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CCA credential question - DA

Posted: Sep 27, 2012

I'm starting a coding specialist program that is AHIMA-approved next month. I was wondering if anybody has had luck finding a job upon graduation and passing the test for their CCA credential. I will have the requirements to test for the CCS upon completion but was curious how well people fared with a CCA.

Thank you!

Forgot to add... - DA

[ In Reply To ..]
Have any of you had luck finding a coding job with a CCS but no experience yet?

A CCS is so shockingly rare - and difficult - that - They cannot ignore you

[ In Reply To ..]
Steve Martin said "Be so good they can't ignore you."

That is the key to getting ANY job. It is THE key to getting a job in coding.

Where employment depends on your technical qualifications, and where colleges flood local markets with minimally prepared and minimally qualified graduates every semester, you have to be SO GOOD THEY CAN'T IGNORE YOU.

It isn't enough to take a course and pass it. It isn't even enough to get an A. You have to exceed expectations. You have to come out looking as though you already HAVE experience.

In coding you can do that by passing the CCS exam. That is the most difficult of all the coding exams. More than half the people who take it fail. It has traditionally required 2, and now 3, years of learning on the job to pass it. So many failed it at 2 years that they upped the recommendation to 3!

If you can pass the CCS straight out of school, which people can't do even with school AND years on the job, do you see how that makes you look GOOD? You'll be special and un-ignorable simply because you passed a notorious test.

So, YES, of course people DO get jobs with a CCS even if they have no experience. I know several who did it.

I know a lot more who thought that sitting in class for a year, making some grades, and getting a CCA would cause employers to kneel begging at their feet, but they're all still unemployed.

If you read the description of the CCA carefully, you will see that it basically sends this message to an employer: "I took a course where I didn't learn enough to work as a coder, but I'm really, really sincere (now) about really, really wanting to learn coding (now). I am so sincere about this that I expect you to give me a job where I can spend 3 years learning at your expense."

Given an applicant who has a CCA and an applicant who has a CCS (and maybe a CPC, as well), don't you think that the employer will choose the CCS? I think most of them will choose just a CPC over a CCA . . . it is at least a coding credential, not a badge of sincerity.

If you have a CCS, you will stick out like roses in winter. You will be very difficult to ignore. Few employers want to let a CCS get away, regardless of how much experience they might have. They're too darned rare!

CCAs, on the other hand, are everywhere and they're all looking for jobs that they can't do. (Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't some who are great and who get snapped up right away, but the majority don't do well.

Is it easier to pass the CCA? Apparently not -- the pass rate is not very good.

How about taking the CCA as a warm-up and then the CCS? Well, no, because the CCS supplants the CCA. The minute you pass the CCS, you no longer get to use the CCA. Because of that it is kind of a waste of money. A better plan would be to take the CPC for practice--that one is a good intro exam and the credential can come in handy.

Cal Newport, a really interesting guy with 2 books about succeeding in college (highly recommended and not at all what you would expect!) just wrote a book called "So Good They Can't Ignore You."

I was told - downtime

[ In Reply To ..]
A couple weeks ago when I asked here, I was told that CCS is the only way to go. You can read that discussion below.

They fare less well than those who have the CCS. - CCS, CPC

[ In Reply To ..]
Finding a job depends on the quality of the course you are taking and the credential(s) you have when you graduate.

The fact that a program is AHIMA-approved only means that the school submitted paperwork showing that they school is the type AHIMA wants to be associated with, that it offers the things AHIMA wants to see and does so when and how AHIMA wants to see them. It does not mean the instruction is excellent. It doesn't really mean AHIMA *recommends* them, either.

Some produce good, employable coders and others do not. Look up the pass rate on the CCA exam--you'll see that it is very, very low. That tells you that about half the graduates of those programs fail the CCA exam. Those graduates are also the ones who think they will pass it, because a lot of grads never take it. There are a few schools that get good results, which makes the others look even worse because their good scores have actually raised the lower ones to the sad level they're at now--the poor ones are even poorer.

I would find out what the school's pass rate and employment history are. Where are those students working? How long did it take to graduate? To get a job? What kind of job is it?

If the school turns out to be low, then you'll know that you need to do outside work to succeed. If the school turns out to be fine, then you'll know that you can trust them to teach you what you need.

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