Negotiating Tips for New Employment Opportunities

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So you thought you’d get all the information you needed in your Allen School Online studies to land a killer job with a great salary in Medical Billing and Coding?  Well, that’s mostly true.  But there are some very important, non-verbal negotiation strategies that can mean the difference between decent compensation and extraordinary compensation.  And these tips are not something you’ll learn in class.  These are tips that come from the hard won experiences of the job seekers who came before you.  Instead of learning them the hard way in this tough economic climate, read up on them here so you can prepare yourself to negotiate like a seasoned worker. Click here to read a piece from Yahoo! HotJobs written by consultant, Pat Mayfield about how to communicate using non-verbal cues such as “the power of body language”, “the power of the eyes” and “internal and external power”.  Then go out there and get the best compensation you can for the value you bring to a new employer.

Sample Resumé

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Writing a resumé can be a task that is quite difficult to begin.  Especially if you don’t have a point of reference from which to begin .  Do you ever wish you could take a peek at what other people have done with their resumés so that you could at least get an idea of how to structure/format your own? There’s no shame in cribbing from the work of others when it comes to writing resumés.  In fact, there are lots of resumé sample sites out there (here, here and here) where you can review the CV’s of people in the exact same field as you. Or, click “read more” to see a particularly good example of a medical billing CV I found online. Continue reading…

Job Hunting Blogs – A Link to Real World Experiences

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Getting your certification is a wonderful thing, but now it is time to turn your attention and efforts to finding a new position with your newly minted qualifications.  With the economy in turmoil and the effects of this volatility on the labor market, the rules of job hunting are changing day to day.  What may have been conventional wisdom about how to write a resume, how to handle interviews or how to negotiate compensation is potentially no longer relevant.  In many cases, what used to be a strategy for success has become a recipe for failure. The best way to know what is working (and what is not) in real time is to read the shared experiences of other job seekers who are also currently out there dealing with resumes, human resources, hiring managers, etc.  The best job hunting blogs have shared experiences posted daily and that fresh input can be of immense value to the job hunter.  I recommend Jobhuntingblogs.org which is a wonderful compilation of the best job hunting blogs out there. I also like guerrillajobhunting Get a fresh look at what is working for others and you can get ahead in the hunt! Also, share your experiences in the comments below to help fellow Allen School Online students in their search.

Why They Don’t Call You Back

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Taking your new medical billing and coding certificate out to look for a job is exciting.  You comb over listings, find positions, send cover letters and get interviews.  But then something curious happens.  You go home and wait for a call from the interviewer which never comes.  Ever wonder why sometimes you get the silent treatment from a prospective employer?  There are a number of surprising reasons why you may not get called back.  The good news is that most of the reasons why are not mystical.  In fact, if you’re aware of the most commonly occurring mistakes, you can avoid them altogether and improve your call-back ratio. Yahoo! Hot Jobs’s Larry Buhl put together a list of the Top Six Reasons They Didn’t Call You Back.  Read the list and take to heart the message so you can become a more effective interview subject and land that dream job.

How to Be More Persuasive in Interviews

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Convincing someone that you’re the best candidate for a position requires that you engender in them a good feeling about you personally.  You need to find subtle ways to make the interviewer feel as though they really like you.  Senior editor at Monster, Charles Purdy recently wrote an article offering tips on how to make yourself likable to an interviewer without coming off as a creepy stalker or a clowning ham.  The tips are: 1. Show that you can be the solution to a problem. 2. Use specific examples. 3. Talk in soundbites. 4. Explain the “how” behind your accomplishments. 5. Use the right nonverbal communication. 6. Show enthusiasm. To learn the details of these activities, click here.

15 Ways to Blow Your Job Interview

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interviewdoThis is an exceptionally funny look at some of the really stupid things people do or say at job interviews.  Culled from professional recruiters, these are all things that actually happened and that should be avoided at all costs if you’re lucky enough to land an interview in this tough employment environment.