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I graduated recently and have been sending out resumes on my own to find a job. I was wondering what you think I should include in my resume to make it stand out. Besides internship, I have no other related experience. Is there any way that I can show that I am really responsible, organized and have something to offer from Day One?

Ready to Work

Dear Ready to Work:

First of all, congratulations on taking the initiative on conducting your own job search. Please refer back to your class notes and textbook from your Career Development class regarding resume writing. You may also want contact your Placement office where you will surely and happily be given tips and advice on how to stand out.

Do not discount your internship so easily. You need to recognize that you have had one of the longest – if not the longest – internship of any school in the State of New York. Emphasize that on your resume as well as the front and back end skills that you developed during internship in which you feel you are competent.

You definitely do have something to offer from Day One, because you, like everyone else, have transferable skills. These are skills which people develop in one situation that can be transferred to another. For example, you may have developed time management skills during your schooling, while at a particular job, or while doing volunteer work, and now can offer these valuable skills to your next employer from Day One.

You can demonstrate that you are organized and responsible as part of the duties and responsibilities you include on your resume. For example, if you “have successfully coordinated events,” this will demonstrate to a potential employer that you are organized. If you were “in charge of opening and closing the business,” it will convey that you are responsible.

You also convey that you are qualified by having a resume that identifies verifiable accomplishments (using percentages, numbers, dollars, etc.), procedures, or systems that you implemented or improved upon, as well as any awards or recognition you may have received. Be certain to zero in on achievements, skills and results. Consider the example below:

BEFORE:

Cashier, XYZ Department Store, City, State 05/06 – Present

* Count and balance drawer at the beginning and end of shift

* Prepare receipts for bank deposits

* Assist with inventory and maintaining work area

AFTER:

Cashier, XYZ Department Store, City, State 05/06 – Present

* Employee of the Month winner (4 times) – promoted to Head Cashier in charge of opening and closing registers

* Reorganized cash register closeout system making the process less time consuming and more accurate

* Caught shoplifters several times saving the store from losing about $3000 in merchandise

Same job seeker, just a different way of making what they did at a job stand out. Which description do you think would impress an employer more?

You also need to package this great experience of yours into a visually-dynamic resume that is “keyword scannable” (for those companies that use online software to review resumes), and easy-to-skim quickly by the human eye. You need to use consistency in style, perfect grammar and punctuation, action verbs and key words.

Remember, you had the skills, knowledge, fortitude and determination to complete the Allen School program and the same qualities make you a valuable asset to any medical enterprise. Good luck!

The United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program was the recipient for the second year of the plentiful donation of toys contributed by students and staff during the Allen School Brooklyn Campus Annual Toy Drive supporting the Marine Reservists’ goal “to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.” Campus Director, Lillian Mitchell, accepted the Marine’s Certificate of Gratitude for outstanding support on behalf of the Allen School.

Ronald McDonald House of Long Island was this year’s recipient of the generous collection of toys donated by students and staff during the annual Allen School Jamaica Campus Toy Drive supporting the organization that provides “a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children undergoing critical medical treatment in area hospitals.” Campus Director, Jill Luke, accepted the thank you on behalf of the Allen School from the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island’s Chairman of the Board of Directors who referred to the Allen School donations as “a beacon of hope for families experiencing extraordinary circumstances…”

PATRICK SWAYZE AND MEDICAL ASSISTANT STUDENT “ACTING IN CONCERT”

Actor Patrick Swayze described his fight with pancreatic cancer as “going through hell.” It never stopped him, however, from meeting the challenges of taking on the grueling lead role in a television series. He told Barbara Walters, “I’ve never been one to run from a challenge.” Allen School Medical Assistant student, Elena Carpenzano, matches the actor in courage, persistence and grit. She recently fought – successfully – her own challenge and battle with life-threatening illness and, like Swayze, met major challenges head-on. One could say that, although they never met each other, Swayze and Carpenzano have acted in concert [defined as performing identical actions to attain the same goal], each striving for health at convergent times. In Feb of 2005, Elena, full time mother to three-year-old daughter, Ora, while working as a pastry chef by day and attending nursing school at night, was diagnosed with leukemia. A stem cell transplant from her sister, while deemed successful at killing the leukemia, created a tumor in her brain. Treatments included torturous chemo and radiation therapies along with excruciating bone marrow transplants. She was instructed by her doctors to go home and “do nothing, go nowhere, eat healthy and be very careful.” During that time, she and Ora lived through frequent separations as Elena endured many hospitalizations during her fight to stay alive. By 2006, Elena was “back in the swing” and able to return to her nursing program. Unfortunately, the by the end of 2007, she found herself back in the hospital for surgery because the radiation treatment had damaged her teeth and it was affecting her jaw. After the surgery, she developed sepsis and dropped totally out of college after spending countless weeks, yet again, in the hospital. The moment she was released, Elena said to herself, “I really need to do something now!” She had seen commercials for Allen School and looked into it immediately. At her first visit to the campus, she made the decision to make application for the Medical Assistant program. “Let’s do this,” she remembers telling herself, “I don’t want to waste any more time.” During Elena’s training at Allen School, she made up for lost time. Maintaining a 3.97 GPA, surely a candidate for participation in the school’s Speed Staffing System™, Elena made certain to learn as much as she could about medical technology. “Everyday they are coming up with new treatments and I get frequent blood tests to check on my immune system,” Elena said, “to make sure it is still on par with my sister’s. The tumor is completely gone!” To what does Elena attribute her remarkable recovery? “To the love of my daughter,” is her response and to an especially strong commitment to returning to “a normal life and to setting a good example for her.” As Patrick Swayze said recently, “I have a great deal of faith in faith; if you believe something strong enough, it becomes true for you.” Obviously, Elena Cartenzano shares that belief.

NEW ONLINE PROGRAM A NATIONAL SUCCESS

One graduate’s story: “I was hired within 72 hours of posting my resume!”

From around the entire United States, from Alaska to Florida, Vermont to Hawaii, and all points in between, career starters and career changers are making application to the Allen School’s new Online Medical Insurance Billing & Coding Program. They will be trained to work in offices or in medical facilities, both large and small, and in private practices.

Many applicants are professionals from other industries seeking to retrain in an area in which jobs will continue to outpace qualified candidates. These include bankers, opticians, accountants, HR specialists, real estate appraisers, auditors, fleet managers, options traders, aerospace and electronics technicians, COBRA review specialists, laboratory A/R professionals, medical office managers and business owners, etc. There are many new career starters in the application pool, as well.

The fact that so many states in the union appear to be represented by applicants to the Online Medical Billing Insurance & Coding Program seems to indicate that the job market for non-medical careers has been impacted nationwide. Those in the know are focusing on getting in on the medical industry’s continued expansion in terms of job opportunities.

The Online Medical Billing Insurance & Coding Program provides industry-relevant, up-to-the-minute training for positions in one of the most popular careers in health care, to meet the extraordinary demand for health information specialists. With the creation of HMOs, PPOs, and managed care, doctors need employees who understand the complexities of insurance billing.

Why are all of these people coming for training?

* They are able to learn from home in their spare time without giving up their day jobs

* There is no previous medical experience needed

* It is an easy and affordable way to learn and financial aid is available to all qualified students

* The Fast-Track-To-Success program lets students complete their studies in nine short months versus the fifteen months at other billing and coding schools

* The training is constantly updated so that only the most up-to-date skills are taught

* They are prepared for taking the industry certification exams upon completion of the program

* Professional Billers and Coders earn up to $46,000 a year

* They are trained to prepare insurance claims manually and by computer using the Clinical Modification System (ICD9-CM), the Current Procedural Terminology, Fourth Ed. (CPT4), and Health Care Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)

* The Allen School is one of the only schools that hold a cap-and-gown graduation ceremony for its online graduates and provides lifetime job placement assistance

How good is this program? Well…

Lisa Danger, from Sebastian, Florida, 150 miles north of Miami, member of one of the first classes in the Online Medical Insurance Billing & Coding Program, two weeks away from completing the program, posted her resume on two job boards as part of an assignment provided by her Allen School Career Development instructor. She considered it to be “just an exercise” in posting resumes.

Two days later, Lisa had an interview.

“I posted my resume,” Lisa said, “as per the assignment. Then, I came home from running errands that same morning and found the email to call the office. ‘Can you come in at 3:00 PM?’ it read. It was 1:00 PM.”

The day after the interview, Lisa had a job – in a comfortable office providing her newly obtained skills to facilitate the operation of the private practice of three high level specialists in the behavioral health area.

Lisa obtained the skills needed to distinguish herself from other applicants using the techniques learned in her executive level Career Development class. This component of Allen School’s training programs includes an intensive self-assessment segment that provides tools for isolating transferable skills, strengths, achievements, experience and background. It enables the candidate to create a most effective unique bio and career profile for use in resumes, cover letters and in interviews. Lisa was able to draw upon previous experience as Operations Assistant Manager, Loss Prevention Manager, Front End Supervisor and Assistant Director for giant retailers like Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Toys-R-Us, and used it to her advantage.

When speaking about her almost-instant success in getting a response to her posted resume, Lisa said, “Unexpected? Maybe, but I was not unprepared, thanks to the course and all of [my instructors]. It was a great experience. Thank all of you for the confidence to change my life’s career!”

Are you a day and a click away from employment?

Sixty-year old student takes challenge seriously

Up with the roosters, out with the owls, Medical Assistant student, Desiree Bacchus, works twelve hour night shifts at Downstate Hospital in the ICU as a cardiac telemetry technician (EKG Associate), goes home and takes a brief nap, and then arrives on time at the Brooklyn campus of Allen School to her Medical Assistant training. Working and going to school has never been a problem for this former policewoman from Guyana, a ballistics expert who specialized in handwriting analysis, fingerprinting, and lab technology in the criminal investigation department in Georgetown. While working as a policewoman, Desiree attended night classes at the university in Guyana for four years and became a lawyer. She practiced criminal law from 1982 until 1986, working in the office of the director of public prosecutions. Then came the opportunity to come to the USA. Upon arrival in America, Desiree found that her desire to go back to law school to become a criminologist, so that she could return to Guyana as the country’s first, was not to be an option, due to financial constraints. Desiree, not one to be easily deterred, embarked upon a different path, one that would lead her into the medical field.