How to Use Micro-Internships for Early-Career Healthcare Recruiting

Several factors contribute to the continuous expansion of careers in the healthcare sector, including:

Innovations in medical technology, leading to an increased demand for skilled professionals in various specialties;
Expansion of healthcare services to underserved areas, creating opportunities for professionals to contribute to improving access to medical care;
Digital technologies like telemedicine and electronic health records create new roles and opportunities within the industry and
Healthcare policies and regulations requiring a skilled and knowledgeable workforce.

As a result, there are cool jobs in technology, administration, communications, and more, but healthcare recruiting can be challenging.

Despite plentiful career opportunities, many early-career candidates, including college students, recent graduates, and career changers, may shy away from roles with healthcare organizations due to preconceived notions about the industry related solely to clinical roles.

Many college students might not realize all the different jobs available in healthcare, especially if they weren't initially interested in it. At the same time, some people who thought they wanted to work directly with patients might realize they actually prefer other kinds of jobs. This means there's an ample opportunity for HR leaders to help students and people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) discover all the careers they could have in healthcare.

Continued staffing shortages for both clinical and non-clinical roles mean the demand for early-career talent in healthcare is expected to remain high, making it an attractive and promising field for those looking to contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities.

What Healthcare Recruiters Need to Know About Early-Career Talent

Early-career talent, or emerging talent, is generally defined as candidates with limited to no experience in the industry or role, including college students, recent graduates, and career changers transitioning out of other occupations.

Early-career talent brings fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and a dynamic approach to problem-solving, invigorating organizational culture and fostering creativity. Their enthusiasm, adaptability, and tech-savvy mindset also contribute to adopting emerging technologies, driving organizational growth and competitiveness.

Key Skills Needed For Healthcare Professionals in Non-Clinical Roles

Without an introduction to the industry, many job seekers may perceive clinical roles such as nursing, medical science, or psychiatry as the sole career paths in the healthcare industry, which is not the case. Today, many non-clinical academic programs are expanding in areas including healthcare administration, health informatics, and medical assisting.

Moreover, with staffing shortages in the healthcare industry overall, many organizations are shifting away from credentials for some non-clinical roles and focusing instead on skills-based hiring to identify candidates with the skills needed to be successful in the industry.

Staffing Shortages in the Healthcare Industry Overall

The healthcare industry is experiencing a significant shortage of skilled professionals across various clinical and non-clinical disciplines. This shortage puts immense pressure on recruiting efforts, leading to increased competition among healthcare organizations to secure top talent.

Lack of Awareness of Non-Clinical Roles

Many individuals, including both early-career talent and career changers, may have limited awareness of the diverse non-clinical roles available in the industry, such as administration, information technology, finance, and compliance. In addition, some candidates initially pursue clinical roles, studying for careers in direct patient care or aiming for medical school, only to realize they are not interested in clinical practice. These individuals may find a better fit in non-clinical roles within the healthcare industry but often lack awareness of these opportunities.

This lack of awareness limits the pool of potential candidates and necessitates efforts to educate prospective candidates about the breadth of opportunities within the healthcare field.

Geography (Rural in Particular)

Rural areas often face increased recruitment difficulties due to limited access to resources, lower population density, and a perception that urban settings offer better career opportunities. Addressing the healthcare workforce shortage in rural areas requires targeted strategies, such as providing incentives and professional development opportunities, highlighting the unique benefits of working in these settings.

Improving Employer Brand

The reputation and perception of a healthcare organization significantly influence its ability to attract and retain talent. The healthcare sector often faces stereotypes of high stress and burnout rates, which can deter early-career professionals. To counter this, healthcare organizations must proactively communicate the support systems they have in place, such as mentoring programs, mental health resources, and career development opportunities, to appeal to early-career talent.

A positive employer brand enhances recruitment efforts, while a negative or indifferent reputation may drive away potential candidates. Healthcare organizations need to invest in building a strong employer brand to remain competitive in the talent market.

Decreasing Time to Hire and Costs

The recruitment process in healthcare is inherently more time-consuming and costly, involving multiple stages, background checks, and compliance requirements. Hiring the wrong person in healthcare can be particularly expensive, given the industry’s sensitive nature, which demands rigorous screening processes. Each hiring decision is a significant investment of time and resources.

Organizations need to streamline their recruitment processes, leverage technology for efficient candidate screening, and implement cost-effective strategies to minimize the financial burden associated with attracting and hiring healthcare professionals. To effectively attract early-career talent to explore and accept opportunities in the healthcare industry, recruiters must adopt a multi-faceted approach to tackle these challenges proactively.

Micro-Internships can serve as an effective solution to this challenge, acting as an audition period that allows both the employer and the candidate to assess fit before making a significant investment. By engaging in short-term, project-based work, candidates can demonstrate their skills, work ethic, and compatibility with the organizational culture. Simultaneously, healthcare organizations can evaluate the intern’s potential and fit within the team without committing to the full expense and commitment of a traditional hiring process.

4 Strategies to Adopt for Successful

Healthcare Campus Recruiting

Campus recruiting strategies encompass a range of approaches to attract, engage, assess, and ultimately hire high-potential early-career candidates. Organizations can use traditional methods to post job openings on various platforms, attend recruiting events like career fairs, and leverage digital tools such as applicant tracking systems. However, in a highly competitive talent market, thinking outside the box can help you expand your reach and reach talent you may have missed.

Experiential recruiting refers to a recruitment strategy that focuses on creating engaging experiences for candidates during the hiring process. This approach goes beyond traditional methods by incorporating interactive elements that allow candidates to experience the company culture, work environment, and job responsibilities firsthand. This approach has been a core component of hiring for clinical roles and can easily be leveraged for other roles.

Experiential recruiting, like real-life projects, provides candidates with a deeper understanding of the role and the organization. To attract, assess, and retain top talent, the goal is to foster a connection between candidates and the organization through experiential interactions, creating a positive and memorable candidate experience. This enables more informed decisions about the individual's fit with the company, aligning recruitment efforts with the dual aim of enhancing employer-employee alignment and long-term retention.

Case Study: Xylem integrates more experiential opportunities into its early-career recruiting strategy

Skills-based hiring is a recruitment approach that focuses on assessing and selecting candidates based on their specific skills and abilities relevant to the job requirements. In contrast to traditional hiring methods that heavily emphasize educational qualifications or prior job titles, skills-based hiring prioritizes the tangible capabilities and competencies that candidates bring to the table. This approach often involves clearly defining the essential skills for a position, using work samples during the hiring process, and making decisions based on a candidate's demonstrated proficiency in those key areas. Skills-based hiring aims to ensure a more accurate match between a candidate's capabilities and the actual demands of the job, promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the recruitment process.

Smith+Nephew adopts skills-based hiring “auditions” for medical device sales

Diversity recruiting, also known as inclusive hiring, is a strategy aimed at attracting and hiring a diverse range of candidates in terms of factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic background, and other dimensions of diversity. Diversity recruiting involves implementing strategies to reach underrepresented talent pools, mitigating biases in the hiring process, and creating an inclusive company culture that values diversity. This approach includes tactics that emphasize actively seeking candidates from a variety of sources to ensure a broad and inclusive pool of applicants and evaluating candidates based on their skills, experience, and potential contributions to the organization rather than relying on stereotypes or assumptions.

Open Avenues ensures inclusive hiring practices for STEM students nationwide

Experiential recruiting, akin to Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), is common in the healthcare industry, particularly for clinical roles where hands-on experience is essential. However, this approach often falls short for non-clinical roles. WIL integrates academic learning with real-world work experience, allowing students to apply classroom theories to real-world scenarios, thus developing relevant skills and industry-specific knowledge. While effective in preparing individuals for clinical positions, the healthcare sector has been slower in adopting similar experiential approaches for non-clinical roles. This gap highlights the need for structured programs that provide practical exposure to administrative, IT, finance, and other non-clinical functions within healthcare, enhancing the understanding of professional practices and improving the fit between candidates and the organization.

HubSpot utilizes work-integrated learning by providing paid Micro-Internships to certification participants.

Micro-Internships for Healthcare Recruiting

Micro-Internships allow organizations to harness the benefits of experiential recruiting at scale quickly and easily. With these short-term projects or assignments, a job candidate is asked to perform actual job tasks or duties as part of the interview process. This allows the employer to assess the candidate's skills, abilities, and suitability for the role in a real-world context. While valuable for employers, students are excited to engage as it helps them learn about industries and organizations, demonstrate their skills, and build relationships as they launch their careers.

Micro-Internships facilitated on Parker Dewey’s early-career hiring platform support organizations in expanding experiential recruiting opportunities, adopting skills-based hiring practices, supporting diversity and inclusion, and coordinating work-integrated learning.

During a Micro-Internship, the candidate is expected to independently complete a project on behalf of an existing employee, demonstrating proficiency and competence in the task. This approach allows the intern to showcase their ability to autonomously manage and execute specific projects, contributing directly to the organization's goals.

Benefits of Micro-Internships for Recruiting

Early-Career Talent in the Healthcare Industry

Internships address the top five challenges in early-career healthcare recruitment, which include staffing shortages, lack of awareness of non-clinical roles, staffing rural healthcare facilities, improving employer brand, and decreasing time to hire and costs by offering candidates short-term, real-world experiences in the healthcare industry.

This approach allows early-career professionals to gain practical insights and hands-on experience, debunk myths about the industry, and understand the value and variety of non-clinical roles available. Additionally, Micro-Internships can help organizations showcase their work environment and culture, making them more attractive to potential candidates and allowing both parties to assess fit before committing to long-term employment.

Build Awareness of Non-Clinical Roles While Supporting Career Exploration

Micro-Internships aid career exploration in healthcare by providing hands-on exposure to real work. These short-term projects offer a glimpse into specific job responsibilities and challenges, allowing individuals to assess various roles.

Unlike traditional internships, Micro-Internships enable talent to explore multiple opportunities quickly, fostering a broader understanding of non-clinical roles and departments. This low-commitment approach serves as a "test drive" for potential careers, helping individuals align their interests and goals with the health and science industry. Early-career candidates highly value Micro-Internships as a tool for gaining insights, building skills, and making informed decisions about future career paths in the healthcare industry.

Assess Non-Clinical Candidate Skills, Aptitude, and Potential

Micro-Internships serve as a skills assessment tool, allowing individuals to showcase and develop specific skills through practical experiences. These opportunities enable early-career talent with limited experience to directly provide concrete evidence of their abilities to hiring managers.

The projects often involve problem-solving and quick skill acquisition, demonstrating adaptability. Interactions with team members help evaluate communication, collaboration, and teamwork. College students, recent grads, and career changers highly value Micro-Internships to demonstrate their skills in a real-world context dynamically.

Support relationship building and mentorship of emerging healthcare professionals

Micro-Internships in the healthcare sector facilitate deep relationship building and mentorship, enabling participants to closely engage with a diverse range of healthcare professionals and supervisors on targeted projects. This close collaboration often nurtures informal mentorship, where seasoned professionals share insights and guidance, fostering a supportive learning environment. Through these internships, participants delve into the organizational culture and connect with mentors who resonate with their career goals and aspirations.

The learning experience extends beyond acquiring technical skills, encompassing comprehensive industry knowledge and personalized career development advice. By facilitating collaboration, continuous feedback, and networking opportunities, Micro-Internships significantly enhance candidate relationship building and increase their affinity for the organization, thereby cultivating a robust pipeline of aligned and committed talent for the healthcare industry.

Promote Inclusivity and Equity in Early-Career Hiring

While “homegrown” experiential learning programs are frequently limited to a targeted pool of candidates, Parker Dewey’s Micro-Internship platform promotes inclusive hiring by offering accessible opportunities to a varied talent pool with diverse educational backgrounds and experiences, eager to learn more about careers in the healthcare industry. Parker Dewey Micro-Internship short-answer applications focus on skills, reducing biases associated with traditional resume screening tools.

Parker Dewey also ensures fair compensation, contributing to a more equitable hiring process. This inclusive approach extends to individuals facing barriers to traditional employment, offering accessible opportunities for those re-entering the workforce or seeking flexible arrangements nationwide.

Lower Non-Clinical Cost Per Hire While Improving Healthcare Employee Retention

Micro-Internships directly contribute to recruiting cost reduction by minimizing time and resources spent on lengthy hiring processes. The focus on specific skills results in a quicker recruitment process and allows for prompt attention to urgent needs. Additionally, the short-term and project-based nature eliminates or reduces onboarding costs, and healthcare organizations can access specialized talent at a lower cost, particularly beneficial for niche projects.

Micro-Internships also allow for assessing performance before long-term commitments, reducing the risk and costs associated with turnover. With remote or project-based structures, overhead costs related to office space are minimized, providing increased cost predictability through clear project scopes and compensation structures. Moreover, with direct experience working with your organization, Parker Dewey Micro-Interns have higher first-year retention rates compared to other recent graduates.

5 Essentials to Incorporate Micro-Internships into Early-Career Healthcare Recruiting Processes

The best Micro-Internships are mutually beneficial. Healthcare organizations get work done while identifying and auditioning potential job candidates. Early-career talent and career changers demonstrate skills, gain experience, and explore career paths so they can find the right fit. Unlike other recruiting strategies, most of the “work” falls to the hiring manager including screening, selecting, and evaluating candidates–freeing up recruiting’s time to work towards other goals. Likewise, in practice, the “work” done by hiring managers is more than recovered with the final project deliverable completed by the Micro-Intern.

Define specific deliverables

Ensure each Micro-Internship is assigned specific tasks, projects, or responsibilities that are relevant to the job you are hiring for.

Encourage observation

While hiring managers can be hands-off after delegating the project, they should observe and take note of the candidate's performance, looking for qualities like technical skills, efficiency, creativity, and problem-solving ability.

Create opportunities for interaction with current employees

The candidate may work independently, but scheduling check-ins can provide opportunities for both parties to assess cultural fit and teamwork.

Duration

Micro-Internships can last for a few days, a full week, or even several weeks, depending on the complexity of the role and the nature of the tasks involved. Even 10-hour experiences provide effective skills assessment!

Feedback and Assessment

After the Micro-Internship, hiring managers provide feedback and assess the candidate's performance. This feedback is shared with recruiting and used to inform the next steps and hiring decisions.

Why Parker Dewey

It's important to note that while Micro-Internships can provide valuable insights into a candidate's abilities, they should be conducted ethically and in compliance with labor laws. Parker Dewey makes it easy by handling employment, liability, and confidentiality for you. There are no HR burdens, no conversion fees, and no questions about ownership of the final product.

Additionally, Parker Dewey’s platform informs candidates in advance about the format and expectations of the Micro-Internship, and compensation is clearly communicated and held in escrow until completion of the project.

Moreover, working with Parker Dewey offers several benefits compared to creating your own Micro-Internship program:

Professional Support

Leveraging our pioneering expertise in creating the Micro-Internship concept, Parker Dewey offers unparalleled professional support to both companies and Micro-Interns. Our management of the entire program ensures a seamless and positive experience, allowing organizations to focus on their core operations while we handle the intricacies of the internships. By partnering with us, companies benefit from our in-depth experience and receive valuable data and insights from the engagements, aiding in strategic decision-making.

Cost Savings

Working with Parker Dewey can lower cost-per-hire and result in cost savings compared to developing and maintaining an in-house Micro-Internship program, traditional internships, and career fairs. These savings come from reduced needs for platform development, marketing, and administrative efforts. Additionally, Micro-Internships can minimize the expenses associated with long-term commitments and benefits typically required for full-time hires or longer internships. They also reduce the logistical costs of hosting career fairs, such as venue rental, travel, and materials. Furthermore, by efficiently matching candidates with specific projects, organizations can directly assess fit and performance, reducing turnover and the subsequent costs of rehiring.

Attracting Non-Clinical Candidates to the Healthcare Industry

The Healthcare Industry Continues to Grow,

So Why Is It So Hard to Hire Early-Career Talent?