If you are having trouble finding a work from home job, you may want to consider merchandising jobs. Although very few people can make a full time living with these types of jobs, many moms are able to earn a nice part time income. At the very least, work from home moms are able to get a few special treats for their kids.
Merchandising involves going to stores and setting up displays. You may find yourself lifting heavy boxes or you may simply restock greeting cards. Although the job is a bit flexible, since you often have a large block of time to get an assignment completed, you may find yourself unemployed if you are not able to complete an assignment. Some merchandisers have been fired because they could not complete a job on the day they agreed to work because of a sick child.
One great way to get merchandising jobs is to walk up to a merchandiser in the store and ask how he or she got the job and if the company is hiring in another nearby location. You can occasionally find merchandising jobs in your local newspaper, as well. I have seen merchandising jobs in the Baltimore Sun and the Wilmington News Journal. However, the easiest way to find a merchandising job is to search two great free merchandising websites: http://www.narms.com and http://www.hiringedge.com.
What exactly is coding? Coding is basically data entry. You will be looking at documents that someone else has scanned into the computer and taking certain information from each document and entering it in the provided database so that people looking for a certain document can find it quickly. For example, a legal document usually has special numbers that specify the first and last page of documents, the date, the writer of the document, who it is addressed to, what it is about, and additional helpful information entered into the database. There are coders for other fields, as well. Coding is not the same as medical coding and billing, which is a very different field that deals with insurance.
Would you make a good coder? You will need to be patient enough to scan many documents that can be quite dry for important bits of information. (Frankly, I’d make a terrible coder. I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to sit there and attempt this when I am used to poring over census and vital record documents for hours in search of one tiny piece of a genealogy puzzle.) You will also need to be very accurate. Your work will be checked by a quality control agent, who will make sure your coding is correct. You will need to look at documents that sometimes are blurry or hard to see, so you should have good eyesight.
Can I become a coder without experience? It is certainly a lot harder. There are companies that hire new coders, though. Try thinking creatively when you apply to these companies. Sometimes you have some experience with something else that will help you stand out from the mob of people applying to the few companies that accept inexperienced coders. Did you create or update any databases for previous jobs? For instance, I created a job log and entered information about each job from the billing files for an employer. I also once volunteered to create a database of vital records using newspapers from the early 1900’s. If I was applying for a coding position, I would highlight these jobs in my cover letter.
What equipment do I need to code? You will need a newer computer and high speed internet access. Most coding companies provide any software you need.
Where can I start looking for a coding job? Try www.onss.com. This company will hire some inexperienced coders.
If you are considering being a medical coder, don’t miss So You Want to be a Medical Biller or Coder.
Every year, hundreds of people decide that they want to get into the exciting, challenging field of medical billing and coding. Some of these people fall for training scams that promise they will be able to easily work from home and get rich on medical billing or coding. Others take classes through reputable community colleges or correspondence courses. However, they still have trouble finding jobs. I decided to follow a typical class through a local community college and see how they did.
First, the students all said that the classes were too short and they didn’t get enough practice. More importantly, the internships some of them paid extra for did not materialize. Since the medical billing field is a field that is not beginner friendly, this would have been invaluable. Recommendation letters in hand, the best students went out to seek jobs. Almost immediately, they discovered that a work from home position was not to be. Without at least two years of experience, they would not even be considered. These positions deal with very sensitive information, and doctors need to build a relationship with their employees before letting them work from home.
The students then tried to get positions outside the home to get those two years of necessary experience. Unfortunately, they found they needed experience for these jobs, too. Some of them found jobs that required a year of experience instead of two, but couldn’t find anyone to give them that year. Other students opted for any job in the medical field and found that they could get a medical receptionist or file clerk job easily with their coding and billing training. They hope to work their way up to billing and coding. However, they make an average of $8 an hour. A student who already had experience as medical receptionist was able to use the additional training to land a job as a medical assistant. Not one person in the class got a job as a medical biller or coder in or out of the home. When I followed up with the students, many of them finally had given up on medical billing after one year. After two years, hardly anyone was even in the medical field.
Can you be a medical biller or coder? Can you work from home? The answer for a lucky few is yes. However, they got there through years of training and experience and, occasionally, just plain luck.
I know of several people who do coding and billing and are overwhelmingly busy. They don’t hire help because they can’t find people with experience and don’t want to train. They say the classes people take do not do enough to prepare them for the real world of billing. It is a complicated process, where the smallest mistake results in denied claims. There is the danger of being implicated for insurance fraud along with any medical practice that over bills. It is not a get rich quick scheme, but many get rich quick schemes have been developed to take advantage of those who want to get into billing and coding.
If you decide to get into this field, be aware that courses and certifications are not going to land you a job. However, if you do want to take classes, I recommend:
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