In an earlier post, I referenced having a credibility kit, which is a notebook that contains information vital to setting yourself apart from other candidates vying for the same medical transcription job. Get yourself a notebook and divide it into the following sections:

1) Resume

2) Letters of Recommendation

3) Employee Evaluations

4) Samples of Work

5) List of Accomplishments at Each Job

6) Course Completion Certificates

7) Outside Activities

Resumes:

I discussed resumes in an earlier post, so please refer to that section. Have several copies of your current resume in the notebook. This comes in handy at the interview in case more than one person is interviewing you, or if your resume has been lost or misplaced.

Letters of Recommendation:

Each time you leave a job, you should get a letter of recommendation. This establishes your value to each past employer. These carry a lot of weight in my opinion. Not all prospective employers want to see them, but have them available nonetheless. I am more than happy to give them to a prospective employer so copies can be made.

Employee Evaluations:

Once again, these establish your value to past employers and your current employer. Having copies of evaluations, as well as letters of recommendation, show that you are being transparent. You have nothing to hide because you are a good catch as an employee. You want to make it easy for someone to realize your value and how much you can contribute to the company.

Samples of Work:

In all cases, when including sample reports of your work (medical reports), the names of patients must be deleted. I sanitize the reports, changing the name to John Doe or Jane Doe. I also change the name of the employer to ABC Company.

I have had so much fun on interviews simply because I brought samples of my work. I used to transcribe for an orthopedic surgeon who dictated convoluted sentences. In fact, prior to being hired as his medical transcriptionist, I was told the company was specifically looking for someone who could compose his dictation which would otherwise get him “laughed out of court.” This job was right up my alley, and I took full advantage of the situation.

In my credibility kit, I typed the doctor’s dictation verbatim, and then typed it as I composed it underneath so future prospects could see how well I could edit without changing the content and meaning of the dictation.

For example, the doctor once dictated: “In the incident of August 2, 1999, in which the patient struck his body with a forklift, he was thrown to the ground and found to be injured in the low back.

(Can you imagine a man taking a forklift and striking his body with it? Bam! Bam! Bam!)

I typed: On August 2, 1999, the patient was struck by a forklift. Consequently, he was thrown to the ground and sustained a low back injury.

On interviews, I give a copy of this work to the interviewer in case any other medical transcriptionists want to see it (for a good laugh and to see the quality of my work). Again, remember I am establishing credibility with all the information I present. In essence, I am trying to get them to see that I am THE one they want.

I put one of each report type in my notebook. Since I have typed for several doctors, I have had to weed it out every few years. I include the most complicated and interesting reports. I have also reviewed medical records, so I include a medical records review report in my credibility kit. (If you don’t know what I mean by a medical records review report, I’ll talk about that in an upcoming post.)

List of Accomplishments at Each Job:

Employers like to see if employees will go above and beyond what is expected. I never fail to let them know that I am such a person by listing my business achievements and the benefit derived from them.

1) Created a WordPerfect 5.1 macro menu-driven sytem which is used to take patient histories in a medical office, thereby increasing the efficiency of the process and quality of the work.

2) Designed a Q&A database which was used for marketing purposes and to generate more goodwill.

3) Expedited daily operations for both historians and transcriptionists by creating 100+ WordPerfect macros.

4) Trained historians and medical transcriptionists in the use of WordPerfect functions and the creation of WordPerfect macros.

5) Organized and standardized computer procedures. Implemented back-up and disaster recovery protocols.

Employers love to save money and time! I let them know that I can do precisely that for them.

Course Completion Certificates:

Self-explanatory.

Outside Activities:

I have indicated that I used to be a member of the OC-AAMT. In my credibility kit, I include a copy of the Membership Directory that I created for the OC-AAMT, a copy of the Q&A database that I created to keep track of those who did pay their annual dues, and that I held a board position (Corresponding Secretary) in the 1990s.