How to start your career in health care before you’ve earned a college degree

You don’t need a college or advanced degree to begin a rewarding healthcare career that can really take you places. Whether you’re not sure if a traditional four-year degree is for you, or you would like to enter the workforce sooner, you can begin your career journey in a middle skills position at Northwell Health. There are huge benefits to starting your career in one of these high-demand jobs, and that’s why we’re spreading the word about these opportunities.

“Middle skills” is defined as anything above a high school diploma but lower than a baccalaureate degree including certifications, trade schools, associate degrees and certain licensing. Opportunities include specialty technicians such as EEG, EKG, surgical techs, sterile processing techs, radiology techs and careers as medical assistants and phlebotomists, nursing assistants and more.

A middle skills position offers you opportunities to create a robust career. From initial hire, there are multiple career pathways available– complete with competitive pay and benefits packages. Imagine this…

You begin your career as a central sterile technician, ensuring surgical equipment and instrumentation is sterile, and begin to gain essential work experience in the healthcare industry. You decide that you want to work directly in the operating room, and pursue education as a surgical technician (did you know Northwell offers tuition reimbursement for qualified employees?!). After that, you decide to go back to school to study nursing, and eventually, you could put all this experience and education into becoming an OR nurse. Perhaps you decide that’s not the direction for you and continue to management in your particular role. We’ve seen it happen!

The real attraction of working in middle skills is the demand. There is a shortage of people working in these essential jobs across the country and these positions are critical to the healthcare workforce. Starting in a middle skills job can give you the experience, the network, the demand, the education and the opportunity to succeed in the health care field without a college degree.

About Workforce Readiness

We’re spreading the word about middle skills opportunities through Northwell Health’s Department of Workforce Readiness,  which partners with educational institutions and creates initiatives to support the workforce of tomorrow. We work collaboratively on local, state and national levels to increase awareness and address the STEM workforce gap. We provide a collaborative voice between industry and education.

 Students: Start your healthcare career journey at Northwell Health. Visit NorthwellCareers.com/Students. The opportunities are endless.