If you're planning on going into a health-related career, you probably already know the advantages of a healthcare internship.

Many healthcare jobs, specifically those dealing with nursing, are among some of the most in-demand careers. Healthcare is one career that is almost always in demand, even during times of economic hardship, and is often considered a recession-proof career. The industry has continued to expand to include new positions and help accommodate the aging population of the country.

According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation's education and health services industry employed 19,073,000 workers during November 2008 and had an unemployment rate of only 3.6 percent. During October, the industry saw 598,000 job openings and 536,000 hires.

The nation is currently facing a shortage in nurses, according to an article by the News Jacksonville, which can mostly be contributed to the fact that there's a shortage in nursing faculty. The shortage is expected to get worse in the near future as many current nurses are nearing the age of retirement, which will leave more jobs unfilled.

About two-thirds of all qualified applicants to nursing programs in North Florida are turned away and although schools want to accept more applicants, they are forced to comply with student-faculty ratio requirements.

The shortage may have to do with pay. Faculty members with a master's degree usually make a starting salary between $45,000 and $65,000 per year. However, field nurses with master's degrees often earn up to $90,000 per year.

During 2006 and 2007, 42 percent of the 25,357 students who applied to nursing programs in Florida were turned away. The Florida Board of Nursing and accreditation standards require a 12-to-1 student-faculty ratio for clinical classes and a 36-to-1 ratio for classroom instruction. This means if there isn't an increase in the number of available faculty, there won't be an increase in the number of students.

During 2007, Florida had a full-time nursing faculty vacancy rate of 6 percent to 11 percent. Most schools can't afford to hire additional faculty because of budget cuts, hiring freezes and the available job pool.

From 2006 to 2007 only 103 master's students specializing in nursing education and 32 PhD students graduated in Florida, while there were 144 faculty vacancies during that same time.

Entry level job seekers may not realize that often the first line of entry to gain an in-person interview is the employer's use of phone screenings. In a competitive employment market, job seekers need to know just how important a phone call can be. According to TCMI Houston, an executive career management and marketing firm, any contact with a potential employer is an opportunity to make a positive or negative impression.

The main element is to listen carefully and keep your responses on point. The ultimate goal is to be invited in for an interview. These phone calls show that your resume has "sparked" some interest with the hiring decision maker.

This method allows the company to reduce the number of applicants down to a workable number whereby the desired candidates are brought in for a face-to-face interview.

Some basic phone techniques are:

• Have responses to potential questions about your resume practiced and rehearsed prior to applying for positions.
• Keep pen and paper near the phone.
• Write down questions in advance for interviewers.
• Speak in an enthusiastic manner. Stand while you talk; your voice projects better than when you are sitting.
• Be aware of your annunciation and diction. The phone magnifies every imperfection and distracts from the thoughts you want to convey.
• Develop a high degree of authority and self confidence in your voice.
• Practice mock phone interviews.

According to San Diego-based Taylor Wingate Group, a professional career management company, everyone – especially entry level job seekers – should include a clear Career Objective on a resume. This concise statement must clearly communicates what you have to offer and what you want to do. In the same way an effective corporate mission statement is customer-centered or client-centered, an effective Career Objective is employer-centered.

The company stresses you must communicate to employers that you are a talented and purposeful individual who has produced results. Your objective must communicate what you can do for them rather than what you want from them. A well-written Career Objective directs your knowledge, skills, and abilities toward an employer's needs.

In developing a Career Objective, answer the following questions:

• What do you want to do?
• What are you capable of doing?
• What are you willing to do?

The work you have done in completing and identifying your skills is the basis upon which you can answer these questions. The next step is to identify and target customers (employers) for your product (your willingness to do a specific job).

After defining the skills and results-oriented accomplishments you bring to a position, you must develop a target for your Career Market Campaign. Simply stated, you must answer the following question:

• What do employers call the person who does what I am capable and willing of doing for their company?

To identify your primary and alternative targets, you need to identify the job title or titles that most closely describe what you want to do. A stop-loss position is taken to stop the loss of income while you are searching for your ideal career position; it could also be referred to as a bridge or temporary position.

One organization is helping people in Colorado obtain entry-level jobs.

The Education & Life Training Center, located in Fort Collins, Colo., offers relevant employment-skills training on a sliding-fee scale. According to an article by the Coloradoan, students can visit the center under a variety of circumstances, including facing an injury that necessitates a vocational change requiring training; re-entering the work force after many years or having a goal of improving existing employment skills.

"Clearly, our role is not to replace a community college or vocational school," the article notes. "Our classes many times are the bridge for students with post-secondary or vocational goals in mind. However, not everyone is meant for post-secondary education.

"Many need a job and need it fast," the article adds. "ELTC provides fast-track training opportunities designed with affordability and accessibility in mind."

The Center offers training for entry level job seekers in: computer software and technology; medical office; language and literacy and life skills. Training is funded in part through the United Way.

"Fifty percent of ELTC's respondents report success at having accomplished their goals related to either entrance into post-secondary education programs or employment acquisition or improvement," the article states. "Twenty-nine percent tell us they are continuing to make progress toward their goal.

"In this tough economy, any jobs that are available are more competitive than ever," the article adds. "He who has the most skills has an advantage."

According to a recent poll conducted by CollegeGrad.com, 69 percent of college grad job seekers either don't have a resume or say theirs needs help. Having a strong resume is key for entry level job seekers when searching for employment, especially during tough economic times.

"The entry-level resume is critical to a successful job search, especially with the state of the United States economy," said Adeola Ogunwole, Director of Marketing and PR for Collegegrad.com. "College students and recent grads should make developing a world class resume their top priority for attaining career success."

Developing a resume from scratch, or revamping an outdated resume, is probably not a college student's favorite activity, but Ogunwole points out that having a good resume is necessary for networking, and applying to and interviewing for jobs.

"The resume will not get you the job," said Ogunwole, "but you won't get the job without it. These days, employers are seeking the best of the best, and that starts with a pristine resume."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States has risen to 6.7 percent, fueled by the estimated 1.9 million Americans who have lost their jobs in 2008. In addition, the unemployment rate for people with a bachelor's degree or higher has risen 1.1 percent since Oct. 2007.

The resume may seem like only a first step in the job search process, but in reality, it's a reflection of the candidate's professionalism. Ogunwole advises putting in the time to develop the best reflection possible, since the resume is often the first thing the recruiter sees.

Following are the overall survey results:

How good is your resume?

• Perfect--30.1%
• Needs help--46.0%
• I don't have one yet--23.9%

The previous survey, conducted in Sept. 2006, found that 45.2 percent of students felt their resume needed help and that 26.8 percent didn't even have a resume.The survey was conducted nationally using an online poll placed on the CollegeGrad.com home page during Nov. 2008. The results are based on approximately 600 job-seeking respondents.

A new health facility in Hawaii is creating some entry level jobs.

The $12 million Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Family Medical Center recently opened as part of the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. The hospital decided to expand as patients and staff continue to grow, according to an article by the Honolulu Advertiser.

The expansion is expected to create several new Hawaii jobs, including some entry level positions. The center had seven staff members when it opened in 1972. In 1979 that number had grown to 50. Today, there are 500 staff members at the hospital, and the center is the largest employer on the Wai'anae Coast.

The new facility is 20,000-square-feet, and is the first phase of a three-part plan to eventually alter the entire campus, with one level dedicated to pediatrics, a second to women's health and a third to training. The hospital currently treats about 26,000 patients per year.

"We simply have outgrown the facility as it was," Richard Bettini, the center's chief executive officer, said in the article.

The new facility is aimed at providing the best healthcare for residents of the Wai'anae Coast, which includes many Hawaiians and a high number of homeless people. The center has a policy of turning no person away, regardless of their ability to pay.

"The challenge of the new building was to bring a 21st century healthcare facility to the Wai'anae Coast and yet have it be appropriate to the region and married to the philosophy the center has between Native Hawaiian healing practices and Western medicine," Brett Hartle, project designer who was responsible for the building's exterior plan for the Kober Hanssen Mitchell architectural firm, said in the article.

The new facility also will focus on training students assigned to Wai'anae as part of a community-based medical school partnership with A.T. Stills University, which has campuses in Arizona and Missouri.

"We're now training people from the community to be doctors," Bettini added. "That ground floor floor allows us to integrate those things right here. But we also need to be training people at entry level jobs. Those salaries ought to be going to people out here so they can afford to live."