Soooooo....I just had my first ever coding position interview and let me tell ya....it was harrowing! I was led to a conference room where 4 people were sitting with my beautifully-done resume (thanks Resumes4Coders lol) in front of them, asking me questions. At one point, as the hiring manager was explaining this particular company's extended (more than 90 days) probation period, and how they are willing to take the time to train and let their employee learn and find their way, as long as that employee showed a willingness to be taught and comprehend, she said to me, and I quote "I expect you to have questions and not know something. But if you hand me a a piece of paper and just say to me 'I don't understand this' without explaining WHAT you don't understand and what you THINK it may be and HOW you got there, then I'm not going to explain it to you. WHY should I work harder than you are at finding that answer?" And in my head, I'm thinking...that's the way we have to approach our instructors at Andrews when we have questions, a detailed expression of our train of thought! And I was able to answer her by explaining my education experience, and how as a student on final exams I am REQUIRED to submit a followup of all my errors, what led me to those errors and what led me to the actual corrected answer. She was impressed that I could demonstrate that I understood the necessity of being explicit. She even said "we don't care if you are wrong, we want to know what your thought process is so we can see where to help you." I was so impressed with that. THANKS ANDREWS!! Friends, we are on the right track, utilize that questioning process with the instructors, clearly it's going to continue when we are in the working world :)
All I can say is, WOW! Thank you for letting us know about that interview experience. You made my day.
That was very helpful to know Jill! Thanks for sharing! Good luck!
Thank you for sharing!!!
Wow! Thanks, Jill!!
Thank you for sharing this, Jill!
Thank you for sharing this Jill! :)
Yes, thank you indeed! Hope you will share more when you get hired on what it is like having your first coding job!
Jill, would you mind posting this on our Medical Coding Forum on Facebook? I would also like you to post it in the Module Discussion Forum as well. As you can tell, I really like it. :)
Thanks so much for that, Jill! It's very valuable information and very motivating!
WOW...you don't know how much this makes me breathe easier! thanks a million
This is one of my favorite threads.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Jill. It sounds like you interviewed with some great people! I agree with everything you said, and I also love their approach. As a coder, we should not be expected to "know everything." It's impossible. However, it is reasonable for your employer to expect the coder to do research and provide thought processes behind the codes they are choosing.
Thank you for sharing, Jill!
Thank you for sharing your experience. Being a "newbie" here at The Andrews School, I will incorporate all these great recommendations into my studies!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I definitely feel as though our close communication with our instructors is beneficial in building confidence in our coding processes. And I hope I am lucky enough to find a job with a company as understanding as yours. I look forward to hearing updates on your job experience.