No Surprise – Healthcare Industry Among Top Recession-Proof Fields

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Number OneWe continue to be un-surprised by report after report confirming what Allen School Online students already know – that jobs serving the healthcare fields are never in short supply.  This is probably one of the main determinants that factored into your decision to pursue an Allen School Online diploma.  True to form, the latest report, courtesy of Time.com confirms that indeed, healthcare industry jobs top the list of safest, most recession-proof jobs.

Best Job Markets in the US: Part Deux – NJ’s Monmouth-Ocean Counties

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Today, let’s examine the career environment in the Monmouth and Ocean Counties of New Jersey. These two coastal counties just south of New York City are home to many of the famed New Jersey Shore communities. Offering summertime visitors and residents alike sun, surf and proximity to the cultural and economic powerhouse that is New York City, Monmouth and Ocean Counties also rank very high in terms of their career potentials for those seeking employment in healthcare related industries. Monmouth-Ocean is among the top 25 “medium sized” cities for jobs and business in the US and ranks 57th out of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas. The Department of Human Services has significant resources in this area and provides services in a number of relevant areas such as aging, mental health, addictions and others. No less than 3 of the top 10 source industries in Monmouth-Ocean are in healthcare related fields. And there are plenty of large organizations to support solid job growth in this field including:
  • Southern Ocean County Hospital
  • St. Barnabas Healthcare System
  • CentraState Healthcare System
  • Monmouth Medical Center
  • Bayshore Community Health Center
Besides strong opportunities for stable employment, this area also boasts great quality of life. Strong green community development initiatives and the spectacular natural beauty of famous shorepoints like Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island and Springsteen’s favorite, Asbury Park, make this coastal area a wonderful place to be during work hours and during play time too! As a young man, I spent many summers traveling to the New Jersey Shore. Etched into my memory are the sounds and smells of the beach boardwalk commingling salt air, coconut oil, sausage & pepper heroes, corn on the cob and salt water taffy. Add to these intoxicating aromas the delighted squeals of rollercoaster riding kids, the perpetual throb of the surf and the cries of maritime birds. The relaxing vibe of the sleepy coastal towns always helped tranquilize me and wash away the stresses of life. How great would it be to live and work in such a attractive and prosperous environment? For more detailed info on Monmouth-Ocean demographics and job data, visit: http://hubpages.com/hub/Monmouth-Ocean-NJ

Great Data from BLS on Medical Billing and Coding Employment

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The website, medicalbillingandcoding.org is chock full of tools and data you can use to learn more about the employment environment for your chosen career field. And I have to say, the data looks pretty good. The salary figures, the projected growth of the industry, and other related statistics all point to a positive environment for jobs in medical billing and coding.  Stop by their site and see for yourself, and be sure to check out our programs at the Allen School of Health Sciences.

Top Job Locations for 2012 – Hope You Like the Desert

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Forbes magazine is out with its list of top states for job growth in 2012.  Four of the top 5 on the Forbes list of 10 are desert states.  Texas, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico are numbers one through four.  Before you pull up stakes though, pack your freshly minted Allen School Online medical billing and coding certificate and head West, consider this important caveat.  All the states on Forbes’ list are so-called “right to work” states.  These are states that have instituted laws making it more difficult for unions to organize.  As a result, lots of large companies, particularly manufacturers, have made the move into these states to take advantage of lower wage standards in the absence of collective bargaining.  This may explain the jump in available positions and new hiring in these states.  While medical billing and coding jobs are generally not candidates for unionized workforces (except maybe in large healthcare organizations), it is worth noting that workers  “right to work” states generally suffer lower overall earning power than their counterparts in other states.   So unless you’re super fond of painted desert landscapes, native American artwork and motifs or warm winter months, you may be better off staying coastal.  After all both Oregon and Georgia made the list too!

Top 10 Cities for Medical Billing/Coding Careers

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Medical Billing and Coding, Vallejo, CAThe AllHealthCare section of Monster.com compiled a list of the top 10 best cities for people pursuing careers in medical assistant/billing/coding.   The list goes into a bit of detail for each city explaining why it made the list.  Of course, the most prominent contributing factor is the average pay for workers in the field.  But there are many other reasons to live in all of the cities listed.  Here are the top five and the average annual salary figures for each. CITY                             AVG. PAY 1)  Vallejo, CA                 $45,000 2)  Danbury, CT              $37,000 3)  San Francisco, CA   $37,000 4)  Salinas, CA                 $35,000 5)  Oakland, CA               $34,500 The rest of the list and more detailed information on the above cities can be viewed here.

New Jobs Numbers – Mixed (But Good For Medical Field)

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In April, the U.S. economy added 244,000 jobs — the third straight month to see an average of over 200,000 new positions created, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  However, despite the growth in employment, there is real concern that the jobs being added to the economy are not the high-wage, “quality” jobs lost over the course of the brutal recession. That’s bad news if you’re a manufacturing factory worker or a homebuilder as those fields don’t show the resiliency reflected in the latest employment figures.  If you’re in the following career fields, professional and business services, health care and leisure and hospitality, the news is good.  Those fields were called out specifically by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as areas where job and wage growth shows continued strength.  Now’s a good time to be studying for a career in medical billing and coding.  Don’t you feel smart?

Encore Careers

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In an article by Chris Kyle for Yahoo! Education, medical assistant and medical manager are two of the five top “encore” careers.  That is, fields for people wishing to retrain and re-enter the workforce, perhaps after losing a job in an industry hard hit by the recession.  The relative safety and immunity from economic downturn enjoyed by the medical field played a large part in vaulting these two jobs to the top of this particular list.  Click here to read all the details!

Medical Support Jobs Up 20%

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Ready for some positive job news?  Especially for people studying what you’re studying?  Popular online jobs portal  Monster.com compiles an employment index.  They report that in the last 13 months, job postings in the medical support fields are up 20%.  That’s right!  Now, the overall employment outlook remains difficult so don’t go out on a spree just yet.  But it is looking better for medical support fields than many other fields right now and that’s cause for celebration.  From the Monster.com article:
“Fast Fact: A quick search of Monster shows 557 job postings for medical assistants. The Department of Labor sees a 34 percent jump in medical assisting opportunities from 2008-2018.”

States With the Lowest Unemployment

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The Business Insider released an article this week listing the top ten states with the lowest unemployment rates.  The lucky top 10 are: 1) North Dakota 2) South Dakota 3) Nebraska 4) New Hampshire 5) Vermont 6) Hawaii 7) Kansas 8) Wyoming 9) Minnesota 10) Iowa The article included information on the particular industries in each of these states that contributed to its position among the states with the lowest unemployment.  And although medical industry was not featured as a key driver of employment in any of these states, there’s no getting around the fact that wherever there are people, there will always be demand for medical services.  So if you’re setting out, new certificate in hand, looking for a new place to start your life and career, think about some of these places where the good employment outlook surely means the local economies are vibrant.

Five Online Job Hunting Mistakes

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Most of our reporting on how to succeed in the job hunt has focused on resume writing and interview skills/practices.  However, as many of you online students are all too aware, there is a lot of job hunting that goes on over the Internet.  Wouldn’t ya know it, there are etiquette mistakes to be made in the online job hunt just as sure as there are in the real world.  Here’s a link to a great article about how to avoid common online job hunting gaffes, SNAFUs and faux pas.