The team at JobOptim (previously BrightFox) have a clear goal: to bring maximum transparency and minimal friction to the medical labor market. With the baby-boomer generation headed into retirement, many industries are faced with a looming worker shortage. This includes a growing need for physicians. JobOptim’s CEO John Schweiger is doing what he can to ensure that physicians spend less time worrying about where they’ll work and if they’re being paid fairly, and more time actually caring for people. But he can’t do it alone.
Excellence and character
Schweiger has started several small businesses in the past, and often relies on the SciTech Internship Program to find and hire passionate college students to help him with his work.
When interviewing candidates through SciTech, Schweiger explained, “I’m looking for evidence of excellence, evidence of character. And Josh definitely has that.”
Josh Halverson is studying physics and computer science at Bethel University. At the time of this interview, he was on spring break in the Appalachian Mountains, but was kind enough to take an hour to meet with us over Zoom and talk about his experience interning with JobOptim.
Opportunity for success
From the start of his internship, Halverson was given almost full autonomy. Schweiger laid out 10 potential projects and let Halverson choose which he wanted to work on based on what interested him most.
Halverson started with a data science software project. Taking an excel program that Schweiger created and helping to convert it into a user-accessible compensation database, JobOptim clients will be able to use this tool to calculate what a physician’s salary should be.
Schweiger has a lot of confidence in his intern’s work. Since Halverson left on vacation, Schweiger has already presented the database as a demo to potential clients.
“I’m doing work that’s actually being used,” Halverson said happily. “The ability to actually make an impact is something I’ve gotten from this internship that I didn’t have before, which is super cool. They’re putting a lot of faith in what I do. It gives me confidence.”
Work that matters
From Schweiger’s perspective, trusting in his interns’ work is very important.
“It’s the responsibility of the employer to make sure that the work he’s doing matters,” Schweiger explained. “I think companies are built by bringing smart people together to solve a problem that’s real. You build it as you go. That attitude is part of it. The rest is probably more sentimental. I was fortunate enough when I was younger to have people really invest in me. What I do know in life is that it all comes back. Someone on this call could be working for Josh someday, so we should all be really nice to him,” he said jovially.
Thanks to this level of trust and exposure, Halverson gained so much more than just a chance to improve his skills.
“This internship was everything I could have asked for,” Halverson said. “I got the startup experience I really wanted, I have the ability to make an impact, I have a team that cares about what I’m doing. I get to develop the skills that I wanted to learn and apply those to a project that will be used and actually make a difference. All those things combined are what I love.
This internship, and SciTech, have given me opportunities that I might not have gotten before. I have more options for my career path now and what I want to pursue in the future. I’m very thankful.”
Get involved
Make an impact on a future STEM professional’s life and strengthen your talent pipeline. Start planning your internship today at scitechmn.org. At least 80 wage matches are available on a first come, first hire basis between now and August 2021.
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