Program offers career counselors glimpse of job opportunities
By Leah Rainwater
Those who help prepare students for the workforce got an up-close look at career opportunities in the health care field Thursday at Mosaic Life Care.
The event, part of the Show Me Careers program, is a partnership with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce that utilizes presentations and simulations to give career counselors a look at the different roles that come together to run a hospital.
“We think this is a great opportunity to have counselors in our organization to understand different opportunities there are for students in health care,” said Mosaic Life Care CEO Mike Poore. “Many people think if you’re in health care, I can be a doctor or I can be a nurse and they think that’s all there is to it.”
Poore said the health care realm expands into cooking and nutrition, engineering and construction and maintaining systems, as well as different types of therapy and radiology.
Poore said partnering with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce is great for getting the message out about roles in health care.
“(It’s) not just for our industry, you know, health care, but for all industries,” Poore said. “Our whole goal here is just to educate people of the opportunities.”
Kristie Arthur, director of Workforce Development for the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, said opportunities like this are important to connect people to the workforce.
“We’ve had several events over the last year. This is our last one for this season,” she said. “But we find it very important to make sure that education and industry are aligning and that they understand the opportunities in our community.”
Arthur also said that both chambers were able to get career counselors involved in other businesses. Along with Mosaic Life Care, they’ve spent time at Gray Manufacturing, Commerce Bank, Summit Truck Bodies and Missouri Western State University.
