Well, the time is approaching for our Annual Conference and the Career Services Center promises to provide insight, information and networking for those seeking career guidance and opportunity.  The Career Services Center is a centralized location for recruiters, job-seekers, consultants and others who contribute to the development of the health IT workforce. Co-located with HIMSS JobMine, the Career Services Center will be the gathering point for both health IT job seekers and health IT organizations looking for talent. The Career Services Center is located on the Exhibit Floor - Booth Number 12953.

It is exciting to meet and listen to those that have come before us and created change.  Change is a good thing in a career and having the opportunity to listen to those “change agents” is invaluable when formulating a career.  That is what the HIMSS Career Services Center at the Annual Conference in Las Vegas, 2012 will accomplish.

So here’s what you will be experiencing and listening to at HIMSS Career Service Center Annual Conference 2012:

On Tuesday, February 21, 2012:  Making Friends and Influencing Change: Building a High-impact Career (John Piescik, MBA, Sr. Principal, and MITRE); Advance Your Career through Personal Branding (Carol LeMaster, Healthcare IT Practice Manager, AP Professionals); Looking for on-the-job HIT experience? Why You Should Consider a Community Health Center! (Shane Hickey, Director, Information Technology Assistance, National Association of Community Health Centers); Session with Emerging Professional Poster Presenters and a special presentation:  The Perfect Resume by Stephanie Drake from the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration “ASHHRA”.

Then on Wednesday, February 22, 2012: Health IT & the Wild, Wild West (Mike Brand, MA, HITPRO, Health Information Systems Consultant, Object Health); Entry Certification - Opening the Door for Health IT Careers (Patricia Dombrowski, Director, Life Science Informatics Center, Bellevue College); PM Social Media and Job Seeking: The How To's and Don'ts (Mark Hennessey, PHR, Technical Recruiting Supervisor, Health Solutions, Vangent, Inc.); What Makes a Successful Healthcare IT Professional? (Bonnie R. Siegel, FHIMSS, Partner, Sanford Rose Associates – Healthcare IT and Service Practice); Career Development in Informatics: An Educational Model from a Non-Academic Perspective (Mark Diltz, Ed. D., M.B.A., Manager, Biomedical Informatics Education, The Center for Biomedical Informatics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia).

Finally, on Thursday, February 23, 2012:   Leading the Transformation of Healthcare IT (James W. Brady, PhD, Director, Technical Services, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation); The Importance of Diversity in Healthcare (Luis Belen, President and CEO, Medic Success); eLearning Academy Demo - Where Healthcare Education Meets IT Innovation  (Robert L. Oakes, MFA, Manager, Distance Education, HIMSS)

HIMSS Career Services Center promises to provide insightful and innovative presentations all aimed at furthering and providing insight into health IT career paths.  Networking, question and answer and other opportunities to connect with the speakers will also be available so attend all of the presentations and see what is out there in support of your career success!

And remember...Be passionate about your career path and strive to make a difference and learn, learn...learn.  Technology is only the enabler; individuals will be the “transformers” of health IT in the years to come!

Helen Figge is Senior Director of Career Services at HIMSS. She blogs about healthcare IT workforce-related issues and developments.