Hospital Jobs are Great Jobs

Here at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, it’s pretty common to find a co-worker who started their job here long ago in a different department entirely. Michael, for instance, started by registering patients in the Emergency Department. Through years of hard work, he’s now a team leader in the Information Systems Department. Amanda started in the Environmental Services Department and is now a nurse.

I would bet the case is similar in hospitals across the country. For many reasons, hospitals are great places to launch and build satisfying careers. For April, Career Month in Bennington, I would like to share some of the reasons I think that’s the case and encourage you to think of hospital jobs as great jobs.

All the jobs. If you are great with people, you might go into hospitality. If you love biology, you might go into research. If you’re interested in law, you might become an attorney. But did you know that all of these positions can be found within the hospital? In addition to doctors and nurses, hospitals employ accountants and cooks and computer specialists and social workers and many, many more. We even have an education department for teaching and training staff! No matter your interest, you can find it in at the hospital.

We grow with you. All over hospitals there are ladders. Not literal ladders, corporate ladders. Just like the employees noted at the opening of this column, through steady effort you can reach greater and greater levels of responsibility. Sometimes you can climb the ladder by being a reliable and efficient teammate. Sometimes, you can use tuition assistance to attain the next level of education and advance through your department or jump to a different one. Each move can lead to greater pay and satisfaction.

Stick around a while. At hospitals we want our patients to get well and leave, but we want our employees to stay. And because we are large and often stable companies, we can make that happen by offering fair pay and good benefits. Unlike many other employers, our size allows us to provide great perks, like on-site childcare and an on-site eatery. These special services make it easier to balance work and life.

The best perk ever. When you gather a group of people together, and they accept the mission to take great care of patients, something magical happens: they end up taking great care of each other too. We work with life and death every day. We see the ups and the downs. Because of that, we understand how important strong relationships are. These circumstances combine to make our teams more like close-knit families who laugh and cry together through it all.

If you’re interested in a great career with great people, look no further than your local hospital. You will likely find something you’re interested in, the support you need to grow and thrive at work and at home.

Polly Cipperly is the director of Human Resources at Southwestern Vermont Health Care. To browse openings at Southwestern Vermont Health Care, visit svhealthcare.org/careers.