Bio
From Indonesia, Wen Hung received her Master’s degree from Columbia (College of Physician and Surgeon) at 22. She had done fieldwork at Harlem Hospital and was offered a job there even before she graduated. Wen Hung started working at Harlem Hospital right after graduating and passing the board exam. After working there for a year, she found her passion in Early Intervention.
Wen Hung did contract work in school settings and then found a permanent Occupational Therapy (OT) position at a public school that was 3 blocks away from her apartment, where she worked for the last 14 years of her OT career. She is currently a logistics and supply chain recruiter.
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Q&A with Wen Hung
What made you decide to become a Rehab Professional in the first place?
I was always attracted to healthcare. I had dreams of becoming a surgeon but knew that my parents would never support that type of education. So I ended up in OT because Columbia offered a 2 year program.
What is your story behind the first sense of awareness that things weren’t quite right with your rehab career?
The budget cuts in early the 2000s were a clear sign that healthcare workers were valued or prioritized. I’ve never heard of another profession that kept getting salary reduction year after year. After becoming a mom, I was also struck by how inflexible and the lack of accommodation healthcare workers have when it comes to taking care of their family.
What was the specific moment you realized your rehab career wasn’t for you? What was your decisive moment to transition to something else?
Once I had kids, I had to reevaluate my priorities. I stopped all home care work (which pretty much decreased my salary by 30-40%) so I can have more time with my kids. I then realized that I still didn’t have enough hours in the day to juggle full-time work outside the house and taking care of my kids. Hybrid work in healthcare is almost impossible to find. So when I had the chance to try something new and completely remote, I jumped on the opportunity.
What was the first sign(s) of traction (and the emotion behind it) with your new career?
Most recruiters don’t make a placement until Month 3 or 4. I made my first placement a month after starting the job. 2022 was a very good year in logistics and I made a lot more placement than I thought was possible. At the same time, I was working from home and I was able to schedule my day as I needed to. It’s just the type of work that best suited my life at that time.
What are the practical (non-obvious) skills that make you a great fit for your work now?
I’m a great listener: not just to what is said but also to tone of voice, hesitation when answering my question, etc. I tend to let my candidates speak without interrupting them. My teammates make fun of me because my screening calls were twice as long as theirs but I was making so many placements that they figured there must a method to my madness. I also work well independently, without needing a ton of hand holding. Remnants from being thrown into different settings in healthcare.
What made you decide to pursue your current career? Why this specific one?
My friend convinced me to give it a shot. He’s always told me that I’d be good at recruiting. He started to develop some health issues and asked me to join forces with him. So at some level, I didn’t intend to get into recruiting. It started as doing a favor for my friend and now I’m really loving the job!
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