CHRISTUS Health, San Antonio, Texas

Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), Washington, D.C.

South County Health, Wakefield, Rhode Island

OAA Orthopaedic Specialists, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Rockwood Clinic, Washington

Brevard County Health Department, Merritt Island, Florida

Merrill Gardens, Georgia

in Charlotte, North Carolina Cejka Executive Search, Charlotte, North Carolina

CHRISTUS Health, Beaumont, Texas

Career tracks tend to be fairly rigid in health care: With all the education and licensing some positions require, people often find it easier to stay in the industry segment in which they started rather than try something new. But switching specialties or professions isn’t impossible — it just takes a little creativity, work and patience.

Roughly a year ago, a few CareerBuilder employees embarked on various challenges to see what would happen when they changed up their usual routines and tried something new for a week. Would messing with the status quo affect their workplace productivity, mood or overall success? Would anything change at all? Would everything change? These are their stories.

When we interview a potential new hire, HR professionals assess the candidate against a list of key skills and personal characteristics needed for the job. Let’s turn the tables and see what that list of key attributes would look like for a human resources management professional.

Aligning human capital goals with business strategy is far more complicated than checklists and the click of a button. Retaining talent for strategic advantages, while attracting and hiring additional talent that can help you reach and sustain a competitive advantage, requires a strategy that spans from the acquisition phase through management and development phases. Talent AMD (Acquisition, Management and Development) may just be the answer.