Career Blog

Use Gratitude to Grow and Nurture Your Network

 

 

 

Thank you notes are critical in helping to grow and nurture your network. Writing a thank you email is one of the best ways to maintain your network connections.  Make sure you take time to thank everyone who helps you with your career, your job search or who offers career advice. Professionals who take time to help with your career deserve your thanks. Show your gratitude with a well-crafted email. All it takes is a few authentic lines.
Templates for some of the professional situations that deserve a note:
       1. For a reference:

Dear [Name],
I made it to the final rounds of interviewing with [company]! Thank you for agreeing to serve as a reference. Your help means so much to me. I’ve attached an updated resume and a copy of the job description for your reference. The company is looking for is someone with [top skill]. When I remembered the [project name] that we worked on together, I thought of you. I truly appreciate all your help and am so grateful to have you in my network. Please let me know how I can help you!

       2. For giving advice:

Dear [Name],
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions about [task]. Hearing about your experience with [similar task] was very helpful! I ended up exceeding expectations on [task]. I am grateful to have you in my network. Your advice has been very important to me. Please let me know if there is anything with which I can assist you.

       3. For making an introduction:

Dear [Name],
Thank you so much for introducing me to [new-contact]. We just got off a phone call. We discussed [project you needed help with]. Now I feel much better equipped to handle [examples of tasks related to the project]. I appreciate the help you have provided and am grateful to have you in my network. Please keep me in mind if you ever need help.

 

Take time to show your gratitude.  Your email can make all the difference when the next time rolls around. When your network contact feels appreciated, you will be able to count on more help in the future. Good thank you notes are the best way to grow and nurture your network.
Kathy Lin - Tal HealthcareWritten by:
Kathy Lin, Marketing Communications Manager
Kathy writes content for Tal Healthcare, a healthcare career website. She has a background in recruiting, sales, and teaching.  She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Vermont.  When she isn’t writing you can find her outside running, skiing or biking.

Gratitude: A Powerful Leadership Tool

 

 

 

Do you appreciate the people who make your success possible? With all the challenges of being a leader, it is important to remind yourself that working with your team is a privilege. When you appreciate your team, it creates an environment that celebrates the good and inspires success.  Now is the perfect time to show your gratitude.
Showing authentic gratitude will:
1. Boost Respect

Leaders earn respect when they show their team members appreciation. Leaders who take the time to understand and acknowledge the unique way each person on the team participates, innovates and grows are more focused on recognizing the team’s achievements than their own.  When a leader shows gratitude, they gain respect.

 

2. Build Trust

When you express gratitude for the hard work and contribution of your team, their trust in you and your leadership increases. Your team will trust you for valuing what each person brings to the table. Trust is the foundation for a team’s ability to grow and thrive.

 

 3. Increase Productivity

Research shows that when individuals are thanked for their efforts, they become more productive. The sense of feeling valued can be instrumental for motivating your team to achieve greater success.

 

 4. Develop Resilience

Gratitude has a positive impact on resilience which is defined by emotional regulation and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. When leaders are thankful they become more resilient.

 

 5. Improve Health and Well-being

Gratitude has been credited with lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, reducing depression, and increasing immunity. When leaders show gratitude, they thrive.

Cultivate a culture of gratitude with your team.  Spend some time reflecting what it is about the individuals on your team for which you are grateful and let them know. Gratitude is one of those small things that makes leadership and life better. It is a powerful tool that will inspire your whole team. Gratitude is viral, once it gets started it will keep growing and giving.

 

Kathy Lin - Tal HealthcareWritten by:
Kathy Lin, Marketing Communications Manager
Kathy writes content for Tal Healthcare, a healthcare career website. She has a background in recruiting, sales, and teaching.  She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Vermont.  When she isn’t writing you can find her outside running, skiing or biking.

9 Ways Nurse Practitioners are Transforming Medicine

 

 

National Nurse Practitioner (NP) week is the perfect time to recognize how Nurse Practitioners are transforming medicine. Nurse Practitioners play an important role in providing timely access to quality healthcare.

 

November 11-17 is National Nurse Practitioner (NP) week.  This is the perfect time to recognize how Nurse Practitioners are transforming medicine.  Nurse Practitioners play an important role in providing timely access to quality healthcare.

9 Ways Nurse Practitioners are Transforming Medicine:

We at Tal Healthcare say, “Thank you,” to all the Nurse Practitioners who are making a positive impact on healthcare.
Kathy Lin - Tal HealthcareWritten by:
Kathy Lin, Marketing Communications Manager
Kathy writes content for Tal Healthcare, a healthcare career website. She has a background in recruiting, sales, and teaching.  She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Vermont.  When she isn’t writing you can find her outside running, skiing or biking.

Preparing for Behavioral Interview Questions

 

 

Behavioral Interview questioning is now a part of most job interviews. Behavioral based interviewing is questioning used to determine how you will react in specific, on-the-job, situations. By asking questions about how you have reacted in the past to certain scenarios, the interviewer will predict how you will perform in the future.

To prepare for this type of questioning, take some time to recall challenging situations you have dealt with or projects you have worked on.  Prepare stories that highlight successful problem-solving and high achievement.  Write out at least one story for each of your past jobs and one story for each of your recent accomplishments. You will use these stories as a framework for responding to behavioral interview questions that you might be asked.

When crafting your stories, focus on explaining the situation and problem you faced in a compelling way.  Telling a compelling story will make you appear more likable.  Indicate the specific steps you took toward resolution and how you solved the problem.  Conclude with quantifiable results. This could be the dollar amount of a promotion or the dollar amount of increased profits. Write out each story and put your brand on it. Your brand is your unique individual image or the set of talents and strengths that you want to communicate to the employer.

Be sure to listen carefully to the question, ask for clarification if needed, offer a detailed and clear response, and always be honest. Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers.

      Examples of Behavioral Interview Questions:

  • Of which accomplishment are you most proud? Why?
  • How did you solve a problem or overcome a challenge? What was the outcome?
  • How do you handle schedule interruptions?
  • How have you handled a conflict with an employee or supervisor?
  • When working in a team, what role do you usually take? Why?
  • What strategies do you use to control your temper on the job?
  • How have you used logic to solve a problem?
  • How have you worked to reach your goals?
  • What coping strategies do you use when under a great deal of pressure?
  • When you made a mistake, how did you handle the situation?
  • Describe a decision you made that was unpopular. How did you handle it?
  • Discuss a time when you did not meet your goal. Why did it happen?

Start preparing and practicing your stories now so that you will be ready to handle any tricky behavioral interview that comes your way.  Be prepared so you can promote your successes and strengths to the hiring manager.

 

Kathy Lin - Tal HealthcareWritten by:
Kathy Lin, Marketing Communications Manager
Kathy writes content for Tal Healthcare, a healthcare career website. She has a background in recruiting, sales, and teaching.  She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Vermont.  When she isn’t writing you can find her outside running, skiing or biking.

60 Power Words for Resume Success

 

Your resume is the most critical tool for landing an interview. This brief snapshot of your career needs to be precisely crafted. Use powerful action verbs that will enable you to quantify your contributions. Strong word choices will bring a confident tone to your resume.

Your resume is the most critical tool for landing an interview. This brief snapshot of your career needs to be precisely crafted. Avoid weak, tired or passive words.  Instead, use powerful action verbs that will enable you to quantify your contributions.  Strong word choices will bring a confident tone to your resume.  Keep these rules in mind as you craft or overhaul your resume:

  • Bullets: Use bullet points so your achievements stand out. The most important bullets must appear at the top.
  • Quantify: Combine powerful verbs with quantifiable For each accomplishment include how many, how much, how long or how often. For example, “Negotiated and closed 100 individual contracts over $30,000 each.”
  • Keywords: Keywords are the skills and qualifications that the hiring manager is looking for. You will find these in the job description for the job you are applying for. Many resumes are screened by an applicant tracking system that will search for relevant keywords.  The hiring manager will only view your resume if these words get picked up.
  • Proof: Just one typo can cause your resume to end up in the rejection pile. Review it multiple times, do a line-by-by line edit, read it backward, and have a friend do the same.
  • Verbs: Powerful verbs make your resume stand out. Start each bullet point with one of these verbs to show how you have achieved success.
1. Accelerated
2. Accomplished
3. Achieved
4. Advanced
5. Advocated
6. Analyzed
7. Audited
8. Boosted
9. Built
10. Chaired
11. Compiled
12. Converted
13. Created
14. Cultivated
15. Decreased
16. Designed
17. Determined
18. Developed
19. Directed
20. Discovered

21. Eliminated
22. Enhanced
23. Examined
24. Exceeded
25. Expanded
26. Forged
27. Formulated
28. Generated
29. Improved
30. Increased
31. Inspired
32. Integrated
33. Invented
34. Maximized
35. Measured
36. Mentored
37. Merged
38. Minimized
39. Mobilized
40. Moderated

41. Motivated
42. Negotiated
43. Optimized
44. Orchestrated
45. Overhauled
46. Persuaded
47. Piloted
48. Pioneered
49. Planned
50. Produced
51. Promoted
52. Proved
53. Pursued
54. Quantified
55. Reduced
56. Resolved
57. Spear­headed
58. Stimulated
59. Streamlined
60. Strengthened

Use the right power words to pump up your resume and increase your chances of getting an interview.

 

Kathy Lin - Tal HealthcareWritten by:
Kathy Lin, Marketing Communications Manager
Kathy writes content for Tal Healthcare, a healthcare career website. She has a background in recruiting, sales, and teaching.  She holds a BA in Biology from the University of Vermont.  When she isn’t writing you can find her outside running, skiing or biking.

Tal Healthcare Celebrates National Health Center Week 2018

A National Campaign to Celebrate Health Care Heroes

 

Tal Healthcare is proud to partner with many health centers in the Northeast.  Across the United States, health centers serve more than 27 million Americans.  Health centers have compiled a significant record of success that includes:

  • Producing $24 billion in annual health system savings
  • Reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and unnecessary visits to the emergency room
  • Treating patients for a fraction of the average cost of one emergency room visit
  • Maintaining patient satisfaction levels of nearly 100 percent
  • Serving more than one in six Medicaid beneficiaries for less than two percent of the national Medicaid budget
  • Lowering the cost of children’s primary care by approximately 35 percent

The heroes who work at health centers and help make affordable healthcare possible for people in need are at the center of the year’s National Health Center Week, August 12-18. More than 205,000 people work at health centers in positions that include clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, dentists, dental hygienists, behavioral health specialists, and much more.  Working together, these healthcare heroes produce innovative solutions to the most pressing healthcare issues in their communities. They reach beyond the walls of conventional medicine to address the factors that may cause sickness, such as lack of nutrition, mental illness, homelessness and substance use disorders. It is their work that has helped reduce healthcare costs and chronic disease.

 

To learn more about National Health Center Week and a listing of events please visit: www.healthcenterweek.org. You can also follow the conversation using #NHCW18 on Twitter.