Artificial intelligence is reshaping entry-level roles in industries such as consulting, legal services and technology. At the same time, junior-level job postings outside healthcare have declined and layoffs tied to AI have increased across industries.
Meanwhile, hospitals added 4,300 jobs in April, while ambulatory healthcare services added 18,200, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For hospital and health system HR leaders, those shifts are changing who applies for healthcare jobs — particularly in nonclinical and entry-level roles. At Washington, D.C.-based Children’s National Hospital, applicant volume from outside healthcare has increased as layoffs, hiring freezes and workforce restructuring affect federal agencies and government-adjacent employers across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia regions.
Gina Cronin, executive vice president and chief people officer at Children’s National, told Becker’s the organization is seeing more candidates from industries already experiencing AI-related disruption, including consulting, legal services, computer science and data analytics. She discussed how the applicant pool is evolving and how the hospital is adapting its interview and screening process to assess long-term fit, agility and human-centered skills.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How much of your current applicant pool would you say is coming from outside healthcare — and has that mix shifted noticeably in the last year or two?
Gina Cronin: Our hospital is located in Washington, D.C., and over the past two years we have definitely seen an influx in applicants coming to healthcare from outside the industry. The drivers seem to be both changes in government employment and the early impact of AI. Downsizing has affected the federal workforce in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, as well as companies that directly support the government. We are also starting to see more applicants coming from industries beginning to feel the effects of AI disruption, including consulting, legal services, computer science and data science. It is a new trend — both noteworthy and unusual — that has emerged.
Q: When a candidate from tech explicitly names AI displacement as their reason for leaving, what are the signals — in their answers or their history — that tell you this is genuine mission alignment versus someone who needed an exit?
GC: We do want to recognize those are real concerns as there is anxiety emerging. We don’t view this as a “yellow flag” in the candidates, rather we view this as an opportunity to explore and dive deeper with the candidate on their true motivation in joining a healthcare organization.
What we tend to do in these early conversations with recruiters and hiring managers is to probe for those success traits we look for. First and foremost, can they bring human-centered skills to Children’s National? AI is not going to replace that. Are they empathetic? Can they collaborate and bring critical-thinking to the team? Also, we try to assess their curiosity and learning agility. Are they more of a growth mindset or fixed mindset? As AI continues to evolve and disrupt roles, those individuals who are agile to those changes are going to emerge very successfully.
Q: Have you adjusted your screening process or interview questions specifically for cross-industry candidates in the last 12 to 18 months? And if so, what changed?
GC: We have added situation-based scenarios to our selection process to probe for agility, collaboration, empathy and critical thinking. We also explore candidates’ perspectives on their own career growth and adaptability.
Q: What’s the fastest you’ve seen a tech-to-healthcare hire not work out, and looking back, what did you miss in the interview?
GC: Definitely unfortunate, when this happens. And this tends to emerge quite quickly in the first 90 days. As we reflected on what we could have done better, we realized we focused too much on the strength of tech skills that we thought they could bring to the team. This is why we did a pivot. Tech skills are critical, but ultimately we need to bring team members who can show those traits that matter most: human-centered, collaboration and a real willingness to be agile and grow, even as roles change.
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