Public health advisor skills for your resume and career

Public Health Educators should possess data collection and analytical skills to assess the needs of populations and to evaluate programs. They should have good writing skills to develop health education materials and reports of findings from health education interventions and assessments. Project management and marketing skills are essential to demonstrate an ability to maintain oversight of health education programs and campaigns.

There is more to success in the workplace than technical understand and a mastery of the literature and best practice. The most expert practitioner in the world makes no difference if he or she cannot work and communicate well with a variety of people. That requires two-way communication skills, e.g., listening for understanding, listening for what isn't said aloud, and speaking up when something is unclear. Graduates today are digital natives, but they also likely spent significant time learning remotely. As such, they likely missed out on key opportunities to develop important skills. The sheer task of showing up to the right place at the right time and being well-prepared is a baseline requirement of success in the workplace. Graduates who completed much of their coursework online may have missed some of this skill development. It may sound small or obvious, but think back to your first job and recall all the details you had to learn from where to park, what clothing is office appropriate, anticipating small delays, and still arriving on time.

The answer to this question will vary, based on the resources and ambitions of the student taking a gap year, but in general, I recommend students continue building the kind of skills they can list on a resume or c.v. Developing a new skill is valuable in and of itself, but it can also be an opportunity to meet new people and network. For example, a person might decide to begin attending an inexpensive class at a local community center one night a week with the goal of learning Chinese, but in the process, they might meet other people who share their professional interests and can open doors for them once they return to more formal education.

The public health workforce has been rapidly changing, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Epidemiology is an interdisciplinary field that requires expertise in qualitative and quantitative science, but also the ability to interpret and communicate complex data, and a strong understanding of how a variety of items influence health, including laws and policies, housing, segregation, racism, health care, and education. Recent public health graduates can assess their skills using the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals and access additional training on the TRAIN Learning Network.