Wiki Desperate for an Entry Level Coding Position

Katie1224

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Hello Everyone, I obtained my CPC-A certification back in May 2021 and have never been able to find a coding position, despite applying to - no exaggeration - hundreds of jobs. I live in Los Angeles and am looking for something remote. I am willing to start at any entry-level salary in order to get my foot in the door.

I currently work for Blue Shield of California as an advanced claims processor and have plenty of experience in the medical insurance field and work with codes all day long - just in another capacity. I have reached out to my local chapter so many times, and have asked the attendees at the virtual chapters meetings if anyone knows of anything, but no one has been much help.

If anyone has any advice, suggestions, leads on positions, I would be so grateful for some assistance with this. I am so close to completely giving up.

Thank you.
 
Hello Everyone, I obtained my CPC-A certification back in May 2021 and have never been able to find a coding position, despite applying to - no exaggeration - hundreds of jobs. I live in Los Angeles and am looking for something remote. I am willing to start at any entry-level salary in order to get my foot in the door.

I currently work for Blue Shield of California as an advanced claims processor and have plenty of experience in the medical insurance field and work with codes all day long - just in another capacity. I have reached out to my local chapter so many times, and have asked the attendees at the virtual chapters meetings if anyone knows of anything, but no one has been much help.

If anyone has any advice, suggestions, leads on positions, I would be so grateful for some assistance with this. I am so close to completely giving up.

Thank you.

Since you are in California, you might have better luck searching companies that are located in California.

Right or wrong, there are a lot of remote companies that don't hire California residents. When a company hires remote employees in a state, there are some legal and tax ramifications. That's why sometimes you'll see "Must reside in W, X, Y, or Z states to be considered" - some employers establish in a limited set of states and don't hire from others.

Since California has some employment laws that are very different from other states, some remote companies don't hire from California. (Not all, but some.)

If you desire a remote position, it might help to target your focus on companies that are either based in California or who you know definitely have a remote presence in California.

There's a chance it could be helpful if you were willing to work in office or hybrid to start. Some companies still like to have new coders on site for at least some period of time to train. If that's something you'd consider, I'd suggest searching from companies within the geographic area that you'd be willing to travel.

Best of luck to you!
 
Forgot to add: Do you still have your CPC-A?

Your past work experience may be eligible for removal of the Apprentice designation. If you complete the Apprentice removal and drop the A, that could improve your odds of getting hired as well.

Here's the information about Apprentice removal from the AAPC website:

 
Does your current company have any opportunites? Or, since you already work for a Blue plan, have you looked at others for opportunity?

Please search the forums here for CPC-A, job, job tips, etc. There is already a lot of great information and tips in literally hundreds of posts just like this one. Good luck.
 
Hi Everyone,

To answer the comments above, I have applied to positions that were in-person, remote, administrative, entry level, and have already explored the options of having the A removed from my title (work experience does not qualify), and of course, I have explored opportunities within my own company - they outsource all their coding, therefore, there are no internal coding positions available.

I have attended the AAPC Virtual Job Fair, my local chapter meetings, enrolled in Practicode, and have reached out dozens of times to AAPC representatives for additional suggestions, of which, there are none.

In regards to the comment, "Please search the forums here for CPC-A, job, job tips, etc. There is already a lot of great information and tips in literally hundreds of posts just like this one. Good luck." - this is exactly where the issue lies. "Hundreds of posts just like this one" implies that there are hundreds of CPC-A certified candidates looking for assistance in finding employment because paying thousands of dollars and following the suggested 'tips' to employment is simply not enough for finding work as a newly certified coder.

It has been 18 months since I've been certified and I have come upon nothing but roadblocks to employment. My post was to express exactly what it said in the title - desperation. If anyone on here reading this is currently employed with a company that is looking to hire either remotely or within CA, and is looking to consider entry-level candidates who have dutifully followed all of routes to find employment with no luck, then please let me know.

Thank you for your time.
 
Does your current company have any opportunites? Or, since you already work for a Blue plan, have you looked at others for opportunity?

Please search the forums here for CPC-A, job, job tips, etc. There is already a lot of great information and tips in literally hundreds of posts just like this one. Good luck.
Hi Everyone,

To answer the comments above, I have applied to positions that were in-person, remote, administrative, entry level, and have already explored the options of having the A removed from my title (work experience does not qualify), and of course, I have explored opportunities within my own company - they outsource all their coding, therefore, there are no internal coding positions available.

I have attended the AAPC Virtual Job Fair, my local chapter meetings, enrolled in Practicode, and have reached out dozens of times to AAPC representatives for additional suggestions, of which, there are none.

In regards to the comment, "Please search the forums here for CPC-A, job, job tips, etc. There is already a lot of great information and tips in literally hundreds of posts just like this one. Good luck." - this is exactly where the issue lies. "Hundreds of posts just like this one" implies that there are hundreds of CPC-A certified candidates looking for assistance in finding employment because paying thousands of dollars and following the suggested 'tips' to employment is simply not enough for finding work as a newly certified coder.

It has been 18 months since I've been certified and I have come upon nothing but roadblocks to employment. My post was to express exactly what it said in the title - desperation. If anyone on here reading this is currently employed with a company that is looking to hire either remotely or within CA, and is looking to consider entry-level candidates who have dutifully followed all of routes to find employment with no luck, then please let me know.

Thank you for your time.
 
Sorry to hear that. Work experience is what I got my A removed with years ago. Or, do you mean you are unable to use yours or get a letter and/or don't have two years? Seems like an advanced claims processing position should be applicable.
From AAPC:
"To remove your apprentice designation via on-the-job experience, you must obtain and submit two letters of recommendation verifying at least two years of on-the-job experience (externships accepted) using the CPT®, ICD-10-CM, or HCPCS Level II code sets. One letter must be on letterhead from your employer*, the other may be from a co-worker. Experience includes time coding for a previous employer and prior to certification. Both letters are required to be signed and will need to outline your coding experience and amount of time in that capacity. Download our Apprentice Removal Template for easier submission. Letterhead and signatures are still required when using this template."

Who does the company you work for outsource to? Is it US based? Try there? I had to start out working for a billing company in an A/R position before I got a coding role.

Ideas:

Have you considered working with a recruiter? I hired newly certified coders that way when I was a hiring manager once. Even if it's contract or contract to hire you can get your foot in the door.
 
I know entry level CPC-A jobs are not abundant. But if you are applying to those types of positions, here's my two cents.
If you are not being contacted for interviews, I would take a good look at your resume. Keep it relevant and no more than 2 pages. A good coverletter can also help, particularly if you have gaps or making a career change. I know there are some larger companies that put your resume in some sort of program, and if the program thinks you don't meet the requirements, no human even looks at your resume. If the issue may be your resume, having it professionally done is not the worst idea.
If you are getting contacted for interviews, then it is far less likely a resume issue. If I had been looking that long, I would ask colleagues, friends and/or family to do a mock interview with me. Let them be critical. It's only to help. Some candidates get very nervous, some candidates want to seem amazing but could come off as arrogant, some candidates can't answer simply basic coding concept questions. Maybe you don't realize you crack your knuckles or pick at your fingernails, or some other activity that could be offputting to the interviewer. During the interview be engaged and enthusiastic. If it's a video interview, make sure you have an appropriate location that is private without interruption. No one wants to hire a remote employee that gets interrupted 3 times during a video interview.
Sometimes it's just a numbers game. In the past year, I had a total of 3 open positions. 1 was entry level, the other 2 required experience in the specialty. For each of these positions, I received 160-190 applications within 36 hours. I close the ads after 36 hours because I just can't look at that many resumes. I glanced (literally for < 1 minute) at each resume which went into: 1) don't bother interviewing. Could be typos. Could be simply didn't have the experience I was looking for. Could be resume was a novel and I simply didn't have 5 minutes to read each of 190 resumes. Could be they didn't clarify who/when/where certification was from. Could be 20 jobs in 5 years. 2) email candidate to provide additional information about the position and instructions to call me and possibly to set up a brief video interview. If they didn't follow my clear instructions to call me, and instead sent an email, no interview. On the call, I asked some questions to just get a brief first impression. The first 30ish who had a reasonable first impression got video interviews (which I cut off at about 15 minutes). From that, about 10 got a coding evaluation. From the coding evaluation and first interviews, I picked a handful worthy of a second, longer interview. Now, it's very possible that candidate 60 who called me was qualified, and would have been a great fit. But candidate 60 was simply told "Sorry, all the interview slots have been filled." because I simply can't spend 2 weeks doing first interviews.
Try not to get discouraged and good luck.
 
I know entry level CPC-A jobs are not abundant. But if you are applying to those types of positions, here's my two cents.
If you are not being contacted for interviews, I would take a good look at your resume. Keep it relevant and no more than 2 pages. A good coverletter can also help, particularly if you have gaps or making a career change. I know there are some larger companies that put your resume in some sort of program, and if the program thinks you don't meet the requirements, no human even looks at your resume. If the issue may be your resume, having it professionally done is not the worst idea.
If you are getting contacted for interviews, then it is far less likely a resume issue. If I had been looking that long, I would ask colleagues, friends and/or family to do a mock interview with me. Let them be critical. It's only to help. Some candidates get very nervous, some candidates want to seem amazing but could come off as arrogant, some candidates can't answer simply basic coding concept questions. Maybe you don't realize you crack your knuckles or pick at your fingernails, or some other activity that could be offputting to the interviewer. During the interview be engaged and enthusiastic. If it's a video interview, make sure you have an appropriate location that is private without interruption. No one wants to hire a remote employee that gets interrupted 3 times during a video interview.
Sometimes it's just a numbers game. In the past year, I had a total of 3 open positions. 1 was entry level, the other 2 required experience in the specialty. For each of these positions, I received 160-190 applications within 36 hours. I close the ads after 36 hours because I just can't look at that many resumes. I glanced (literally for < 1 minute) at each resume which went into: 1) don't bother interviewing. Could be typos. Could be simply didn't have the experience I was looking for. Could be resume was a novel and I simply didn't have 5 minutes to read each of 190 resumes. Could be they didn't clarify who/when/where certification was from. Could be 20 jobs in 5 years. 2) email candidate to provide additional information about the position and instructions to call me and possibly to set up a brief video interview. If they didn't follow my clear instructions to call me, and instead sent an email, no interview. On the call, I asked some questions to just get a brief first impression. The first 30ish who had a reasonable first impression got video interviews (which I cut off at about 15 minutes). From that, about 10 got a coding evaluation. From the coding evaluation and first interviews, I picked a handful worthy of a second, longer interview. Now, it's very possible that candidate 60 who called me was qualified, and would have been a great fit. But candidate 60 was simply told "Sorry, all the interview slots have been filled." because I simply can't spend 2 weeks doing first interviews.
Try not to get discouraged and good luck.
This is all great advice!
100% if you have typos, spelling and grammar errors, novel length resumes, and more than one page it immediately gets set aside. A resume that is not specifically taliored to the job posting (just the same run of the mill one an individual submits for every job) without updating it is not going to get through. When applying to a position, use key words and phrases from the job posting and make the resume fit. The new way it's done with large companies is very frustrating because a person never sees it unless you make it through the AI.

Agree, basic coding concepts not being known is definitely not going to get someone in. And, when we say basic, we mean basic. Like, what is a modifier, what does CPT stand for, etc.

I have had to take what almost feels like a full CPC exam to even be considered to make it to an interview phase in some large hospital systems I have applied to in the past. It's nuts. And, this is with over 20 years of experience at the time. In other cases, with very large companies, I never even got contacted when I had the exact experience and all the "things" they wanted.

I know it's really frustrating.
 
Just my experience, when I first got certified I learned that I had to take a position in verifying insurance and prior authorization for surgery. Once I got my foot in the door, I then friended the person doing the coding/billing. She was kind enough to let me help her. I learned no company wants you to mess with their money (coding) if you don't have any experience. I took that time with the 1st job and non coder and learned, the in-outs of the office protocol, and then after 6 months updated my resume, and started applying for coding and billing. It worked, I had some experience and someone gave me a chance. Now 21 years later, I have several remote contracts. But I had to be willing to start where I could start. Hope this help and good luck.
 
Hello Everyone, I obtained my CPC-A certification back in May 2021 and have never been able to find a coding position, despite applying to - no exaggeration - hundreds of jobs. I live in Los Angeles and am looking for something remote. I am willing to start at any entry-level salary in order to get my foot in the door.

I currently work for Blue Shield of California as an advanced claims processor and have plenty of experience in the medical insurance field and work with codes all day long - just in another capacity. I have reached out to my local chapter so many times, and have asked the attendees at the virtual chapters meetings if anyone knows of anything, but no one has been much help.

If anyone has any advice, suggestions, leads on positions, I would be so grateful for some assistance with this. I am so close to completely giving up.

Thank you.
Are you still looking for the job? If so please send me your resume to indu.prabhu10607@gmail.com. Thanks
 
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