The Public Health Career Explorer Launches

A new, easy-to-use, evidence-based career assessment, the Public Health Career Explorer, has just launched to help job-seekers interested in public health careers.

The Public Health Career Explorer career assessment tool, three years in the making, was developed at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Using the well-researched O*Net MyNextMove assessment,  Heather Krasna, PhD, EdM, MS, associate dean of career and professional development painstakingly matched the Holland Codes (career interest codes) for each of the specific occupations that exist in health departments. The matching of public health occupations with career interest codes was part of a federally-funded research study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

“With the increasing enrollment of students in undergraduate and graduate public health degree programs, as well as the launch of the Public Health AmeriCorps program, there is a growing need for people to identify which careers in health departments would be the best fit for themselves,” said Krasna, who is also an adjunct assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia Mailman School. This quick assessment only takes a few minutes, and provides a research-based starting point for anyone interested in public health careers to identify which roles would be the best fit for their interests.”

Once users take the assessment, they receive a list of public health careers/occupations that match their interests, as well as the amount of career preparation they are planning to take on, as well as a link to explore these career pathways further. Unique among career assessments, users can also immediately click on a link to see specific, currently-active job openings at health departments across the country that match their career interests.

The assessment is launching alongside several other free, self-paced tutorials on public health careers including: 

• Charting your Public Health Career Path: This free, self-paced online tutorial pairs perfectly with the Public Health Careers Career Navigator Assessment, and walks participants through the decision-making process and exploration of public health careers, with fun videos, interactive exercises, and a career exploration exercise sheet they can take with them for future. 
• Secrets of the Government Job Search: How to Apply for Local & State Health Department Jobs. This is a free, self-paced online tutorial which explains the sometimes-confusing job application process for local and state government, including fun videos, application tips, a glossary of key terms, and much more.
• Getting Hired Video Series: Recordings of four webinars on how to find a job in the New York State Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Health, and local health departments in New York and New Jersey.

There also are new trainings and resources available for local, state, Tribal and territorial health departments seeking to improve their recruitment and retention process. These include:

• Recruitment & Retention in Public Health self-directed training:
• New Resources and Creative Strategies for Recruiting Candidates for Health Departments
• Recruitment and Retention in Public Health: Workshop Series
• Recruitment Toolkit

The research project regarding matching public health careers with Standard Occupational Classification codes was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration (awards U81HP47167, UR2HP47371). The public health trainings were supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Regional Public Health Training Center Program (UB6HP31686). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author; endorsements should not be inferred as by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials was a partner in the development of PublicHealthCareers.org, a site that promotes careers in governmental public health.