You may have heard that Microsoft recently announced its acquisition of a popular business social network, LinkedIn for the princely sum of $26.2 billion. Why should this matter to you as a medical office assistant training student with Allen School of Health Sciences?
First, if you’re planning to study (or complete your studies) with the Allen School and enter the workforce as a medical office assistant, you should familiarize yourself with LinkedIn which is a tremendous resource for job hunting, networking, and burnishing your online reputation as a professional. LinkedIn enables users to find available positions and even to see who they may know that work within an organization where a job may be available. That kind of insider connection sometimes makes it easier to land an interview and even the position itself. LinkedIn is a great place to keep track of the people with whom you studied medical office assistant training. As everyone progresses through their career, those early contacts can become very valuable later in one’s career. LinkedIn enables users to stay in touch with their classmates, and then later, with colleagues, former colleagues, employers, former employers, and even recruiters.
In addition, the site is an excellent place to stay abreast of trends and topics that are relevant to the industries in which you work.
So, now that Microsoft has purchased LinkedIn, what can users expect from this new relationship? According to popular techie website, TechCrunch.com, “Microsoft details how it plans to use LinkedIn’s social graph as an integrated selling tool alongside its existing CRM products (which are second to Salesforce in the market currently). That can help users find leads, open conversations, and close deals.”
Of greater relevance to medical office assistants, TechCrunch notes, “There are other elements of LinkedIn’s business that are interesting to consider in light of this acquisition. LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com, for example, to spearhead a move into offering online learning tools to users” which certainly has implications for online studies like the medical billing and coding classes offered by Allen School. Most importantly though for medical office assistant trainees, the integration between LinkedIn and Microsoft promises to bring the productivity-boosting tools Microsoft is known for, together with the networking/recruitment and professional development functions for which LinkedIn is famous. Taken together, this merger promises to make a more complete environment for users of all types to enjoy when it comes to finding jobs and performing on the job.
CONTACT US