Students in the daytime Medical Insurance Billing and Office Administration (MIBOA) class in Johnson City, TN recently found themselves feeling unsure of what the job market might hold for them after they complete the program. They asked their instructor if she knew of any program graduates who would be willing to share their experiences since completing the MIBOA program.<\/p>\n
Their instructor regularly stays in contact with her former students so she sent messages to those she knew would be a good fit to speak with the class. Freda Buck, who graduated from the MIBOA program in 2018, was one of the first graduates to respond to the students\u2019 call for help. Freda recently achieved her career goal and had some tips to share with the students to help them achieve theirs.<\/p>\n
During her visit, Freda emphasized the three keys to her success: maintaining realistic expectations, taking initiative, and not giving up on goals.<\/p>\n
Maintain Realistic Expectations<\/strong> Take Initiative<\/strong> Don\u2019t Give Up<\/strong> \u201cSet your goals and work for them. I had the goal of becoming an Office Manager, and I was able to achieve my goal in under a year and a half. Don\u2019t let anybody tell you it can\u2019t be done. I went up against people with Associate\u2019s degrees and Bachelor\u2019s degrees when applying for the Office Manager position, and I didn\u2019t let it stop me,\u201d Freda said.<\/p>\n Freda\u2019s final piece of advice to students was to not doubt themselves. She said, \u201cOnce you\u2019ve made the decision to put yourself out there, don\u2019t second guess yourself. Stick with it and be the best you can be at whatever it is you\u2019re trying to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n\u201cI knew I wanted to be an Office Manager after finishing school, but I knew I wasn\u2019t able to get that position immediately. When people finish school, they enter the job market believing they\u2019re going to get the best job right away. It\u2019s okay to start at the bottom and work your way up. When I was first hired as a referral clerk, I was working part time. I wanted to work full time, but I had to remind myself it\u2019s okay to start out on a temporary basis since I was still new,\u201d said Freda.<\/p>\n
\nFreda became acclimated to her new position quickly and set out to work her way up the office ranks. \u201cI\u2019m an overachiever. As soon as I finished the tasks I needed to do each day, I would go to the Center Manager and ask what else I could be doing around the office, and that was when they had me start working on insurance denials. Once I finished those, I kept asking the Center Manager for more work, and that\u2019s when I started working on insurance billing. Stepping up and taking initiative helped me to stand out as a new employee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAfter four months working part time, Freda was moved to a full-time role. She continued working hard each day toward her goal of becoming an Office Manager, and in May of this year, she was promoted to the role of Center Manager.<\/p>\n