Recruiting new members

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shanhockyfan

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I am the local new memeber officer of our local chapter. We are trying to figure ways to recruit new members. I have a co-worker who went to a local school and talked with their graduating students about our local chapter. Their concerns are were, where will they be able to find a job without any experience? Their second question was, where can they apply for an externship? I myself and my co-worker didn't have the answers except for our place of employment and even then they only take people from certain schools. Where do my co-worker and myself find these answers? We know how it was when trying to land your first coding job. Fortuneatly for us, we both had experiences in the healthcare fields that were warranted job experience as coders. Most people are not that lucky to have that. If anyone can give us an idea where to start we would greatly appreciate it. Our thought was to have some kind of brochure with company names who hire new coders, who offer externships etc... Are we thinking too broad of a subject? Do we need to concentrate on one area? We just need some guideance here. We are open to any and all suggestions for our new members. We would love to bring in new 'blood' to our local chapter. Thanks :)
 
I think that your idea of having a brochure that supplies the names of companies that are willing to hire new coders is a great idea. That seems like it would be at least a start in the new coders job search. They kind of know that there is a chance or possibilty of them obtaining employment as a coder even if they don't have the 2, 3 or more years of experience that a lot of coding jobs require. I think that if the new coders were at least supplied with that type of brochure it would give them hope, instead of making them want to give up when they find out that they lack the experience required for the coding job. At least they will know that someone is willing to give them a chance. I say go for it!! Great Idea.........
 
Attending chapter meetings really helps. Several employed seasoned coders at our last meeting, offered a newbie a couple of options. One of them will not work initially because of lack of experience. But we know a coder looking for someone to help in an office, initially pulling EOBs and just general office work. BUT, she knows of his situation, and the job has possibilities for later work, possibly growing into another position. Please note I say possiblities, but it is a start. Many of our chapter's members are unable to have externs, including me, due to our work, location and other factors, but we are willing to assist where we can, either with suggestions or job boards, etc.

Hope this helps some,

Machelle
 
Don't forget that we have Project Xtern available. And the networking the students gain by attending the meetings can often lead into future employment.
 
I think a brochure would be great. I am a newbie to the coding field. I just passed my CPC-A exam and work in a hospital in patient accounting right now, however, there aren't any openings within my hospital or corporate facilities. I have tried local offices but I still haven't had any luck. I always hear how in demand coders will be in the future but they will continue to be in demand if employers won't hire new comers with no experience. I live in Southern Illinois where their aren't a bunch of opportunites. I checked into a couple of "internships" but some offer less pay and further distance or some offer no pay. So I will continue to work in my position until my time comes when I get the chance to prove myself. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. I'm open to about anything.
 
As a new coding student with little professional coding experience (yet still in the healthcare field) I have to say that any information that local chapters could provide would be helpful. The AAPC does have a list of project xtern sites which is helpful (I hear) for some. I, however, live in an area with one major hospital who has monopolized most of the physicians offices, thereby leaving little room/opportunity for coding students to get the real world experience needed to drop the apprenticeship. Now here we go back to "...how can I get experience if no one will hire me without experience?" Local chapters should have links (on the AAPC page) to billing services, ASC's, physicians offices, clinics, etc... that students can uses as a resource for employment and externships. Personally, I have posted threads on the AAPC discussion board for externship sites, and I have even emailed local practices not owned by the hospital with no success. We students have would love to have help from the coders that are in the field.
 
My daughter just graduated from college with a BA and passed her CPC exam in June. With no experience she has taken an office job to learn from the beginning. She is technically the office coder but is learnng all she can about the entire office. I have encouraged her to do this as that is how I got started.
Some times you have to start at the bottom and work your way into the field of your choice. :)
 
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