# How do you gain experience if no one will hire you?



## suemajors (Oct 6, 2011)

I graduated in June from an accredited university.  I have both and A.S. in Diagnostic Medical Sonography and an A.A.S. in Medical Billing and Coding.  I passed the CPC on the first try in July.  I have many years of experience in predeterminations, precertifications, and insurance verifications.  Additionally I worked in a unit where we preformed unlisted procedures exclusively.  With all of my credentials and experience, I still can't find a job.  Everyone wants 3-5 years of experience.  I'm back in school again pursuing my B.A.A. hoping that will make me more marketable.  My question, as stated in the title, how do you gain the necessary experience to obtain a job if no one will give you a chance?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## FTessaBartels (Oct 7, 2011)

*You DO have experience*

Sue - if I read your post correctly you DO have experience. Doing pre-certifications, etc, requires daily use of CPT and ICD-9!  Working in the medical field has given you experience with medical terminology. Your education has given you an excellent understanding of anatomy & physiology. 

Hope that helps.

F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CEMC


----------



## Determined2011 (Oct 7, 2011)

Congrats Sue on your many accomplishments.
I took a leap to gain the educational necessities so I could expand my customer service background.
I graduated in July (2011) with AS degree in MIBC and I too passed my certification exam on the first try in April (2011). I've been on a few interviews but never a response back. 
According to the program studies in school it was under Allied Healthcare and it included everything that a MA does except for BP, temp taking and needles. I picked up easily on the way systems work and the daily routine but because I only have an internship experience (120/hrs) to fall back on, it's not much help. Had someone in the beginning been honest with me on how hard it is to get into this line of work I might have gone in a different direction.
I feel your disappointment.


----------



## gloriager1@gmail.com (Oct 7, 2011)

*Medical Billing and Coding*

I took a year long course in Mediacl Billing and Coding with Penn oster Career School.
Now I am looking for work,but i get the same response/ I need at least 3-4 years doing DRG work. If I would have known this I would have tryed something else also.


----------



## swdixon (Oct 8, 2011)

*Useless career*

I agree- If I had known how closed this field was I would have chosen accounting or anything that would accept entry level with training. I also passed AAPC my first time, but still feel I have wasted my money and time.


----------



## nrod2201 (Oct 8, 2011)

*Sad but true*

Unfortunately, employers and consulting groups are NOT WILLING to give anyone a chance. During my externship, I worked with a woman who was one of the "main" girls in the office who was there for 6 years. She didn't know a lot of things that she should have known as a "biller". She was still putting PO Box addresses on the CMS 1500 forms and wondering why the claim was denied...hmmmmm?  I wish some of the people who hire would give us a chance so we can gain the experience.


----------



## leilasingh (Oct 9, 2011)

yeh, I myself did my CPC with AAPC and I am presently an apprentice after passing my CPC exam since 2009; I still cannot find a practice that will allow to be an extern.  Luckily I am working in the dental field for about 10 years now and had wanted to change career but no luck so far.  I am presently in process of getting my 36 credit I needed to keep my CPC-A certificate because I have studied a lot and also paid a lot to get this certificate.  I have called a few of offices that is on AAPC as xtern location but they all said 'no' they are not taking anyone right now...


----------



## nrichard (Oct 10, 2011)

*I cannot say the word recession loud enough!*

To Sue, congrats, you have a lot more experience then I think you realize. What I would suggest is getting with someone at a local unemployment agency, your local library, or your local temp agency to help you write a resume that works. 
 For the rest of you out there struggling, keep in mind, this is like any other business, no matter what your programs “promised you”.  I for one was out of work in my field for almost three years due to this recession (and I had three years experience with an associate’s degree). I’ve just obtained a coding job back in July and during my unemployment from this field had to take anything I could get my hands on, including working at a convenience store at night at one point.
   The thing I did keep in mind is that the market would change, but I decided to invest any and all free time I had to educating myself about the changes that are going to be implemented with ICD-10.  If this is really what you want to do, then make sure to update your resume, watch what you post on here (grammar, spelling, content; many employers search these boards), keep trying to get your foot in the door. I cannot stress the importance, to keep educating yourself through these boards, and through just searching online, on coding and billing issues as well as ICD-10.


----------



## rtruman1988@yahoo.com (Oct 10, 2011)

*wrong field??*

Sue, you are definitely luckier than me. I have absolutely no experience in billing and coding. I passed my CPC exam in September of 2011 on my first try, but I haven't had any luck finding a job. Every single place I applied for wants someone with two years experience, but you don't necessarily have to be certified. I mean, what sense does that make? I hope I didn't choose the wrong field of study.


----------



## theway1958@yahoo.com (Oct 11, 2011)

That's what I want to know also. I just graduated from UMA from the Medical Billing and Coding class. Now I am studying to take my CPC certification exam which is scheduled for December 3rd at 7 am. Do you have any advice for me while I am doing this? I still don't have a job yet but I am still looking.


----------



## latonna1 (Oct 11, 2011)

*Stay Positive*



rtruman1988@yahoo.com said:


> Sue, you are definitely luckier than me. I have absolutely no experience in billing and coding. I passed my CPC exam in September of 2011 on my first try, but I haven't had any luck finding a job. Every single place I applied for wants someone with two years experience, but you don't necessarily have to be certified. I mean, what sense does that make? I hope I didn't choose the wrong field of study.



I have just passed my certification exam in June 2011 and I too didn't think it was possible to get a coding job w/no experience. I just got a call today from an interview I had with one of the nations largest insurance companies,(name witheld for obvious reasons). However I went in there and didn't focus on the negative of being a new coder, I turned that into a positive. I know your wondering how you can turn being a new coder into a positive situation. Believe me you can. It worked I got the job and have only been certified 4 months. I want you to try not to fall into the {no experience hype}. I know it's hard not too. I could see if you were a year into gettin your certification but your fresh like me. Keep your head up and fight for it, if you really want it...


----------



## wandatollison (Oct 12, 2011)

*Persistance will prevail*

Please don't get discouraged. As previously stated the economy IS having an impact on Healthcare. Most medical facilities have recently seen a drastic increase in Government Funded Healthcare (Medicaid, Medicare, etc) which has a much lower reimbursement rate than the private healthcare sector; while due to the economic crisis many citizens have lost their private healthcare coverage. The result of this is that healthcare providers have had to trim their budgets in order to continue to provide quality care to their patients. I also entered the medical field in 2005 with NO MEDICAL EXPERIENCE. I began my journey as a receptionist even though I was Certified. Once I began, I let my employer SEE my knowledge and expertise in action. I am now coding and billing for 15 providers of 4 different specialties in addition to being the Business Manager in our facility. If you have the opprotunity to volunteer please do so. You will gain hands on knowledge and it will allow you to network with those 'inside' the field. Attend your local chapter meetings for information on opprotunities in the area. Best of luck to you in your journey!
Wanda D Tollison, CPC
AAPC - Greenville SC Chapter President Elect


----------



## steffiegreg (Oct 14, 2011)

I am almost complete with my Medical Coding Certification Courses at the Baltimore County Community College.  I also have a Bachelor's Degree in Health Systems Management (2008) and still no job in the healthcare field.  Everyone wants experience.  Still working as an Assistant Property Manager (12 yrs.).  After reading all these posts, I'm not too sure if I made the right decision myself.  I thought that receiving my certification, someone may hire me.  But I will keep plugging away with it.

Steffiegreg
Maryland


----------



## nrichard (Oct 18, 2011)

*I couldn't agree more.*



latonna1 said:


> I have just passed my certification exam in June 2011 and I too didn't think it was possible to get a coding job w/no experience. I just got a call today from an interview I had with one of the nations largest insurance companies,(name witheld for obvious reasons). However I went in there and didn't focus on the negative of being a new coder, I turned that into a positive. I know your wondering how you can turn being a new coder into a positive situation. Believe me you can. It worked I got the job and have only been certified 4 months. I want you to try not to fall into the {no experience hype}. I know it's hard not too. I could see if you were a year into gettin your certification but your fresh like me. Keep your head up and fight for it, if you really want it...



One thing that a lot of "newbies" are failing to stress in the interview, you do have something great going for you! You haven't had a chance to get into bad habbits or to learn to depend on coding software!  I have seen more than one experianced coder not be able to step out of their field, and move on to other opportunities, due to inability to adapt to new things. 
 You are a clean slate, with the raw new knowledge of coding. You haven't been ratholed yet, into just one area. For example, when I graduated, I was only able to get an outpatient coding job, even though I highley desired to go into inpatient. Now with several years experiance in out-patient surgery it is highly unlikely that I will be able to move to the inpatient, payor side or ASC side of things. Lucky for me I work in a multi-speciality practice and love it!


----------



## nrichard (Oct 18, 2011)

*Another thing to consider*



wandatollison said:


> Please don't get discouraged. As previously stated the economy IS having an impact on Healthcare. Most medical facilities have recently seen a drastic increase in Government Funded Healthcare (Medicaid, Medicare, etc) which has a much lower reimbursement rate than the private healthcare sector; while due to the economic crisis many citizens have lost their private healthcare coverage. The result of this is that healthcare providers have had to trim their budgets in order to continue to provide quality care to their patients. I also entered the medical field in 2005 with NO MEDICAL EXPERIENCE. I began my journey as a receptionist even though I was Certified. Once I began, I let my employer SEE my knowledge and expertise in action. I am now coding and billing for 15 providers of 4 different specialties in addition to being the Business Manager in our facility. If you have the opprotunity to volunteer please do so. You will gain hands on knowledge and it will allow you to network with those 'inside' the field. Attend your local chapter meetings for information on opprotunities in the area. Best of luck to you in your journey!
> Wanda D Tollison, CPC
> AAPC - Greenville SC Chapter President Elect



Medicare is cutting their reimbursement rates (at the begining of the year) due to current healthcare reform. Which translates to the possibility of downsizing in areas that depend heavily on MCR dollars. (It's been my experiance that some practices make cuts in billing and coding areas, but do so only briefly when they find this was the wrong area to cut). So keep in mind when you have a downslope in the economy it usually comes back up, espicially in healthcare. Try to hang in there it will get better but it's going to take some time.


----------



## Pam Brooks (Oct 19, 2011)

nrichard said:


> (It's been my experiance that some practices make cuts in billing and coding areas, but do so only briefly when they find this was the wrong area to cut). /quote]
> 
> You're correct. A recent downsizing in our facility affected many departments....but not coding. After experiencing 20+ years in this field, I can verify that the light bulb has finally come on, and administration is recoginzing the value of coders.


----------



## hillard90 (Oct 19, 2011)

*Hang in there!*

I am also in the same boat. I graduated with an AS in medical billing and coding and passed the CPC in July 2009. I had to realize that to get experience I had to be willing to start anywhere in the medical field (it's all considered experience). I was blessed to find someone who remembered starting out in the medical field 20 years prior to my interview. She gave me a job (not the one for which I applied) in the billing office, but with the agreement to be cross-trained in every area of the clinic. I worked there for 10 months before my husband was assigned to Fort Polk, LA. It took me a year to find a job there because I still didn't have enough experience to be a coder. I found a job in a Urology clinic as the front desk person. I also was cross-trained in all areas. I worked there 9 months until my husband retired from the Army. I am getting ready to start the job search again in the Asheville, NC area. I am keeping my options open, so I won't get discouraged. Just try to hang in there. Apply for the job no matter how they list the requirements. They might just select you because you stand out on the list as a certified coder. You might be the only one on the list. Good luck!


----------

