In the middle of my career, I took a segue from leadership roles in Corporate America in Finance, IT and Executive Recruiting to serving as Director of Career Services at a school providing training in the Allied Health field. Programs included Medical Assistant, Medical Billing and Coding, Surgical Technician, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Cardiac Sonography/Echo Tech, and Pharmacy Technician ranging from 9 months to 2 years.
To assist the students in talking with prospective employers, I created a template that could be followed regardless of program by dropping in the relevant information. Here’s an example for the Medical Billing and Coding program.
“Tell Me About Yourself”
- I am an (Honors) student (recent graduate, extern) at [name of school] in the (Medical Billing & Coding certificate program). (If it is good, I have a 3.9/4.0 GPA). [For students/recent graduates who obtain certifications or licenses, it would be included here.]
- I am trained in medical billing, insurance verification, and CPT-4 and ICD-9 coding with experience on [relevant software]. I type (99) words per minute have (99,999) keystrokes per hour.
- I am known for my organization skills, attention to detail, and commitment to doing things right. I am reliable (and had a perfect attendance record while I was in school).
- I have relevant experience in [transaction processing] (As an example, before this program, I had 5 years’ experience in mortgage processing, where I handled a high volume of transactions and financial information.)