Employment Advice Straight from Area Employers

Moraine Park’s Medical Office and Medical Assistant Programs held an employment event for upcoming graduates and alumni on the Beaver Dam campus on May 3, 2017. Area employers from Froedtert, Aurora, Agnesian, Beaver Dam Community Hospital, UW and SSM Dean all provided advice on a panel to prospective Medical Assistant and Medical Office Specialist candidates.

Here are some Awesome Tips offered from the panel presenters:

Résumé Advice

For Medical Assistant and Medical Office positions, highlight your customer service and communication skills, being patient centered, strong attention to detail, soft skills, and transferable skills on your résumé. Be sure your Education is towards the top of your résumé and your Clinical/Practicum experience is included. In addition, highlight any volunteer work that you may have done.

Practicum/Clinical Experience Advice

• Practicum/clinical experience really matters! Your practicum/clinical is like your first interview. Treat your practicum/clinical like an interview every day! If you do well, they will try to find a spot for you!
• Stay active every day on your practicum/clinical. Always ask what else you can do to help.
• Look like you want to be there, every day!

Phone Interview Advice

• Treat your phone interview like a real interview.
• Research the company prior to the interview and know the job you are interviewing for.
• Use your resources but do not read from a script.
• Don’t chew gum or smoke during the phone interview!
• Do not act like they woke you up, even if the phone interview is early in the morning.
• Arrange a quite location for the interview and eliminate all distractions (dogs barking, kids, loud noises, etc.)  Please Note – Do not use a restroom for your phone interview…the background echoes and they can hear it!
• Be sure to answer your phone when they call you at your scheduled time!
• Don’t drive during the phone interview.
• Turn off all notifications on your cell phone before the phone interview. Note: Employers can hear the notifications during the call.

Other Interview and Job Search Advice

• Act and dress professionally for the interview.
• Treat everyone in the company like they are interviewing you! How you treat everyone throughout the organization matters!
• Provide concise interview responses and try not to ramble. Be sure to answer each question you are asked.
• Bring your passion to the interview! Make it about the patients!
• If you are nervous, take a breath before responding!
• Be prepared to answer behavioral-based interview questions. Be ready to share examples of how you demonstrated customer service and how you handled a disagreement with a co-worker.
• Use a professional email on your application and résumé. Use a professional greeting on your voice mail. Be sure you check your email regularly for messages from the prospective employer.
• Make sure your voice mail is set up and that your mail box is not full.

Moraine Park Careers Instructors are available to assist you with interviewing, as well as other job seeking assistance (résumés, cover letters, and applications).  They can even help you secure a quiet spot on campus to do a phone interview. Career Center class schedules are available at: www.morainepark.edu/careers

Moraine Park Careers Instructors
Rhonda Roehrig (Fond du Lac Campus) –920-924-3244 | rroehrig2@morainepark.edu
Kim Braatz (Beaver Dam Campus) – 920-887-4437 | kbraatz1@morainepark.edu
Lisa Ferguson (West Bend Campus) – 262-335-5773 | lferguson@morainepark.edu