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For other articles and previous issues click here. February 9, 2004 Managing
Your Career: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Wonderland In Lewis Carroll’s tale of Alice in Wonderland, there is a conversation that could describe a misguided career path. Alice is having a discussion with the Cheshire Cat, asking which way she should go. “That depends a great deal on where you want to get to,” says the cat. “I don’t care much where—,”explains Alice. The cat interrupts, “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” Alice continues, “So as long as I get somewhere.” “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” says the cat, “if you only walk long enough.” Taking job after job without a plan will help most professionals end up somewhere, maybe with a high salary or even a big title, but they may still lack career satisfaction. While not all career opportunities can be planned, success and satisfaction generally come to those who have invested the time to prepare and seriously think about a career path. In that vein, here are some points to consider at the different stages of an HIM career. The Early Years In addition to building expertise, the early years provide an opportunity to network and become involved in professional associations. Individuals with less work experience may use the time to plan conferences and work on committees as a way to build new skills in a lower-risk environment than at work. In addition to the American Health Information Management Association and state associations, there are also professional organizations for individuals who decide to specialize. The American Academy of Professional Coders and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society are among the other professional organizations with ties to health information professionals who specialize. In urban areas, professionals may gain a variety of HIM experiences within one health network without changing employers. They may have a chance to work in a hospital setting, home health, and a physician office setting or clinic with the same employer, and then decide where they fit best. Long-term care facilities, prisons, insurance companies, and outpatient clinics are other career choices. In more rural areas, some job-hopping might be necessary to find an environment that feels comfortable. After a few years of successfully building expertise
and a good reputation, there are several questions that health information
professionals should ask themselves, such as the following: Answering these questions can help fledgling professionals create opportunities based on the amount of time and money they want to invest in career development and where their career fits with personal priorities. There are no right or wrong answers, but individuals have to be honest when making an assessment. The top priorities in career management during the first five to six years are building technical expertise, developing interpersonal skills, and earning a reputation for being reliable. Accomplish those and any number of job possibilities could become available. If an HIM professional is interested in informatics, has the flexibility to relocate, and would be agreeable to traveling around the country, he or she could shoot for a master’s degree in informatics. This career path could lead him or her to work for a vendor, perhaps as a consultant or in a large teaching hospital. Other HIM professionals who prefer to avoid the grind of a daily commute may crave an environment in which they manage others. These individuals may find a clinic or physician group practice near their home and be in charge of coordinating all HIM activity and managing the office. The aforementioned career paths may be quite different, but both are based on what is important to the individual. Both positions may involve a trade-off—perhaps the additional income of a consulting career in informatics is not worth it if a person does not travel well and prefers to spend nights at home. After years of commuting to a midlevel supervisory role at a nationally known hospital, a health information professional may decide to commute 10 minutes to a physician group practice and assume a lead office role. Both options require an adjustment, but the choice is the individual’s. The Midcareer Years No further studies have followed up to see if Reich’s assumption was correct, but most of an adult’s career is spent in this midcareer phase. The education, expertise, and reputation factors have steadily grown for five, six, or eight years until the health information professional has become the “go-to” person in his or her professional community. How long people spend in the midcareer phase depends on how much work experience they had when they entered the profession. Perhaps they spent many years in another field and plan to work 10 or 15 years in HIM prior to retirement. Others may spend the bulk of their career—20 or 30 years—in this phase. Every few years, professionals need to reassess priorities, motivators, and goals by asking themselves questions posed earlier in their careers. Situations, people, and often job environments change with new ownership, leadership, or technology. During the midcareer phase, some individuals experience burnout, question their career choice, and fantasize about the “perfect” job. While most people will work through a sluggish career period, others may require a change of employer, job, or career focus. The midcareer phase may offer an opportunity to go back to school and reenergize by meeting new people and learning new skills. HIM professionals who find themselves questioning, “Is this all there is?” shouldn’t feel alone. A cottage industry of career coaches, seminar series, self-assessment tests, and self-help books has evolved from professionals feeling discontent in the midcareer phase. For individuals who are content with their work, the midcareer era may be a time of major accomplishments. There are opportunities to move from merely participating in professional committees to assuming leadership positions in these organizations on a local, state, or national level. Many professionals in the middle of their careers enhance their credibility by writing for professional journals and speaking at conferences and workshops. Others become entrepreneurs within the HIM field, offering services or products that they believe will add value for their clients. During this stage of their careers, many become mentors or educators for up-and-coming HIM professionals by volunteering to work with local professional associations or their alma maters. Their experiences and expertise help continue the growth of the profession while the teaching work provides a fresh perspective. Late-Career Phase According to Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers and Nexters in Your Workplace by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, and Bob Filipczak, there are members of four distinct generations working side by side. The authors describe the 52 million workers born between 1922 and 1943 as veterans. The 73.2 million baby boomers were born between 1943 and 1960. There are 70.1 million Xers born between 1960 and 1980. The newest additions to the workforce are 69.7 million nexters, born between 1980 and 2000. The multigenerational workforce presents unique challenges to management. Age bias complaints with Equal Employment Opportunity increased 41% between 1999 and 2002, making it the fastest-growing category of discrimination charges. Veteran HIM professionals should ensure that their skills, experience, and performance stay commensurate with the requirements of the job that they are performing, just as they did in the midcareer phase to provide themselves the widest range of job choices. The late-career phase can offer challenging opportunities and meet personal priorities that may have changed substantially over time. Career opportunities during this stage include many of the options of the midcareer phase. Experienced HIM professionals may work for a vendor, become an educator, take on a staff role in a professional organization, or move into a new position such as privacy officer or COO. Some professionals in the late-career stage choose to work but cut their hours or negotiate to work from home. For many HIM professionals, the late-career stage provides a time to combine their vast skills and experience to redefine the role of work in their lives. Life, career, and executive coaches are growing in number to help professionals think through the maze of options available to them. Careers are highly individual. While one HIM professional may experience “career envy” when a colleague talks about a great new job, there may be nonnegotiable elements of the position that oppose personal priorities. Unlike Alice, who experienced Wonderland without clear direction, HIM professionals who are happy with their careers generally have invested the time necessary to choose the path to success. — Brenda L. Johnson, SPHR, is an Indianapolis-based writer, consultant, and public speaker. She can be reached through www.4innovations.com. — Valerie R. Davis, RHIA, is the director of health information and records at Provident Hospital of Cook County, Ill. Additional Career Management
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