Use general dates of employment on your resume, i.e. year - year. So for the 8 month job it would just be, for example, 2008. As someone else said, don't list your reason for leaving on your resume for any of your jobs. In an interview, when asked why leaving that particular job "it wasn't the right place for me" or "I didn't feel the company was a good fit for me" is a good starting answer. Be prepared to answer what wasn't a good fit for you. You could talk about wanting to be a coder rather than a certification specialist, etc. The idea is to keep the reason for leaving focused on you and not on the employer. Some interviewers might get pushy on the issue in an attempt to see if you will bad mouth your former employer. DON'T. Know what you are looking for.
If you are applying to more than one type of position, have a resume for each type. For positions in your history, highlight transferrable skills like communication, learning style, computer skills, etc.
Most interviewers will ask for an example of a difficult situation and how you handled it. Alternatively, they might present you with a scenario of a difficult situation and ask how you would handle it. Something tells me your recent job gave you plenty of examples. Be prepared for this. If you handled it like a pro, GREAT! If you could have handled it better, that's usable too. You could say something like, "I didn't really handle that situation as well as I could have, but I have learned from it, and here is what I would do if presented with a similar situation now." Sometimes those situations can show more to a potential employer than the perfect day that you handled it like a pro.
Do some research on the company before your interview. The coding business is the easiest I have found to do this successfully. Especially with the internet. Google the company. See if you can find their mission statement. Research their web page as if you were considering being a patient there. (The patient is why we're in this business after all). Develop questions to ask them based on your research and your past job experience.
For instance, at a recent job, I was REQUIRED to send documentation back to the provider to "addend" if the documentation did not support the codes the provider chose. I also had to TELL the provider what was deficient so he/she knew what to "addend". When I was asked why I was looking for a new job, I started with the standard more money, better fit, etc. During the interview, the issue of documentation and how it's handled came up. I was able to ask the interviewers what their policy was and follow up to their answers to get more detail. I was definitely leaving due to some, shall we say, tense, situations, but I was able to use that to both show my committment to the AAPC crede and to interview the company as they were interviewing me. It was the best interview I have ever had. I have worked for that company for 10 months now.
Take a paper and pen with you to the interview, and take your own notes. Jot down things YOU want to follow up on with them when they ask if you have any questions.
That's my book on the subject
