Reconnecting on LinkedIn

I just found out that a college friend (MIT alumni) will be relocating to my neighborhood. I haven't seen him in over 10 years! How did I find out? Through LinkedIn. Isn't social networking amazing?

He's starting dental school this fall and I want to wish him the best. After over 10 years of consulting and marketing, he's now entering the clinical world of dentistry. It's understandable to see people shifting from the non-clinical side (i.e., corporate America) to the clinical side. Given today's economy, you could have an MBA from Wharton and still be unemployed if you over-qualify for some of the positions that are out there. Marketing budgets are shrinking and pharma companies and merging and restructuring. It's a scary world out there, but if you stay on the clinical side of healthcare, things appear to be more promising. Well, I just wanted to share another story about how social networking sites can help you get reconnected.

Non-Clinical Jobs: Top Posts for Last Week

Here are the most popular posts from last week on NonClinicalJobs.com:

1. Non-Clinical Medical Opportunities for Physicians and Other Clinicians

2. The Best Non-Clinical Healthcare Jobs

3. 5 High Paying Medical Careers That Don't Require A 4+ Year Degree

4. 20 Highest Paying Jobs

5. Consulting for McKinsey or the Boston Consulting Group

6. Freelance Medical Writing Jobs on Elance

7. 10 tips for physicians interested in a health IT career

8. Working in a start-up company

9. Transparency begins with salary info

10. Health IT Jobs for Physicians

How do you find non-clinical jobs?

How do you find a non-clinical job? Do you still look in the newspaper? Medical journals? I don't think you'll find many listed in JAMA or the New England Journal of Medicine. So what's the best method?

Well, perhaps you landed on this site because you were looking for a non-clinical job. Do you depend on job boards to find non-clinical opportunities? How about LinkedIn? Are you looking for part-time work or a full-time career?

In today's world of buzzing information technology and connectivity, the best way to find a job is through a combination of social networking, recruiters, online job boards, and diligence. Forget about the newspapers or printed journals. Leverage networking sites like LinkedIn and meet as many qualified and competent recruiters as you can. Stay active in online communities and you may just find a job that meets your personal and professional needs.

Search engine keywords for NonClinicalJobs.com

What do you think are the main keywords that lead people to this website? What are people typing into Google to get here? I don't think you be very surprised by this list of keywords:

• non clinical physician jobs
• non clinical jobs for physicians
• non clinical jobs
• medical writing jobs
• non clinical medical jobs
• non clinical careers for physicians
• non-clinical physician jobs
• non clinical jobs for doctors
• public health jobs california
• medical jobs
• non clinical physician careers
• non-clinical jobs for physicians
• leaving the bedside: the search for a non-clinical medical career
• nonclinical physician jobs
• physician salaries
• non clinical medical careers
• non-clinical medical careers
• non-clinical medical jobs
• clinical jobs
• freelance medical writer jobs
• freelance medical writing jobs

Over the last 30 days (month of June), search engine traffic represented roughly 30% of my site traffic. Before that (prior 30 days or the month of May), it represented 21%.

Independence Day

Today is July 4 and it marks Independence Day in the United States. Our country has changed dramatically since 9-11 and I think Independence Day has a revived meaning in this country. As we combat terrorism and fight for freedom, let us continue to pray for our soldiers and their families.

Why are doctors looking for non-clinical jobs?

Some doctors are looking for some non-clinical freelance work because they need supplemental income. Others are changing careers because they are burned out. Some are forced to find non-clinical work because of a variety of reasons. Others wish to explore the non-clinical arena to see what types of opportunities are available. Is the grass really greener on the other side?

What are your reasons for finding a non-clinical job? Are you looking for something part-time? A full-time career transition? Supplemental income? Moonlighting? A "backup plan" in case you end up hating clinical medicine?

These are interesting questions and over the next several months I'll be writing about various examples that outline why physicians and other healthcare professionals are looking for non-clinical jobs. I'm also still working on my new book and my goal is to get that out by the end of 2009. Let's see if that ends up happening.

Importance of alumni connections

What type of alumni connections do you have? Are you actively involved in your alumni association? I currently belong to 3 different alumni groups, and if I continue my education, then maybe I'll join a fourth someday. For now, I belong to these three groups:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine (UAMS)
  
• University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences (UMass)
  

It's been easy to get reconnected with old classmates through Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Twitter. This goes to show that social networking sites really do work.

So why are alumni connections so important? Imagine that your former classmate is the hiring manager for a certain position that interests you. Instead of trying to reconnect before you submit your CV, wouldn't it be better if you had already maintained that connection? How would you even know if your former classmate is the president or CEO of a company? You'd be amazed at the types of connections you can find through your alumni network.

Does medical blogging pay?

How do bloggers make money? This is one of the most frequent questions I encounter since I'm a medical blogger. I actually spent a few years blogging for zero pay. It was a hobby and I did it in my spare time. However, several months ago I decided that I could leverage my blogs for some supplemental income. What's there to lose? So, I decided to venture into the world of blogging for an income and it's been a very interesting experience.

You may have heard that certain "pro bloggers" out there are making tens of thousands of dollars each month through their blogs. Is that real? (yes) How do they do it? The answer is simple: high traffic and ads.

If you have a website that draws millions of visitors each day, then you can make a tremendous amount of money simply by posting a few ads on your site. If you site isn't drawing many visitors, then you're probably going to be making a few pennies here and there. Advertising is a huge industry and many companies spend billions of dollars to market products and services.

In order to generate a significant income through your blogs, you need to generate a large volume of consistent traffic. That takes time (unless you're well-connected with people who can help you gain that traffic quickly).

So, does medical blogging pay? If you're getting a ton of traffic, then it can pay quite well. Otherwise, it pays slowly and you must work diligently to grow your site traffic. Follow my blog as I write about ways you can boost traffic to your site.

Transparency begins with salary info

You don't see this every day. Transparency at the White House begins with salary information. Today, the White House publicly disclosed its Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff. This information is now available on the White House blog:

• Lowest annual salaries listed are $36,0000 (Staff Assistants)
  
• Highest annual salaries listed is $192.934 (Director of Public Health Policy)
  

Now that's transparency! So if you're interested in pursuing a government career in public health policy, you can have a realistic idea of what type of salary you may make someday if you reach the director level. To get to the White House blog and to see the detailed salary listings, click here.

668 members in the "Non-Clinical Healthcare Professionals" network

As we start the month of July, I thought I should provide an update. We currently have 668 members in the "Non-Clinical Healthcare Professionals" social network. Most of the members are physicians, but we do have some nurses, pharmacists, and other types of healthcare professionals. It's free to join and it's a great way to expand your professional network.

Social networking is critical in the non-clinical world and if you have any interest in pursuing jobs or careers in various medical industries, I would urge you to join. It's free to join and you can network with other healthcare professionals who may share similar interests or advice. Do you blog, Tweet on Twitter, participate in forums, or use Facebook or LinkedIn? Why not expand your social network to include people working in various non-clinical areas of medicine?

Non-Clinical Jobs: Top Posts for June 2009

Here are the most popular posts for June 2009 on NonClinicalJobs.com

1. Non-Clinical Medical Opportunities for Physicians and Other Clinicians

2. Consulting for McKinsey or the Boston Consulting Group

3. Freelance Medical Writing Jobs on Elance

4. Twitter Tips for Healthcare Executives

5. 5 High Paying Medical Careers That Don't Require A 4+ Year Degree

6. Public Health Jobs in California

7. 20 Highest Paying Jobs

8. The Best Non-Clinical Healthcare Jobs

9. Most Powerful Physician Healthcare Executives 2009

10. Contract Research Organizations or CROs