isn't MIS related? Does working in a lab require a degree in anything? I need some ideas here on what to do for a job. Otherwise, I'm going to end up bartending or something irrelevant to what I want to do.

Most job postings for lab jobs I've seen have said to the effect of "Bachelor's degree in biological/chemical (depending on the lab) science". Radiology labs, however, need people with knowledge of computers more than they do tissue cultures and mixing chemicals.

Some hiring managers will settle for just a bachelor's, assuming you have relevant course/lab experience to the posting.