Entry Level Hospital Jobs For Career Growth
Career growth outlook and future opportunities are always an important consideration for potential job seekers looking to gain an edge or understand their future career path in the healthcare industry. The growth outlook isn't just limited to higher-level healthcare positions, entry-level hospital jobs are some of the top performers. With thousands of healthcare positions to fill, healthcare jobs top the charts for career growth and outlook over the next decade.
Career Growth Opportunities Are Available For All Levels of Education
There is a common stigma within the education and professional workforce that the level of education one possesses limits career growth in the respective position. In the healthcare industry and healthcare job marketplace, that stigma isn’t always true. Individuals within the industry have a higher career growth outlook of 18 percent over the next decade - much faster than any other available occupation today, regardless of education.
The beauty of the healthcare industry is that there are so many job opportunities and careers that present themselves to individuals with any level of education in their repertoire, so growth isn't limited to a small section of qualified individuals who possess more education.
Over the last several years, hospitals and health organizations have been creating job openings faster than they can fill them. This leads to a high demand for individuals to fill various positions with a wide range of educational requirements.
However, these career growth projections aren’t just limited to entry level hospital jobs. Individuals who have some education or advanced degrees have a positive career growth outlook as well. The demand for qualified healthcare individuals who have healthcare experience is so high, these individuals have a higher likelihood of finding new healthcare positions, moving upwards through the company structure, and earning more over time than traditional occupations where career growth might be stagnant or slow.
Withover a hundred different career options, individuals with any background can find a healthcare career that they find interesting and that'll also provide opportunities for advancement. This means that growth opportunities within the healthcare industry aren’t just confined to those individuals that have more education than others - something that is unique to the healthcare industry.
Some of the healthcare positions that highlight the BLS report of healthcare careers with some of the most positive career growth outlook over the next decade include: home care aides, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.
Why The Positive Career Growth Projections For Healthcare Jobs?
The healthcare career growth outlook is positive for a few reasons. As baby boomers age and faze out of the workforce, there will be a large pool of open positions previously occupied that need to be filled. Many of these positions were occupied for a long time and will create opportunities for young healthcare professionals to step up and find career advancement at an expedited rate compared to their peers in different industries.
In addition, as those baby boomers require care themselves, new entry-level hospital jobs will become available to help deal with the aging population that requires care in numbers that haven't been seen previously.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a recent report published in 2017 highlighted the fastest growing occupations. Of the Top 20 on that list, 10 were healthcare careers.
This report echoes that the healthcare industry as a whole is one of the driving forces for creating new jobs every year, adding roughly 2.3 million openings in 2016 alone. With that number expected to rise year over year, career growth opportunities for healthcare professionals is greater than any other industry.
As technology becomes a more important part of society every day, new jobs are being created that will require professionals to develop, implement, and utilize new solutions than ever before. This means that the healthcare industry in general will see more innovation in the coming decade than years prior, and qualified professionals are required to help bring this innovation forward.
Top Projected Healthcare Jobs To Grow Over Next Decade
Entry level hospital jobs are projected to be some of the top gainers over the next decade in the healthcare industry. Entry level hospital positions like personal care aides, medical assistants, and occupational therapy aides are just some of the healthcare jobs expected to grow exponentially over the next decade.
Some of the healthcare jobs in the BLS report that are expected to grow most over the next decade are:
- Home health aides: 47%
- Personal care aides: 37%
- Physician assistants: 37%
- Physical therapist assistants: 31%
- Medical assistants: 29%
- Physical therapist aides: 29%
- Occupational therapy aides: 29%
- Genetic counselors: 28%
- Health specialty or post secondary teachers from health jobs: 26%
Learn more about some of these positions on our Career Insights page where we have all the information you could possibly need for any healthcare job you might be considering.
Comparing Pay Trends for Healthcare Positions To Traditional Positions
When reviewing the BLS report in regards to pay trends for different positions, it’s easy to see why healthcare jobs top the charts for career outlook in the future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics published a median of weekly earnings based on education levels back in 2014, and the report is clear: more education typically pays more in the long run.
The interesting thing from the report is that healthcare positions with the same level of education have higher earnings and a more positive career wage outlook overall.
Due to growth within the industry year over year that continually requires new candidates for the open job postings, new healthcare professionals are being compensated at a higher wage to attract new talent to fill positions.
Pay Trend Breakdown
The BLS report states that an individual will typically make $761 weekly with an Associate’s Degree. This equates to earning roughly $39,572 in a year. In comparison, Physical Therapy Assistants who have the same level of education of an Associate’s Degree have the opportunity to make more over time because of their healthcare career path.
A Physical Therapy Assistant salary has a median pay range of $54,410. This represents a 37.5% increase overall for PTAs and a $14,838 difference in pay for the same level of education.
Not only is there a substantial pay difference in traditional careers vs healthcare careers, but because the industry is growing at a rapid pace and healthcare recruiters need experienced and qualified candidates to fill those positions, pay is expected to increase for healthcare professionals as positions increasingly need to be filled.
The difference in pay isn’t just for Associate Degree holders as mentioned above, the trend continues as one moves upward in education levels achieved. According to CareerCast, of the Top 10 highest paying jobs seven are healthcare positions.
Many of the seven highest-paid healthcare positions require advanced degrees, which can be daunting for some to even consider given the steep price tags that traditionally comes with an advanced education and graduate programs.
While the price to obtain additional education is steep, workers within the healthcare industry have an opportunity to earn more over the course of their career than those who aren’t in the healthcare industry. This means that individuals who take that extra step in gaining more education see the payoff more so than those who enter different industries.
Healthcare Careers Moving Forward
All the data points to one glaring conclusion: getting into the healthcare industry is a must for individuals who are looking for positive career growth opportunities and a healthy career outlook in today’s increasingly competitive job marketplace.
Career growth outlook is positive for both entry level hospital jobs and those who possess a little bit more education or experience in the industry. With an increasing demand for healthcare professionals to fill vacant positions and the expected number of open positions to rise over the next decade, it’s easy to see why healthcare jobs top the charts for career growth.