3 Ways to Sell Yourself in a Healthcare Job Interview

3-Minute Read

No matter how many times you’ve been through the hiring process, interviewing for medical jobs is still pretty nerve-wracking. Fortunately, there are tons of tips for interviewing for healthcare jobs and how to make yourself stand out among the other applicants.

Perhaps, the most relevant of all these tips, is to remember that you are there for one specific reason: to sell yourself as the best person for the job.

Let’s look at 3 different ways to control your interview and make sure you seal the deal!

1. Focus on Your Passion

One of the most common interview questions for entry-level healthcare jobs is simultaneously simple and incredibly complex:

Why are you applying for this job?

This question is a perfect opportunity to share your enthusiasm for the position and the company itself. And your response here could be the difference between a job offer and a rejection letter.

But, you don’t have to wait for this question to come up to illustrate your passion and interest.

Instead of playing the role of passive job applicant, take charge of the interview. Work to sell yourself by sharing what first inspired you to go into healthcare. Tell them what gets you out of bed every morning. And discuss what excites you most about this company, specifically.

A little bit of passion can go a long way in bridging the gap between your skillset and the requirements for the position.

Pro tip: Be sure to include researching the company as part of your interview preparation. And if you find that your list of “hard skills” like work experience, certifications, and training is a little short, try to drive the focus of your interview toward some of your “soft skills” instead. These skills include your passion for healthcare, love of the company, communication skills, and leadership abilities.

2. Highlight Your Experience

Taking an experience-focused approach will help you sell yourself as someone who can start contributing right away with very little on-the-job training.

Throughout your interview, do your best to relate your answers back to one of your previous jobs as recommended by Indeed. Tell stories of your favorite patients, talk about what you have learned from working with other professionals, or even restate some of the career tips you have received and reflect on how that has impacted your future plans.

Now, if you find it difficult to link your value to substantial healthcare job experience, try taking a different approach. Talk about how your exposure or involvement in other areas has prepared you for the role. Maybe you worked in customer service and discovered you had a knack for helping people solve problems. Or perhaps you have a passion for sports — and that passion helped you gain a greater understanding of the complex mechanics of the human body.

There’s no absolute right or wrong approach here. Any lesson you’ve learned in life could be applicable.

3. Underscore Your Skills

Have you completed schooling beyond a high school education? Are you certified as a dental assistant, EKG technician, or physical therapy aide? Or have you completed several health IT training programs that helped you learn to use electronic health records software?

If you have a long list of certifications and mastery of software or specific administrative skills, you will definitely want to discuss your expertise with the hiring manager. These courses take time, hard work, and commitment —and having them on your resume helps future employers recognize that you are a dedicated and persistent worker.

Make Yourself a Triple Threat

Ideally, the very best candidate will sell themselves in the interview across all three emphases. If you have passion, experience, and skills, you are all but guaranteed to pass your interview with flying colors! Even splitting the interview focus across just two of the three will help make you a more appealing candidate for any position.

This is where self-evaluation and professional development comes in. If you’re still in the job search and interview process, consider working on an area that you are not as strong in.

Passion: Make a list of things you love about the healthcare industry in order to find out where your true passions lie.

Experience: Volunteer at a hospital or ask a local professional if you can shadow them for the day to gain some experience.

Skills: Sign up for an online course to learn new skills or sharpen the skills you already have.

How CareerStep Can Help

We know what businesses are looking for as they interview potential healthcare professionals. That’s why we offer several courses that help you develop skills that will make you stand out as a candidate. Train with us, and we’ll do everything we can to help you prepare for your interview and land that dream job.

Sign up today!