LinkedIn for Healthcare Industry Job Search and Networking

LinkedIn is a professional networking website, with over 1.5 million healthcare professionals registered for networking, job search, and professional development. Utilizing LinkedIn is free for most users, but you can purchase a membership for additional services. LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for healthcare professionals when searching for a job, to identify hiring managers at your desired potential employer, or learn more about a company and its employees.

LinkedIn is very user-friendly. To start building a network, you simply set up a brief online profile which outlines your experience, education, and accomplishments, as well as organizations and associations.

After your profile is completed online, which takes just a few minutes, then you may connect, or link in, to other users to begin building your network. As you connect to each healthcare professional, you’re also making yourself accessible to that person’s network, so as your first-degree network of direct contacts grows, your secondary and tertiary networks grow exponentially.Additionally, healthcare hiring managers often post open positions on LinkedIn, and use the site to help identify potential candidates through the postings and referrals in addition to networking.

Where else can you have access to 1.5 million healthcare professionals in one place? The healthcare professionals on LinkedIn include clinicians and providers, as well as researchers, administrative personnel, medical recruiters, in addition to pharmaceutical and biotech workers and managers.

Of the 1.5 million healthcare professionals who are registered on LinkedIn, members have listed themselves in one of a variety of categories within the industry. Quantifying the precise volume within each category of professionals is not an exact science because it depends on how people list themselves when they create a profile.

• 129,013 LinkedIn users have listed themselves under “Medical Practice” in the US, with an additional 50,000 international members in this category.
• 322,158 users are listed under “Hospital and Health Care” in the US, plus another 100,000 international members in this category.
• Over 200,000 LinkedIn members in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, plus another 150,000 registered internationally. These could include pharmaceutical research and development, executives, sales and marketing, pharmacists, pharm techs, pharmacologists, or anyone who works in any role within a pharmaceutical company.
• Over 119,000 member have registered under “Medical Device” industry, with another 50,000 professionals registered internationally.

Additionally, there are over 200,000 people registered in "Health Wellness and Fitness," over 30,000 people in “Alternative Medicine”, and over 75,000 in “Mental Health Care” capacities, including international members.

Krista Canfield, Public Relations Manager for LinkedIn, also estimates that there are over 130,000 medical professionals, mostly medical doctors, plus about 23,000 nurses in the US, who are registered on LinkedIn as such.

Join one or more LinkedIn groups for healthcare professionals, and connect more easily with other professionals in the same line of work or specialty. Just go to "Groups Directory" tab from your home page or profile, then use the search tool to find groups.

• Student Doctor Network
• Medical Device Network
• Physicians Alternative Career Network (PACnet) – for MDs who want a career doing something other than practicing medicine and direct patient care.
• Healthcare Physicians Practice Network
• Registered Nurse Group
• ExecuCare Professional Nurse Organization
• Bio/Pharm Professionals
• Health Informatics Technology (HIT) Group

There are many other groups in addition to the above list, which should give you a good idea of what's available. If you don't find a group that applies to your exact interests, you can even start your own professional healthcare networking group on LinkedIn!After you set up your online profile, be proactive and try some of the following ways to increase your exposure to healthcare hiring managers and potential employers, as well as existing colleagues.

1. Proofread your profile! Remember many people will view your profile as a CV, so be sure it's clear of spelling and grammar errors. Also, highlight your accomplishments effectively in your profile.
2. Ask and answer professional healthcare industry questions. There is a "Q&A" module in LinkedIn which is great for obtaining information, as well as providing information. Additionally, by participating in the question and answer part of the site, your profile may be viewed by more people who would have an interest in the healthcare industry-related information.
3. Get recommended. Recommendations by colleagues and supervisors are like references which are quoted right on your profile. Recommendations from supervisors and colleagues help showcase and confirm your success on the job.