This is one of the top questions that people ask us. You may have gotten your CPC certification online and you are unable to find leads for a Medical Coding job. You may have a resume and get interviews but do not land the job.
There are a variety of different reasons why you are not being offered the job, despite the completion of your Online CPC course. Also many ways to land the first interview and find the Medical Coding job of your dreams. Here are many helpful tips to guide you in the process. We work with all of our students very diligently to help them find a Medical Coding job. It works.
First of all, if you have not gotten your certification yet, make sure the online Medical Coding school that you choose is an AAPC accredited school. AAPC is the exam creator and this is a must. Also, be sure to find a CPC school that Counts as accredited hours towards AAPC for one year to remove your CPC-A apprenticeship. This will look like you have more experience. You will get your apprenticeship removed after as well.
Here are the steps that you can take to land a Medical Coding job once you get your CPC certification online.
1. Don’t Give up
The only time you can fail is when you give up. Every interview you go to gives you practice for the next one. Don’t get demotivated when you hit a struggle or a dead end. Never stop. Keep trying.
2. Get AAPC Practicode
This will technically add another year of coding experience to remove your apprenticeship. You will code 600 cases. The AAPC Practicode is only a cost of $249. This is worth every penny.
3. Resume
Employers only look at your résumé for 40 seconds on average. Their first glance needs to represent yourself appropriately. Do not write a novel. Make it short, sweet and to the point. Remove everything on it that is irrelevant. You are selling yourself. Include why someone should choose you for the Medical Coding job. Make your résumé stand out. Reach out to us on our contact form to get our discounted rate for a professional résumé writer if you need one. It is a very small price for a big gain.
4. Publish your Résumé Publicly on Indeed
Once you post your professional Medical Coding résumé on Indeed, make sure that you create job alerts. You will receive all the new Medical Coding job openings. Create a job alert for Medical Coder and leave your location blank to see what comes up. Next, set a Medical Coder job alert in your area. You will get daily job alerts. Apply to as many as you can, do not rule any out. It is imperative that you are timely when applying and be sure to fill out the application completely.
5. Find Medical Coding Staffing Agencies
Google Medical Coding staffing agencies and sign up with them. They acquire opportunities frequently. The agencies have clients that want to fill spots and are approached by many different companies that are hiring. They have many positions open for you to find work in the Medical Coding field. You may need to do an interview with them first. Be sure to dress appropriately and show up on time.
6. Attend your AAPC Chapter Meeting
There are AAPC Chapter Meetings held throughout the US. These meetings are once a month. It helps to have other Medical Coding friends in your area and this is the perfect way to meet them. If it is far away or are limited on time, be sure to show up at least once. You can get more involved and even become an officer. This looks very good on your résumé. Bring a few copies of your résumé in case you come across someone that may have an opening or know someone who does at the meeting. Get there early and stay late. Be sure to mix and mingle. Do not sit in the back quietly. Every December there is a fun holiday party, sometimes they even have food for the attendees. Get local support in your chapter. Network with others in the Medical Coding field. If you already are certified, going to a chapter meeting gets you a FREE CEU.
7. Get an Externship
The AAPC offers externships from time to time that are listed online. Go to their site and search it to see if there is anything in your area. Keep checking back. You will eventually see one by you.
8. Get an Internship
This is an amazing idea to gain experience that you need to land a job. We offer an HCC internship to all of our students. This makes it much easier to drop the Apprentice classification and become a full blown CPC.
9. Check out Coding Clarified’s Job Listings
Head over to our site. We post Medical Coding job openings from all over the US.
10. Join our Facebook Groups
Medical Coding and Billing Forum
Medical Billing and Coding Forum
You will gain a plethora of knowledge and acquire resources that will help you through your Medical Coding journey.
- Connect with me. Reach out to me, Janine Mothershed on LinkedIn.
“Thank you for letting us clarify coding for you.” – Janine Mothershed