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#76873 - 07/19/07 04:47 PM
jobs for new graduates
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sherry7899
New Member
Registered: 06/22/07
Posts: 6
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I am considering attending Andrews for their medical coding program. Are there really jobs out there for new coders before they get their certification? I keep reading posts about employers requiring two years experience before anyone will hire you. I'd appreciate any input. I'd hate to work really hard for the education and not be able to use it.
Thank you,
Sherry
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#76934 - 07/20/07 12:58 PM
Re: jobs for new graduates
[Re: sherry7899]
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Linda Andrews CMT
Moderator-Andrews School
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 5006
Loc: Oklahoma City, OK US
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Good question! Almost all of our graduates get their certification right after graduating, so most of them may not know the answer. Some of them are already working in a related job and are just getting their coding education so they can move over to the coding section.
I'll be watching along with you to see what people have to say.
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#76968 - 07/20/07 05:54 PM
Re: jobs for new graduates
[Re: Linda Andrews CMT]
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sherry7899
New Member
Registered: 06/22/07
Posts: 6
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Linda,
Thank you for help and patience with my endless questions! I do not currently work in the medical field, so I would be coming in from the "outside" so to speak. I hope there will be more responses. I'm glad to find out that graduates are ready to take their certification exams right away.
Thank you,
Sherry
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#77011 - 07/21/07 01:29 PM
Re: jobs for new graduates
[Re: sherry7899]
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Redpen
Member
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 932
Loc: Virtual Oklahoma!
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Most large employers do require experience, so if you want a job with one of them . . . you have to get that experience. You have to find an entry-level job and get experience in it.
If you went to nursing school, you would not be eligible for a job as charge nurse in an intensive care unit right away. Coding is exactly the same.
The only employers that hire people straight away, no experience required, are those whose jobs require no prior training, like Wendy's and Walmart. Those jobs require only a low level of expertise and have a high level of supervisory control.
Employer requirements increase with jobs that require more training and responsibility on the part of the employee. Transcription is a high-expertise, high-responsibility, low-supervision job. There are few, if any, entry-level jobs in transcription, so new graduates have to be able to function at a high level right away.
Coding is another high-expertise, high-responsibility, low-supervision job. Employers with higher-level jobs are more reluctant to hire inexperienced employees because they need some indication that the employee can code adequately before they commit their limited training resources to that employee.
Getting a certification or two helps convince employers that you CAN do the work. But, there is a huge amount of knowledge to be gained from employment, so some employers want to see that you have worked in the field. If you've made it in one job, they know that you're a better risk.
As you look at job ads, remember that only very large employers advertise in national publications. Smaller employers advertise and hire on a local basis. Yes, all those large employers seem to require lots of experience, but those employers have only high-level, high-experience jobs -- not entry-level jobs.
You can't work in at-home coding positions right away--you won't have enough experience. You can't work in traveling consultant positions, either, for the same reason. Those aren't entry-level jobs.
If you can't get a BIG job right away, look for a job in a physician's office or clinic. Get some experience doing office coding and billing. The pay might be less than you'd like, but the experience will be invaluable. Consider it part of your education. You can't imagine how much you'll learn from it! It won't be forever; you'll find that employers will start wanting you within a month or two. Just the fact that some employer hired you and didn't fire you the first day makes you a better risk. Employers will be more willing to take a chance on you. Show them that you're willing to do what it takes, and they'll hire you.
I'm an employed coder. I personally know hundreds of employed coders. There are thousands upon tnousands of employed coders. Something like 30% of coding jobs go unfilled, too, because there are no coders available to fill them.
The job market in coding is excellent, but if you're a new coder you have to be willing to do the leg-work required to get a job. No employer stands outside any school, regardless of what profession it is, begging new grads to come work in their upper-level positions. It's the same in coding.
You have to complete a training program, you have to learn the maximum you can in that program, you have to get a certification to demonstrate that you can do the work, and you will probably have to work in an entry-level job to get experience to convince your preferred employer that you're a good risk for a higher-level job.
You also have to be aware that career changes usually require starting over at the bottom. I had to start over at the bottom. Every career-changer I know had to start over at the bottom.
The fact that you were an excellent accountant, college professor, or nurse before learning coding doesn't exempt you from the need to start at the beginning. Your background might enable you to make faster progress on the job, but you still have to learn the basics.
Employers get lots of career-changing applicants who expect to start at the top. All that tells the employer is that those applicants have unreasonable expectations and, in fact, do NOT have enough knowledge and experience to know that they don't know enough yet. They don't yet know enough to see that coding isn't nursing or EMT work or school-teaching -- and that translates into a bad risk.
If you want to work in coding, you can, but you have to make the job happen, just as you have to do in other professions.
_________________________
Redpen
(The Andrews School)
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#81513 - 09/23/07 02:01 AM
Re: jobs for new graduates
[Re: Redpen]
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ablaye
New Member
Registered: 09/23/07
Posts: 2
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Do you know any good medical billing schools in the Philadelphia area???
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#81628 - 09/24/07 09:36 PM
Re: jobs for new graduates
[Re: ablaye]
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Craig
Member
Registered: 01/07/05
Posts: 115
Loc: Seattle, WA
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That site is hilarious!  Good one, thanks for the laugh.
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#96167 - 04/22/08 12:06 AM
Re: jobs for new graduates
[Re: Redpen]
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cecilia
New Member
Registered: 06/26/07
Posts: 3
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Hi Redpen. I've just been feeling somewhat discouraged about finding a job in(medical transcription) but I feel very very very very good about it after reading your post. It was just what I needed to hear. "Do the leg work".
Thank you for the motivation. 
Blessings to you in all that you do!!!!
CJ
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Moderator: Linda Andrews CMT
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