| |
Dear Beth,
I have been out of the workforce since 2001, when I had to quit work to care for my severely injured husband. Several years later, we divorced and I transferred my skills from court recording to medical transcription. I received my diploma in medical transcription in December of 2007 and I haven't been able to secure employment since then because no one is willing to hire me because I don't have experience. Catch-22 - how can I get experience if no one will hire me? What do you recommend?
Thank you.
Nancy |
Dear Nancy,
I'm sorry to hear that you have had this hard road to walk. Here are a few suggestions on how to deal with this problem.
- Does the school where you got your diploma in medical transcription have any kind of career services? Perhaps they have companies or particular hospitals where their graduates tend to get hired and they can put in a good word for you via a recommendation from a teacher or administrator? At the very least you should find out from them where their graduates tend to get hired and see if you can get in touch with any graduates of the same program. They will know your training (having done it themselves) and might be willing to put in a good word for you where they work currently
- Have you worked your own network? You should talk to anyone you know who might know anyone in your field. That means anyone you have ever volunteered with on a community project, every member of your church/synagogue/mosque, every person you know in your neighborhood. You should put an e-mail out on every listserv you belong to about what you're looking for. While none of your friends might work in places that require medical transcription, you don't know who their friends are. Your friend might work for the school system, but she might be married to a guy who works at a hospital. Your neighbor might be a stay-at-home mom, but her best friend from college may run a large medical practice. You just never know.
- Consider volunteering at a local hospital that is large enough to have their own medical transcription folks. Once you have proven that you are responsible and people like you at the hospital, it will be easier to find someone who knows someone in the medical transcription pool who can get you an interview with the person who does the hiring.
In all of these suggestions the idea is to get your foot in the door through a personal connection. When they get a whole pile of resumes yours won't stand out because you don't have the experience. But once they know you as a person, or you have a letter of recommendation from someone they trust, your resume will have a chance to shine.
I wish you the best of luck,
Beth
Beth Sperber Richie
www.mosaiclife.net
To learn more about Dr. Richie, click here.
Get Answers to Your Career Questions! Send an email to Dr. Richie. Please type 'Women Work!' in the subject line of your email.
|
