From Intern to Full Time Employee at Northwell Health

Written by: Briana O’ Shaughnessy 

Before beginning my journey at Northwell Health, I received a B.S. in Community Health with a Minor in Sociology at SUNY Cortland. After walking at graduation in May, 2016 I began my internship with Northwell Health which was the culminating piece of my degree. The internship I held was very unique and an experience I will be forever grateful for. It was designed as a rotational program and the idea was to expose me to a variety of departments in corporate HR to help me decide where I wanted to focus. Over the course of 12 weeks I had the privilege of working with seven different teams and countless wonderful employees. Not only was the experience eye opening in regards to the career path I wanted to follow, but it was also a wonderful networking opportunity and allowed me to begin fostering productive working relationships. Perhaps the most helpful piece of information I took away was that almost every employee I talked to had one thing in common- their careers have taken many unexpected turns and that few are doing what they originally set out to do after graduating undergrad. These accomplished employees took advantage of  the unique and exciting opportunities provided by Northwell, and were not afraid to go outside of their comfort zone to find what they are passionate about. After hearing this, my fears of being a new grad who doesn’t know “what they want to do” started to disappear. I realized that I had my entire life ahead of me and that I could never possibly predict what opportunities would arise – all I knew for sure was that Northwell Health was the place that would provide me with them. 

One week before the completion of my internship on August 9th, I was offered a position through FlexStaff, Northwell Health’s internal temporary staffing agency. I was thrilled. Although this was not a permanent position, it was a foot in the door at the company I wanted to build a career with. I was hired as an Administrative Support Associate with the Workforce Readiness team. This team creates a pipeline for Talent and prepares our future workforce for healthcare careers. This is done through countless events and programs designed to introduce certain populations, such as students and veterans, to the countless career opportunities in healthcare that Northwell Health has to offer. After one day of spending time with this team during my internship I knew it was a perfect fit. The people could not have been more welcoming and I knew I wanted to be a part of the incredible work done here. Fortunately, three months after accepting the FlexStaff position, I was offered a full-time position as a Coordinator. I was so happy I would get to officially be a part of this team, and most of all I was so excited that I could continue the work I felt so strongly about and watch different programs and projects grow and develop.

I was quickly drawn to the work done with high school students. I have always had a passion for educating our country’s youth and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The Spark! Challenge and Medical Marvels are two programs in particular that aim to introduce students to careers in healthcare that they otherwise may not learn about in school. These programs force the students to think critically and explore the many facets of healthcare. Another ongoing project I am involved with is college recruiting. This is an area I never thought I would be a part of, but am very happy that I am. My main goal here is to partner with universities to introduce them to open careers at Northwell Health.  I work with professors and career centers to link eligible students and alumni with our health system and explore opportunities that can benefit both them and us. This may be done by simply sending out a job description or setting up different events on campus or at one of our sites. Perhaps the most exciting part of my job is that our team is diverse in the populations we serve giving me a chance to learn something new every day on a variety of people. One day I could be working with college students, while another I could be assisting our Veteran Specialist with the veteran population, another day calling candidates to set up interviews for our elite nurse fellowships.

As a new grad I was extremely nervous to begin my journey outside of the classroom, however, to my pleasant surprise it has been wonderful. Northwell Health has welcomed me with open arms and in my seven months here has presented me with two outstanding opportunities. I am excited to see what else my journey has in store.

Picture: Briana is in the front left of the picture with the Center for Workforce Readiness Team that focuses on the communication with students in high school and college as well as nursing externships, fellowships and Veteran relations.