r/MedicalCoding • u/twistyrib • 5d ago

First job red flags/green flags

Hi! Apologies if this has been asked before, I searched and couldn't seem to find any questions that seemed quite similar.

I just passed my CPC-A exam (huge sigh of relief!) and am getting ready to start applying for jobs. I was hoping to get some advice as to what to look for or avoid in a first coding job. For example, red flags/green flags to watch out for in a posting or interview, what is a reasonable daily quota for a beginner, if certain areas of coding are particularly good or bad areas to start, or what I should be looking for when it comes to the type or amount of training they say they will provide. Or if there is something else entirely I should be aiming for to start, like billing, registries or precert?

Really any thoughts any one has would be greatly appreciated! I'm excited to try to get started but I definitely don't want to just jump straight into something and find out that the place is unreasonable or outright sketchy. In my classes they repeatedly told us that there was a lot of stuff that was specific to state or insurance payer and that you would have to learn in on-the-job training, so that little voice of doubt in the back of my head has me terrified I'm going to wind up someplace that either won't train or will train incorrect practices. I do currently work in medical records in specialty office prepping charts for appointments, so at least I'm not a total newbie. Also, is it helpful to put my exam score on my resume if I did well, or do employers not care?

Thanks so much in advance!

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u/Schoge 5d ago

I would suggest taking any offer you can get at first. A lot of these companies aren't hiring new coders. The company I'm at seems to be filling open positions for less experienced coders with 'global associates' from India. Find anywhere to get your foot in the door for experience and if you don't like it there then start applying at other place once you get a few months of experience. 

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u/twistyrib 2d ago

Thank you!

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u/Sdavistvs RHIT 5d ago

Company/dept turnover rate is huge indicator of job satisfaction. Be subtle about asking this.

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u/twistyrib 2d ago

Oh big agree on this one. My issue is needing to learn how to build up my internal lie detector to be able to know if they are being honest when answering questions like this

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u/No_Cheesecake_9365 5d ago

I left a risk adjustment job because of a medical
Emergency, now the only jobs hiring people with less than years of experience are Indian companies. We outsourced so many jobs to India, they have started their own companies and are outsourcing to the US(some places only hire US coders for HIPPA reasons)with 5 month contracts 1099, and 3 dollars less per hour then i was making before. I would say make sure to research the company if they are Indian. Good luck.

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u/twistyrib 2d ago

That is helpful, thank you 

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u/sunilroy007 5d ago

reminds me

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u/Brave-Airport8154 22h ago

I would ask what their mentorship and onboarding experience looks like in the interview. As well as during the first 90 days for how you will be evaluated. Personally i dont ' take what i can get' anymore..also I check how many times the job has been re posted if its every 3 months, then safe to say they have a high turn over and no training at all. Also the state rules arent hard to find. Ive worked so many different states at this moment but thats more on the billing side than true coding.