Your Healthcare Career Guide: Make Yourself a More Attractive Candidate with Certification

In a tough job market, putting in a little extra effort to give yourself a competitive edge can reap significant rewards – in the form of more employment prospects. One of the simplest ways to differentiate yourself from the competition is by gaining additional or needed certifications.

Prep yourself for job hunt success with this certification-focused healthcare career guide:

Gain Essential Certifications Early
For many healthcare professionals, basic life support (BLS), pediatric advanced life support (PALS) or advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) certification may be a requirement of employment.

If you find yourself applying for positions that require these certifications prior to or within a certain timeframe of accepting the job, you may be doing yourself a favor by getting this requirement out of the way early.

By walking into an application or interview scenario with all needed certifications under your belt, you immediately set yourself apart from other applicants who don’t already have them.

Say “Yes” to Optional Certifications
In your healthcare career, guide your way to success by gaining non-essential, optional certifications. When your resume is packed with certifications that will make you a more agile, versatile asset to an employer, it’s more likely to be placed in the “yes” pile.

Learn New First Aid and Life Support Guidelines
In 2010, the American Heart Association released updated first aid and life support guidelines. Health Education Solutions’ ACLS, PALS and BLS courses are now updated to reflect these new recommendations. If you’ve previously earned certification in one of these courses and are seeking a new job, it may be helpful to review the courses’ key changes.

Having a strong understanding of current recommendations can help you ensure that your knowledge base is up to date and you’re prepared for any certification-focused interview questions. Consider signing up for a BLS, PALS or ACLS training course to brush up on the newest first aid and life support guidelines.

Healthcare Career Guide: 2011 Certification Options
Health Education Solutions is a leading provider of online healthcare training courses, including ACLS, PALS and BLS certifications and CPR and AED training. ACLS and PALS courses are targeted toward healthcare professionals and were developed in partnership with Union College.

Health Education Solutions’ online research library offers a healthcare career guide, 2011 certification updates and a wealth of other information for healthcare professionals, first responders and other individuals interested in emergency and first aid training.