Process and progress
Q&A with a hiring manager in public health - Part 2
Last week, I shared a Q&A with Sarah Perramant, Health Officer at the Health Department for the town of Dover, New Jersey. Sarah shared information and insights about what it is like to be a hiring manager in public health.
Read the first installment of our Q&A here. In today’s second installment of the Q&A, Sarah goes into more detail about some of the specific processes of hiring and management in public health, with a specific focus on training and career development opportunities.
Are there other public health folks out there who would like to share their perspective in a Q&A like this? Or as an opinion piece? DM me to tell me what your angle is. And especially: if you disagree with anything that I have shared and would like to set the record straight, I welcome the opportunity for healthy, respectful dialogue. Contact me here on Substack or through LinkedIn.
Photo: Sarah Perramant in action representing the Health Department at a recent health promotion event
What can you tell us about the selection processes as you narrow down the pool of applicants?
I put much more weight in someone’s resume than in a cover letter. If a position is advertised as needing a specific skill or qualification,I want to be able to find that information from a quick resume scan. I also am totally fine with a brief cover letter right in the body of an email. Anything that will save me time to show me that you’re motivated and qualified is a plus! I occasionally comb LinkedIn to find profiles and reach out for recruitment when not enough people apply. Having your resume, relevant skills (like language skills!), and licensure up to date on LinkedIn is highly recommended.
I typically download all of the resumes and cover letters I receive and read them back-to-back. I keep a copy of the job description nearby and see if the experience and education match up. I prioritize candidates whose experience indicates that they are a “self-starter.” In a small department like mine, every employee needs to be able to manage their workload independently and adapt to changing needs. Since we don’t have layers of middle management, you need to be motivated to keep yourself on track. That’s not to say that we won’t invest in someone and help train them, but a demonstrated track record for managing a project (especially related to quality improvement) is attractive for most roles.
For more entry-level positions, after selecting a few resumes (if I’m lucky!) for qualified candidates, I typically conduct 30-minute virtual interviews before a final in-person meeting. For positions requiring more experience or a particular license, we usually have fewer candidates and go straight to a traditional in-person meeting. Please be sure to monitor your email! It’s wild to me when I don’t hear back from a candidate who applied when I’m requesting to schedule an interview.
What do you look for during an interview? And what happens next?
I am looking for someone with good energy, confidence, and the ability to articulate how their experience suits them for the position. I always ask people to tell me about a professional challenge they overcame, an accomplishment they are proud of that is not on their resume, and about a favorite past manager. Those are the types of questions that also help me determine whether or not you would be a good fit for our small, dynamic team that requires a good degree of independence. I am wary of candidates who do not ask any questions in an interview. I end each interview by requesting writing samples - this is for any position!
After the interviews are wrapped up, our Personnel Director and I “sleep on it” and then reconvene the following day to discuss our preferences. We are usually on the same page and will then let the Business Administrator know that we’ve chosen a candidate.
Once we have chosen a candidate, an offer letter must be drafted and the position has to be approved via the governing body (town council, board of commissioners, etc.). There are also background checks and drug screening, plus ensuring we have the technology set up. Just ordering a computer can take weeks due to the purchase order process.
There are a lot of layers even at the municipal level (and even more at the State level). It usually takes at least 6 weeks to select and onboard a new employee, sometimes longer. The government moves VERY slowly for hiring. It's just part of the accountability process to the governing body.
And another little insider secret... the summer is even slower! June-August are when people go on vacation and the governing bodies meet less frequently. Then, mid-November-December is another slow period. Things typically move faster January-June and September & October. I wish it weren't that way, but that has been my experience.
Finally, I do my very best to let candidates who were NOT selected know that they weren’t chosen. If you apply via LinkedIn and don’t make it past the initial screening, you’ll get an automated rejection note. If you interviewed, once the offer letter is signed by the chosen candidate, you’ll get an email from me. Sometimes this takes a while and it’s totally fine to follow up and check your status. It is rare, however, that I do not send a rejection notice. At my last job, we incorporated the rejection letter into the standard operating procedures to ensure that candidates wouldn’t be left wondering. Since I’m essentially a hiring team of one, I’m sure someone has slipped through the cracks.
What are some common issues that you see in candidate resumes or cover letters?
Writing is critical - I ask every candidate for ANY job (from clerical to health inspectors to nurses) to send a writing sample. So much of what we do in public health is community-facing and we don't have the bandwidth to re-write/edit those documents over and over. Related to this, if you have experience with outreach materials, conducting health education sessions, social media management, etc. I recommend including that on your resume or mentioning it. Even if that won’t be your primary role, my policy is that every staff member is a health educator in some way. No matter your role, you may need to develop public facing materials, use Canva, make an engaging presentation, etc.
I see a lot of resumes that include clinical research experience. We don't typically do that sort of work at the local health department level, so it's important to find ways to show how that experience translates to the position you've applied for.
Many health departments are looking for bilingual candidates (Spanish, Haitian Creole, Chinese, etc.) If you speak a second language well, highlight that on your resume! This is a very attractive skill to many government employers. If you took Spanish I in high school and can't really carry on a conversation, don't lie and say you can. :)
How do you ensure that the emphasis on recruiting someone with good writing skills does not become ableist or discriminatory?
This is actually something I have encountered in my own work as a manager. We really need bilingual staff, and most of them are not native English speakers. As you can imagine, their written work is not always perfect. At some point as a manager I have to decide where my priority lies. If your job is to mainly do public-facing written work, it's a deal breaker if your writing is poor. I'm not really sure I see that as ableism? But, for example, I have worked with a health inspector who was a native Spanish speaker and their reports often had issues with English grammar. Since having them speak Spanish was ultimately more important than having perfect written English, I took the time to correct issues when I saw them and didn’t stress about it too much. Ultimately, I think it's like most things... you need to have skills that fit the job. Good writing is a must for many positions on a small government team, since everyone pitches in that way. At the state health department, with many more employees, some of the epidemiologists may never write any public facing materials and their ability to conduct analysis in R or Stata or use Tableau is much more important.
How do you support your employees to grow, despite budgetary constraints?
In governmental public health, we are looking for more health inspectors, public health nurses (especially ones with an MPH and being comfortable with vaccinating access the lifespan), epidemiologists/infectious disease investigators, CHES-certified health educators/outreach coordinators, and even people to help with grants management. If you are hoping to work at the municipal or even county level, be prepared to have a job with a wide scope. When our teams are small, everyone pitches in with little stuff.
Depending on the state, some local governments are bound by the rules of Civil Service for education or experience requirements. Many titles require a Bachelors or Masters in Public Health or a related field. It’s good to check with your local requirements to see what you might be up against. If the agency trying to hire you participates in the Civil Service hiring processes, even if you have plenty of relevant work experience but you don’t have the right degree or certification, you cannot be placed in that title. I know this seems a little down in the weeds, but you may not even be considered for a position if you don’t fit those strict requirements that are not determined at the local level. That being said, not every local government across the US is bound by those sorts of rules. I know it's a quirky part of the system that is foreign to candidates with no local government experience.
What does it take to make mentoring relationships fruitful?
Mentorship is an important part of career development. I see a mentor as someone who has the experience to help you find your way to the best solution. They aren’t there to tell you exactly what to do, but be a guide with the wisdom of additional experience you lack. I have a handful of more experienced colleagues who I consider mentors. They are the first people I call to bounce ideas when I'm in doubt. My mentors have also been crucial in networking and finding my last three jobs. When you're new in the workforce, I think it's important to put yourself out there without being pushy. As a brand new employee, you need to listen and get oriented before jumping in with lots of ideas... but as you build that professional trust and demonstrate your knowledge, you will generally be accepted as one of the team and you'll start to build connections outside of your own agency. Those connections are critical for professional development. My mentors have always looked out for me whether it was tipping me off on an opening or helping me decide to take a new opportunity. Our field is small, so people who have been around a while generally have good insight. It's funny to think that I'm starting to be one of those people... I've been in NJ public health for 10 years now!
I am very grateful to Sarah for sharing her perspectives on the hiring process, providing a window into what happens behind the scenes. Are there any other questions you would like to raise with Sarah or other hiring managers?
Join us to continue the conversation in Notes or Chat or Comments or Threads:
What else would you like to know about what happens behind the scenes in hiring for public health?
What other questions would you like to ask a hiring manager about how to position yourself for progress in your public health career? Tell me what you are wondering about and I’ll see if I can get you some answers (anonymously of course).
