A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Career Step Microsoft Office courses - cs

Posted: Jul 06, 2013

I want to increase my Microsoft Office skills. My local community college has classes in it, but I don't know if I would be able to make it work around my work schedule. Which is unfortunate because it would be fully paid through a scholarship. Career Step has Microsoft Office training that of course I could do any time through distance learning. Does anyone know anything about these courses, and if they're good or not? I wouldn't choose Career Step for coding or MT training, but I don't see how they could mess up Microsoft Office.

The choice is yours... - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
However, before you spend any money on formal Microsoft Office training, look into some of the free on-line tutorials and webinars. Also, if your community has a Skill Source office, they usually offer computer literacy and more advanced classes free of charge.

Thanks. nm - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
xx

I learned everything I needed about Microsoft Office at my - leisure with the online tutorials sm

[ In Reply To ..]
It's free, ready when you are, walks you through everything, you can see each process being done, repeat anything right then and there, and choose what you feel necessary, ignore what you might not be using. Try that first -

If you are the same person asking about clinic to acute care or radiology below, and now MS Office, why not just get another clinic job while you upgrade your skills in Office or any medical specialty? I see ads for clinic work (at home) all the time.

Thanks. nm - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
xx

I just added a little to above post. Good luck to you. - NM

[ In Reply To ..]
'

College classes - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I do not know what you mean by not knowing if you can fit the college classes in with your schedule.

Are you assuming that you have to show up in person for classes, or did you check to see exactky what kind of classes these were?

It is very unusual for this type of class to be taught in person. That is because most colleges use online teaching software. You do it on your computer, from your location, when you want to do it. There might be a requirement to participate in an online chat session, or there might not, and you might have to do the tests at the school or you might not.

In other words, college classes like this no longer involve going to a room full of typewriters and banging out pages of work.

One type of class involves access to software made by a company. It tells you what to do, you do the assignment in the software, then do a test. You can replay the material as often as you like.

That is as much effort as most colleges want to make. They don't hardly need an instructor for it.

Really good colleges are now recording their own material. They have little segments on, say, formatting an Excel spreadsheet or using certain formulas. An instructor does the operation for you while explaining it. You do it along with him in your own software. Then, you do an assignment. When you finish it, you watch a video of the solution, so you can see how well you did it, get more ideas for next time, etc.

Considering that you can get a full scholarship for those classes, I think you need to be sure what is involved and MAKE the time to do them. This is part of your ticket out of MT, so you need to take advantage of it.

College classes have the advantage of offering credits or at least the school's good name. I cannot see passing up the money, the credit, the reputation, and possibly even exposure to someone who could help you get a job, because you think it would interfere with the job you are desperate to get out of.

In fact, that is such a poor option and so unlikely that the classes actually would interfere that it makes me wonder if your post is a kind of advertising on the part of a school. We have seen that here before. Someone shows up saying they really want to take coding or whatever it is, and it's even paid for, but it doesn't fit their schedule, but ... Hey! Look at this course I found at Career Step (or whatever school)! It's ONLINE! I can do it on my own! What a great alternative! How could they screw it up???

I am sure you are not that, but please get the facts before you throw away this opportunity. Classes might be very different from what you think.

Advertising on the part of a school? - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
LOL.

And Microsoft Office is taught...sm - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
IN PERSON at my local community college, despite what you think is unusual or not. There is not an option to take it online, unfortunately. That would be more convenient for me. I think the person who needs to "get the facts" is you.

My local community college is 20 to 25 minutes away, and it might not fit in with my schedule and the schedule of the people in my life for me to be able to get there. It's as simple as that.

well we have had some people here - advertising

[ In Reply To ..]
usually for Canscribe, and it usually happens on weekends, but your post didn't look like an ad to me.

my community college offers them - online

[ In Reply To ..]
and I was thinking about taking that this fall, but it sounds so monumentally boring I just don't think I can bring myself to do it.

What's the name of your CC please? - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
I'd like to see if I can take them.

Tarrant County College - in Texas nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Thanks. nm - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

just google community college online. every state has at least - one offering MS Office etc., on line.

[ In Reply To ..]
Although you get the same from Microsoft tutorials on line, just no class credits to flash prospective employers.

If it's for MT work - all you need to be proficient in is Word, a little Excel helps, but not used much.

Mine too - Tacoma Community College

[ In Reply To ..]
Actually, they have multiple offerings, some in classroom format and some online.

By the way, the woman who suggested this to you provided you with a lot of good info, and it's not so farfetched that you might have not realized the community colleges had gone to online for these classes. I think biting her head off in your subsequent post was uncalled-for.

So she be snide and accuse me... - cs

[ In Reply To ..]
Of advertising for a school, but I can't defend myself?

sure you can - just saying nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

More suggestions - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
Google Microsoft Digital Literacy; that program looks pretty comprehensive, there is a section on Microsoft Office. The entire class is self paced. I don't know for sure, but that might be the same program Career Step offers. Several community colleges in my area use their coding curriculum and that is on line. I really didn't understand what you meant by Career Step messing things up, maybe you had a bad experience with them before. I understand about on site classes interfering with your schedule. Unless they are taught in the evening I would have a problem too as I work full-time during the day. My point was that it might not be necessary to spend any money unless you can get college credit. I would think that you should be able to do something that is self-paced at home. If it is through Microsoft it is going to be done on-line.

Nobody be snide or accuse you - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Someone went to time and effort to provide information for you. You were NOTaccused of anything . . . the last paragraph makes that clear.

You did not need to defend yourself because there was no attack. Even if there had been, an appropriate response would have been a simple explanation that there had been a misperception.

Similar Messages:

Mar 05, 2012

Anyone have problems passing Career Step MT testing. ...

Feb 27, 2013

It's time for a new PC, and I found a great deal on a brand new one that comes loaded with MS-Office 2013. It took forever to get used to 2010. Anyone here had experience with 2013? Pros and cons, please. ...

May 29, 2010

nm ...

Jan 19, 2015

i saw this question on the Classifieds board, but nobody answered. I'd like to know the answer too. Does anyone know where I can buy an inexpensive copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2010 at a reasonable price? ...

Jan 27, 2015

I recently graduated as a medical transcriptionist. I am currently researching a few companies and am close to applying. I keep reading that most require Microsoft Office Professional 2007 or 2010. I have found prices from $150 to $699 which has left me concerned about what I should buy. Can anyone clear up my confusion? Thanks! Joyce ...

Apr 16, 2014

I am in need of finding a good site to purchase MS Word 2007 Full Version. Here is the reason: I was working for a company and noted I had not received work in 2 days. Then contacted TL. She then informed me that the account I was assigned to that work was no longer available at that facilty. Nice of them to tell me. I babysat that computer for 2 days. It was soooo nice of them of giving me the heads up. Now they tell me that they can put me on a ...

Apr 22, 2012

I recently bought a laptop and need to at least install Word on it so I can use it for work, but I don't want to pay a fortune and would really prefer to install an older version of Word, i.e. 2003. I looked on ebay and I see lots of Microsoft Office 2003 software for sell, but also see some confusing things like OEM versions being sold with a piece of hardware as per ebay and microsoft rules. So I guess my question is if I buy OEM software with the corresponding hardware, can I ...

May 12, 2010

wonder if anyone here, or if anyone knows of anyone who utilized Career Step for either their MT program or their coding program ...

Sep 13, 2010

Hi, I haven't enrolled yet, but I've pretty much decided on Career Step (mostly because of price!). I was wondering if anyone has any input as to whether it's better to take the MT course or the MTE course. Do you need the extra editing experience? I'm sure any extra is helpful, but is it necessary to have the editing training to get an MT job with an online company? Thanks in advance for any info! ...

Mar 04, 2011

Does anyone know if in-state tuition for career step is $350??? That's what they told me. ...

Oct 08, 2010

I will start working from home as an MT next week, however have discovered that the software (Microsoft Office 7, Professional Version) required by the company is quite different from 2003 version. I have used autotext for years when transcribing by simply highlighting and saving to keyboard strokes easy to remember, but the 07 version has several other names for autotext like building blocks, etc, and will only allow 255 characters. I have tried setting up a macro, as well with diff ...

Sep 25, 2014

Recently got new computer with windows 7 (old one had Vista) and put my word office 2007 home and student back on ...my shortcut keys (like F7) for spellcheck are not working...and I want to get the spellcheck visible on the task bar...any ideas how I can fix? Thanks!! ...

Jan 26, 2010

I am just curious if anyone knows good or bad about Career Step Medical Transcription and Medical Billing/Coding online courses. I would appreciate any opinoins about this particular online school. Thank you. ...

Feb 03, 2010

I was curious to hear if anybody failed the second part of the final? I got a 13% on the second part only because I was having serious trouble hearing the doctor clearly. I took that final last June, and I am wanting to take the final again in May. I am worried that I am going to come across the same problem even after practicing for so many months and getting helpful tips from the Career Step final. I am currently working part-time typing overflow reports and I am doing rather well with that. S ...

Apr 28, 2010

Fancy that! ...

May 11, 2010

I am going to enroll in Career step tomorow. I looked into Andrews, but if I had the 1000 to put down I would not be looking for a new career. LOL. Wish me luck! ...

May 29, 2010

I'm very disappointed regarding this medical editing course being offered by Career Step. In my opinion it's a terrible way to take advantage of newbies who are worried about the job market and willing to pay anything to upgrade their skills, when every employer I've ever heard of trains their MTs on VR. I can't imagine an employer requesting a course in medical editing in addition to the standard MT course. I myself am a Career Step grad, have been gai ...

Jun 09, 2010

Do you know if it is possible to take career step courses for coding and still collect unemployment. I do not qualify for the displaced worker program and they will not let me keep my benifits if I chose to go to a regular community college. I have no idea how the reporting is done, but I would really like to get into coding (currently an MT). I have enough in savings to pay for the course, and I am pretty sure I could get it over with fairly quicly, but I don't want to push myself to work ...

Oct 15, 2010

I am trying to decide which school to go with. I have read good and bad about both Career Step and TRS - does anyone have any additional considerations for me before I make my decision? Thanks! ...

Nov 05, 2010

I am very interested in a coding career. I have been doing medical transcription for the past 10 years and am tired of chasing after the money. I need stability. Coding has always seemed like a very interesting job. I want to choose a course that is the most detailed so that I have the best chance of passing the certification test(s) and be able to land a job. Can anyone advise on a great online medical coding course? Thanks guys!!!! ...

Jan 26, 2011

Hi everyone, I have been looking at both Andrews and Career Steps programs for coding. I am leaning more towards Andrews, but I am worried about the amount of writing assignments you have to do. Are these long assignments? What type of stuff do you have to write about for a coding course (without giving away too much info)? Career Step is completely online, and for some reason that just does not seem like the best way to go. I feel that you really do need hands on kind of work, and I don' ...

Jul 25, 2011

I don't know how it will work as far as "enrollment" actually goes, but I'm really looking to do more of a self-taught kind of thing anyway. I know that access to instructors is important, and I have already arranged for that through my local college. Worst case scenario, I'm out $25.. but for that price, I couldn't pass it up!! Thoughts? ...

Aug 25, 2011

I'm currently enrolled @ Career Step and stumbled across this forum tonight. This is the first time I've heard about this SUM program. Should I be nervous that Career Step doesn't use this program? I admit, I did not have the money for Andrews or M-tec and thought the AHDI certification was the important thing. Now I'm not so sure. Will I be passed over by recruiting agents without this knowledge? Thanks ...

Oct 10, 2011

What is the difference besides price on these two schools? Do companies hire based mostly on what school you graduate from or by how well you test? Does one school really prepare you better than the other, or are you paying for the name? ...

Jan 16, 2012

Okay, I know Andrews is the best, but has anyone taken Career Step and had any sucess? It is an approved school on the AHIMA web site, but I don't ever hear anyone say anything about going through them for coding. If anyone has, I would like to know if you were able to pass the CCS after completing the course? My parents want to help me pay for school, and I hate for them to think I went and found the most expensive one out there; although, I know it is the best. I just wondered abo ...

Apr 20, 2013

I am trying to decide between Andrews and Career Step for billing and coding. The only question I have left is how the learning is done. It looks like Career Step is study on your own. at your own pace. I can't find anything one way or the other on the Andrews site - are there interactive online classes or is it study on your own and then test? Also, Career Step says the tuition includes Complete set of industry codebooks (ICD-9-CM, CPT, HCPCS). Andrews ju ...

May 04, 2013

I have narrowed my choices down to Career Step or Andrews for coding. I know that Andrews provides all the necessary textbooks, but I cannot get a clear answer as to which textbooks actually are included with the Career Step program. Are there any current or former students of the Career Step coding program who would be willing to tell me which textbooks they received? Thanks much! ...

Jan 30, 2015

I have to be honest. I truly felt that Career Step's training was thorough and prepared me well for a career as an MT. I had an extensive background in terminology, but the transcribing was new for me. Nonetheless, I completed all transcription modules with over 98% accuracy. I can type over 100 WPM. So, when it came time to take the final, I felt confident. I mean, I passed the multiple choice questions with flying colors and only got one wrong. But, apparently, I did so poorly on the tr ...

Apr 17, 2015

Can anyone tell me the difference in the 2 programs? Will someone come out of CS ready to sit for the CCS/CPC? I know/hear on here that Andrews has the best, most comprehensive program but Career Step has a job placement program after graduation ...granted it is low-paying, but it is more like an internship for 13 weeks. After that you can get hired for $15-$17/hour or more.... However their program is almost half what Andrews is.... I just am trying to make the best decision for myself. I am re ...

Feb 26, 2010

I am looking to get some opinions on Career Step's MT program. Has anybody been able to find a job after completion? Any information would be greatly appreciated! ...