Having the right credentials is the key - sm Posted: Jun 29th, 2015 - 8:43 am In Reply to: MT looking to break into coding - Heather
Several things are important to know. Starting with your most important question, yes, you can definitely do it. You'll get more on-site job offers than remote coding job offers, but if you stay strong and wait for the remote job, you'll get it. That's of course if you have the right credentials, both CPC and CCS, so you have more choices. You aren't going to get any job offers with a CCA. The AHIMA Basics course would prepare you for the CCA because it teaches basics, and the CCA is a test of very basic or minimal skills. It isn't intended for job-ready skills. The CCS is, and Andrews does prepare you for both the CPC and CCS. Having both of those is the key to getting more job offers, including remote ones if you look hard enough.
There's another problem that I've been seeing recently of people taking short courses that practically teach them how to pass the CPC apparently, so they can pass that, but they can't pass any coding tests for employers. I'm on several coding forums and aside from seeing some of them fail the test 5 or 6 times, they just don't have any skills that an employer is going to pay them for, so they keep complaining that they can't get a job. Nobody will hire them. Well, there's a reason for that.
It isn't just the short courses that only teach to the CCA, the college courses are almost all designed to be limited to the CCA, with all sorts of other things like statistics, math, software programs that nobody uses, lots of planning, essay-writing, and some good knowledge, but it isn't practical as far as getting a job. It prepares you for a 4-year career in something that you can decide later, like management possibly, but not enough coding for an actual coding job.
I know several former MTs who kept their MT job while getting their training with Andrews. They are now making more as coders than they ever did as MTs, so that's definitely possible. There's also a program at Washington Governor's Association, I think, that gets good reviews if you want a degree program. If you want a coding job and the long-term degree maybe later, start at Andrews and decide later on the degree. You may make a good enough salary for it to be enough for a really good remote coding career with the actual coding itself, promotions, etc.
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