By
Stephanie Tillman, CNM, MSN
As with all things in midwifery practice, the
search for the first, or the next, midwifery job must be holistic: keep in mind
life’s logistics, economic demands, and the needs of your soul. What kind of
midwife do you want to be? Can you do that in any practice model, or do you
need one particular environment in which to practice? Is the place where you
attend birth most important, be it home or birth center or hospital? Are your
fellow midwives the bread and butter of your practice needs? Are you hoping to
work with a specific patient population? Is the salary what makes or breaks
your ability to take a job at this point in your life? Whatever your
requirements may be, write them down and assess how the available jobs align
with your list.
If you are currently
looking for a midwifery job, I am sure you have searched far and wide and are
either set-to-go or totally overwhelmed. I offer up my experience and advice as
a means to re-set your strategy, to refresh your exhausted job-searching
passion, and to give you a boost.
My
own job search was guided by the following requirements:
- Specific states/cities to be
near family or friends
- Necessary salary to pay student
loans and expenses, as my partner and I were going down to one salary
during the transition (we blog
over at TheLoanVoice.com, and posted yesterday about figuring out your salary needs!)
- National Health Service Corps
(NHSC)/Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) sites for my application
to the Loan Repayment Program
- Desire to work with low-income
and, ideally, Spanish-speaking populations
Make your own list, and then use my search
strategies to help you find the perfect job tailored for you. The quickest way to find the highest volume
of job openings is through online search engines:
- MidwifeJobs.com.
Search by zip code, upload your resume, and hang out at the career center
for resume help and searching advice. There are currently 49 jobs posted
as of this morning!!
- Idealist.org. The Idealist mission: to
connect people, organizations, and resources to help build a world where
all people can live free and dignified lives. Midwife jobs and
organizations are listed, and so are volunteer opportunities if you’d like
to fill some time and build your resume.
- NHSCjobs.hrsa.gov. This is the home site for all jobs listed through the
NHSC. One important fact: this site is not updated frequently, so I always
cross-checked here to find out if a site I found elsewhere was on the
FQHC list.
- Monster.com
and CareerBuilder.com did
generate some midwife job and company options, but I personally found
these sites’ tendency to advertise and send a high volume of email
frustrating.
Some
other strategies I learned through the course of my search:
- Many practices advertise by
word of mouth and not necessarily through online mechanisms. Look up all
midwife practices in a city or state. I really had my eye on living near
my family, and so I researched and emailed just about every midwife
practice in an entire state. I received a lot of responses, and had some
interesting interviews. Direct communication is a great way to really know
if anyone is hiring in your preferred area!
- Reach out to former midwifery
classes and your current professors. Let them know that you’re looking,
attach a resume, and work the lines of it’s-all-in-who-you-know!
- Optimize your social networks:
LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and the midwifery listservs. Put your name
out there!
I was
fortunate to find, apply for, and accept a job where I completed my midwifery
integration with great support for a new grad, that fulfilled all of my job
requirements and was in a city where my family and I would be happy. It turned
out that in the pursuit of that first midwifery job, searching for jobs and
applying and interviewing for them were two completely different things that
required different strategies altogether. In two weeks, I will be back with
another post full of application and interview tips. For now, get the search
started! Good luck!
Current midwives: where did you find the opening for your job? Share your best tips, sources, and job boards in the comments!
Stephanie Tillman is a recently-graduated Nurse-Midwife
now practicing full-scope midwifery in the urban United States, at a Federally
Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and as a member of the National Health Service
Corps (NHSC). With a background in global health and experience in
international clinical care, the impact of public health and the broader
profession of midwifery are present in all her thoughts and works. Stephanie's
blog, Feminist Midwife, discusses issues related to women, health, and care. Find
out more at www.feministmidwife.com
and follow her on Twitter at @feministmidwife.