在经济不景气的情况下找到工作可能是残酷的，而且，通常雇主对他们的求职者抱有很高的期望。希望获得一份工作的学生需要找到独特的方法在竞争中脱颖而出才能竞争。 威斯康星州格林贝。, graduate Peggy 颂尼森 found the right mix of education and extracurricular work to land her dream job in her field.

Here is how 颂尼森 went from years of retail work to successfully launching a career in 医疗管理.

过去影响教育

颂尼森’他的职业道路与大多数希望从事医疗保健职业的人截然不同。她一生的大部分时间都在零售部门工作，但仍担任Target部门经理的兼职职位。她的零售事业令人满意，这使她保持了一段时间的兴趣，但是照顾生病的丈夫和一个患有脊柱裂的儿子使她进入了医疗领域。

The idea of assisting those who help patients directly appealed to 颂尼森, as she knew nursing wasn’t为她服务，但是在花了很多时间帮助照顾她的家人之后，她仍然想进入这个领域。

她通过参加兼职课程在医疗保健领域弄湿了自己的脚 东北威斯康星技术学院, where she eventually earned associate degrees in health information technology as well as healthcare 商业. 颂尼森 spent some time searching for jobs in the field, but found that most of the positions that appealed to her required a bachelor’学位。因此，在丈夫去世后的2010年，她决定重返学校获得学士学位’s degree.

她最大的动力是个人成就和潜在职业稳定的混合体。

“我真的很想向自己证明我可以做到，” 颂尼森 says. “Plus healthcare isn’t going anywhere—there’始终是该领域人员的需求。”

参观拉斯穆森学院’s 绿湾 campus quickly cemented her decision to return. 颂尼森 says the combination of smaller class sizes, location and personal support appealed to her, so after meeting with her program coordinator she decided to enroll.

建筑经验

Returning to school is typically an intimidating experience for older students, but 颂尼森’s prior college experience and passion for learning made for a smooth transition. 颂尼森 says the staff at 拉斯穆森学院 also helped ease her transition with their positivity and willingness to help.

“大家张开双臂欢迎我” she says.

Her family also provided support as she adjusted to the challenges of returning to school. 颂尼森’s older sister graduated from college and worked in human resources at a 绿湾 area hospital so she often served as a sounding board for 颂尼森’的问题和疑虑。

“我可以打电话给[我的妹妹]，她’d remind me that I could do it and I just needed to hang in 那里 when I struggled,” 颂尼森 says.

颂尼森 developed her support network beyond her family when she became good friends with a classmate while forming a collegiate 德卡 组。 德卡 是一个全国性组织，通过将学术工作应用于现实世界来帮助发展商科学生的领导技能。

颂尼森 says she and her 德卡 co-founder are like sisters now, which added to her experience in several ways.

“我发现这是一次非常有益的经历，” 颂尼森 says. “我遇到了很多好朋友，能够交流，我认为这使我变得更好。”

她在DECA所做的努力获得了在加利福尼亚州阿纳海姆市举行的全国比赛中获得第二名的形式。在比赛中，索内森和一个随机选出的参与者花了三天的时间进行调查并起草建议以增加销量并获得回报。零售商店的盈利能力。完成后，该小组必须将其发现结果提交给评审团—他们中的许多人显然对他们的想法印象深刻。

管理医院或诊所不是’t the same as managing a retail store, but 颂尼森 says the leadership skills and friendships she developed while in 德卡 were invaluable.

找工作

颂尼森 completed her bachelor’学位于2013年秋季获得，但在开始从事医疗保健管理职业之前，她必须清除最后一个障碍—招聘过程。她在毕业后就充满了信心，因为她曾与职业服务顾问一起工作，以完善简历并完善面试技巧。

颂尼森 had a stroke of luck while searching open positions at local hospitals—她发现自己的技能和应用能力几乎完美匹配。她的申请取得了圆满成功，第二天就联系她进行面试。

运气没有’t stop 那里; while talking with her interviewers she learned that two of them were also 拉斯穆森学院 graduates.

“听到他们是拉斯穆森的学生面试我之后，我觉得我要穿鞋了，” 颂尼森 laughs. “但是他们说我的简历和DECA的经历给他们留下了深刻的印象。”

拉斯穆森学院（Rasmussen College）与面试官的联系可能不是决定因素，但确实没有’t hurt—索纳森（Sonneson）得到了这份工作，现在正在接受培训，担任健康信息管理站点协调员， 圣玛丽’医院医疗中心 在绿湾。

想要做出改变？

晚年重返校园不会’不必令人生畏。拉斯穆森学院’成立了Support +团队，以帮助新学生顺利过渡，无论他们最后踏进教室多久。如果你的事业停滞不前’不再浪费时间—迈出专业一步，赚取您的 商业学位.