Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Colleen McCarthy" <cmccarthy1 AT nc.rr.com>]

Hi Folks,

I don't have a lot of time to write now (sorry!), so here are my thoughts in
brief:

Having worked in "pure" technology, "pure" health care, and now in health
care technology, I'm convinced that technology professionals can do a great
job in health care technology.

The one-person-at-a-time solution is to let someone who is on the inside
sell you.  That's great if you know someone, not so helpful if you don't.

The better solution is for our political leaders to be convinced that there
are excellent technology people out there who would do an excellent job in
health care technology, and then have these people talk with the CEOs of the
health care, life science, pharma, and biotech companies in this area to
sell them on hiring these folks.  This is the more impactful approach, but
obviously the approach that would take more time.  It would be a win-win
solution, and I think that the health care/life science/pharma/biotech
companies who recognize this first are going to be the ones with the
competitive advantage.

I'm constantly working the one-person-at-a-time approach, and hope to do
more in the future on the greater-impact solution.

Thanks!

Colleen

Colleen McCarthy, MT(ASCP), BSEE, MBA, PMP
LIS Administrator
Laboratory Information Services
UNC Hospitals/McLendon Clinical Labs
1106 East Wing
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
email: camccart AT unch.unc.edu
phone: 919-966-2059 beeper 216-1995
fax: 919-966-6407
home phone 919-460-0641
* Please note: If you email me and don't get a response, please email again.
With limited "home time", sometimes I literally get too many emails to even
see in my inbox.  Sorry and thanks! *



-----Original Message-----
From: internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Roger
Austin
Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 8:31 AM
To: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/
Subject: Re: [internetworkers] IT in healthcare


  I detect a large amount of frustration and angst.

Benjamin Brunk wrote:
> Referring to that previous recruiting e-mail, can anyone out there
> enlighten me as to why they would require you to have previous healthcare
> experience?  I mean, here I sit with a PhD, I know more about security and
> privacy than probably anyone in the healthcare field, and could do a great
> job as a sys. admin., software engineer, or whatever else they could
> possibly need, and yet I won't even get a look because of "no previous
> healthcare experience."  Whatever.

  No offense Bill but: <sarcasam> What you are telling us is that you
have a PhD so you are special. You have a vast knowledge of several
specialized areas, more than the specialists in the field. And, you are
overqualified for most of the IT jobs in the healthcare area. This is
probably not the best attitude to obtain that job.</sarcasam>

> The thing I'm really tired of is HR people who know nothing about IT
> and disqualify you because you don't how to use <fill in the blank>
> software package, as if it would be difficult for anyone with a decent
> background to figure out in about ten minutes.

  I have over 20 years of IT experience and I could have learned most of
this in 10 minutes? Jeesh, I've been wasting all this time! It takes me
10 minutes to find the manual on the CD they provide in the box. Heck,
APL programming took me 10 minutes to figure out each symbol. Going from
linear programming to OOP programming took at least that long. :)
  If you can figure out a package in 10 minutes, then a clerk at a third
of an IT salary can do it quick enough for most businesses.

In a less sarcastic tone
  It is difficult to pick out the gems in the rockpile when trying to
fill a position, especially in this job market when you have 200 people
wanting the same job. It is great if you get a referral from someone who
knows the person's work and can recommend them. References can be good,
but many businesses require that the references go through the HR
department for legal reasons so they really don't mean anything to me at
that point since they have been sanitized.

  By setting higher requirements, you get fewer resumes to review. It
doesn't mean that those who don't qualify couldn't do the job if given
some time to learn the systems. You make a quick run through the 100 or
so resumes and each one gets at most two minutes; thus, the pile goes
from 200 to 20 (10 if you are lucky.) Then, you spend 10 minutes or so
going back through the remaining 10 and reduce it to about 4-5. Those
last resumes get a lot more time and the references and availability are
checked. Interviews follow.
  Obviously, you want your resume to make it out of one pile into the
next. Getting out of the first large pile into the next 20 is all about
the skill set and experience. (Hopefully, HR will cull these out, but
many times they aren't skilled enough to know if someone isn't
qualified.) Getting from the pile of 20 into the next pile has more to
do with added skills over those that are required.
  Getting into the last pile and into an interview involves the
references and extras on your resume. It helps if someone in the company
knows you (think networking.) Getting bumped can be due to missing data
on the application and other little things. Don't make the manager's job
harder, it will bite you. (Think about what will break a tie between you
and the other people who are just as qualified.)

  Most employers would love to have the luxury of trying out a number of
people to find the real gems, but almost no one has that luxury in this
economy. You want to know (as much as possible) that the person coming
in has exactly the skills you want. This is a "commodity" labor market
for large businesses. You have to stand out in other ways since on paper
there are 20 people who look exactly the same.

  I didn't start out to write this much. I need more coffee. Good luck
on the job interviews. Roger


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