I'm scared for the future. I'm currently in school trying to get my Bachelors in Health Service Administration. I changed my major just last semester because I wanted to pursue a career in the non-clinical side of the healthcare field, opposite of what my parents wanted me to do (that's a whole 'nother story.) I'll be aiming to get my Masters after I finish with this Bachelors degree. That being said, I'm terribly frightened. With the current job market today, I'm afraid I'll be graduating with my degrees and not have a job or have to stick to a low-paying job. I know you can't start out and expect to make 100k a year, but my goal is the upper 40's since I spend so much time and money in school. Is this an unrealistic goal? I'm scared I won't even get that. I'm afraid employers will not hire me. I'm just a mess right now and I'm constantly thinking about the future and where it may take me. My parents are now very supportive of my decisions but I'm sure they won't be happy if I graduate and have to work for chicken scratch. Quite honestly, money is important to me and it gives me a sense of security. Sorry if I sound like I'm money hungry, it's just that I grew up with my family relying on the government for food, healthcare, etc... because we couldn't make ends meet, so I know how tough it can get and I don't ever wanna be in that position again in my life.. not knowing what tomorrow would bring and not knowing if I can pay my bills. Don't get me wrong, I'm doing well now, and so is my family, but we came a long way to get to where we are today. I know if worse comes to worse, my parents would support me, but I don't want to rely on them for the rest of my life.

I know 3fc members are well-knowledgeable people, so I decided to take a shot and ask for some advice. I don't even know what I'm asking for.. if it's reassurance that it'll all be ok, or whatever else. I just need some advice.

Well, I work in healthcare administration for the indian Health Service and it's not hard to get a job. There is lots of room for promotion too. One thing I highly suggest is that you attend the IHI improvement advisor training while you are going to school and get into the OBM Executive Leadership Training Program. Those two trainings will give you a huge leg up in the job market. Right now I run 3 IHS tribal clinics inAlaska and I cannot love my job more. You are getting into an awesome career at a very promising time. Keep up the hard work at school and when you are done apply with the IHS, even if you are not of American Indian or AK native decent you have a good chance of getting a good job with competitive wages, longevity, and excellent benefits.

Also, if you can focus your training in clinical applications coordination, that is a promising field in healthcare admin right now with high demand, and great starting salaries.

Healthcare administration is a good field. Try getting an internship or volunteer position, or something, so you can get an insider idea of what it's like to make sure you'd like it, and get some practical experience, contacts, etc.

I won't butter it up for you. I am finishing in a few weeks my Master degree in cell biology and it is HARD to find a job for me. I was not prepared to this at all.

Both of our field are pretty different though, the markets are probably just the same, so the job hunting reality might not be the same for you and me.

But still. It is hard. People won't offer me jobs because I don't have experience and I can't get experience because nobody wants to hire me. *sigh*

I echo those that say to get an internship or externship or even get a part-time job (entry level, if necessary) while in grad school. This helped me tremendously! During my internship, I got to see a lot of different areas of a hospital and could find my niche of what I did or didn't want to do.

My advice is to get into a student group like ACHE (American College of Healthcare Executives) and network, network, network!

There are lots of areas for employment: hospitals (small & large), medical schools, government agencies (Federal & State level), consulting companies, etc.

Good luck!

My son had three job offers (1 hospital, 2 insurance companies) when he graduated with his BS in a healthcare field (not sure of the name, but he deals with electronic healthcare records and biometrics keeps coming to mind--he also plans to get an MS in public admin. with a healthcare emphasis). He worked for a hospital for a couple of years then switched to a university healthcare center last year after two other offers (insurance company and consulting company). He started his hospital job at almost twice what you mentioned for salary requirements. While he was able to get a job in the town where he owned a house, I think if you're willing to relocate, you have an advantage. He also had a part-time job at the hospital while in school, which I think made him more attractive after he graduated. Good luck!

The other posters have given you great advice about networking. My 2 cents is that with all of the changes in healthcare delivery, reimbursement, informatics, etc., I would imagine a high demand for people with your education and skills. Definitely join those organizations, get those internships, but the one thing that is certain is that healthcare systems are going to need people who know how to run healthcare systems!

I knew I made the right decision by asking you guys! Some very great advices here, thank you so much everyone! I'm gonna reply to everyone individually!

ghost, I googled up the IHI improvement adviser training and while it seems like a great program, holy smokes! 16,000. There's no way I'd be able to afford something like that! Thanks though, I will definitely look into IHS and see if there are any opportunities available.

exhale, I signed up for orientation to volunteer at a hospital next month, so hopefully that will work out! And I'm definitely looking for internships... it's just that I literally just changed majors not long ago so I'm not quite knowledgeable about how things work in this field and that scares me. It's really true when people say 'knowledge is power'!

Trip, biased or not, it's comforting to at least hear that!! I'm currently a Junior and have no internships experience, but I'm volunteering at a hospital next month so hopefully that will get me somewhere. I work at Disney World currently and while I love working for them, it seems like making a career out of my degree with them isn't possible. It's just a nice part-time job when you're a broke kid in college!

Turbo, I totally get where you're coming from. Before I changed my major to HSA, I was a Biology major on the pre-med track. I took all kinds of science and math classes and wasted so much time and money in a field I wasn't interested in at all... but that's what my parents wanted me to do so I complied. I knew something had to change when I stopped caring altogether and started to worry instead. What if I don't get into Med school? What would I do with my Biology degree then? That question haunted me as Biology is certainly not something I'd like to focus on for the rest of my life. On a side note, the thought of treating patients turns my stomach. I'm definitely into the healthcare field, but the paperwork side of it. You have to be super smart to get a Masters in cell biology. I really hope you find a worthwhile job soon and get the most out of it! Good luck on your job hunt!!

jenjen, I just joined a health service administration club this semester so hopefully I'll get something out of it! The key here seems to be internships and tons of networking. I really want to work at a hospital, but I have to get my foot in the door somehow first!

Sheila, that's amazing and you must be so proud of your son!! I'm trying to find *any* job in the hospital at the moment. It's hard, so I decided to volunteer and see if it'll bring me any opportunities.

midwife, with the baby boomers population reaching their golden years, it's at least comforting to know that the demand for people in this field is growing (according to the BLS website, at least). Sometimes I feel like if remained on the clinical side of the healthcare field, I wouldn't be in the position I am today, all worried about job opportunities. It seems like once those people graduate, they can easily find jobs as there will always be a need for doctors, nurses, and whatnot. I'm happy I changed my major though because I know I would've regretted it big time if I didn't. Good thing is that I didn't wait too too long to change my major, but the bad thing is, I did, waste a lot of time earning credits I didn't need. Then again, I'm only 20 so I guess I need to just 'chill out'!

Again, thanks everyone! The key here seems to be internships and networking. I'm definitely gonna do a lot of research on that and pray that it'll give me an advantage over others with the same degree once I graduate!

I'm with ya on worrying about the future. In high school, I felt pressured to be applying to universities and such, but since I didn't know what to do, I ended up just going to a community college, planning now on transferring and double majoring Japanese and Physics.
I've been told this continuously, and it took a while to sink in. But, you do realize you have a very limited grip on how your future will turn out, right? So, why worry about it? There are at least several people who've become successful without even going to college, or finishing high school for that matter. You're getting a Master's Degree, and that significantly improves your chances of employment, and good employment too. Try to be cool. Go meditate if you have to. Walk for a million miles. Let nature run its course, and as long as you're hard working, and you never give up, you'll get there!

Medical jobs (for the most part) are pretty safe in this economy. Also funeral home directors.

I actually don't agree with that. I believe that you determine your future, as far as career goes. There are people that became successful without a college degree, and mainly because they have some sort of passion for other things and it eventually works out for them, but there's also a bunch who live from paycheck to paycheck. I definitely don't have any kind of special talents or anything, so without college, it'd definitely be hard!

And you made the right choice by attending a CC since you didn't know what you wanted to do- wish I had done the same. It is SO much cheaper and you can always transfer to a university to finish your bachelor's =]

You're right though, I'm gonna let nature run it's course and chill out. I'm trying hard, so hopefully everything will fall into place.

Just the thought of a funeral home alone is nerve-racking I'm a wuss.