After I got laid off at MHC, I took some time to just . . . do nothing. My severance package and PTO cash out was pretty generous, so I wasn't in a super big hurry to find something new. I decompressed and got some cleaning and organizing done around the house, I went to the gym, I played Overwatch. And then I filed for unemployment in AZ, which was denied because my wages were reported in WA (that was a whole dumb thing), and that got approved. And then I edited my resume (after not touching it in like 7 years) and added MHC to it. And then, finally, I decided it was time to start looking for a new job. (I honestly don't know why/how I was so calm about it, but I really was . . . My gut feeling was that it wouldn't take me too long to find something).
Anyway, I've been active in AAPC since I moved up here (I'm actually chapter secretary at the moment, for the second year in a row), and one of the things we ask is for members to let the group know about job openings. And as I was getting ready to start my job search, I remembered that another AAPC member had been announcing a coding job for quite awhile, working in the physician's practice area of a local hospital. It's really weird because the very first time she announced it, I thought it sounded really interesting, and for a minute I wondered if it was time for a change. But I decided against it.
Well, the job was still available, and I found it on Indeed and applied. I figured since it had been open so long I had a good chance, even if I wasn't quite as experienced as they wanted. Within like . . . 2 days of applying, they asked for a phone interview, which I did. And then I had to do an in person interview, which took forever to schedule (it's a long story, basically the dept. currently has an interim director who is based in Virginia, at corporate headquarters, and she is only in Olympia like once a month for a few days). My phone interview was January 13th, and my in person interview was on January 21st. The in person interview went SO well. I just had so much confidence going in. I truly don't know where it came from, because I was pretty anxious like . . . until I walked into the building. And then, I don't know what happened, but . . . it was awesome. The interview ended up lasting a little over an hour, and when I left, I just felt like . . . yeah, this one's mine. Very much like how I felt after my MHC interview.
I officially got an offer on January 29th/30th, and on February 4th I went in and did new hire paperwork/drug testing/background check stuff. I didn't get to start until February 17th, because the hospital only has new hires start every 2 weeks, and every new hire has to do a whole day group orientation. There were only 2 other people in my group so that was kind of cool.
So far it's gone really well. After the first day in my department, I was just pumped. I like my job (some A/R, some coding, eventually a lot of auditing/provider education), I love my boss, and my office mate is my AAPC friend who actually announced the job! I'm currently working from home again because of the pandemic and it hasn't been bad, but I do miss the office. The system and processes are very different than at MHC and it's been an adjustment for sure, but in a good way.
AND while I was looking at job listings online, I came across one for a sleep clinic called ISC. Jenny had applied there before because a couple of her coworkers had left ORS for ISC because they pay and benefits were better. She never got a call back the first time. But as all this was going on, things were getting bad at ORS. Like Jenny was basically doing the work of 3 people and hadn't gotten a raise since just after she started, and she was still making minimum wage. The owner of ORS just "doesn't do" cost of living raises--he only believes in merit raises. And she was already doing 3 jobs so . . . what else could she possibly do to go above and beyond? The ISC ad posted when I was looking for work said they were urgently hiring, so I let Jenny know. They called her back really quickly, and she got the job! She actually started at ISC on February 11th. She's SO much happier there and so glad to be done with ORS. Even moreso considering that if she was still at ORS, she'd be the only biller because 2 people have quit, AND the supervisor is on indefinite medical leave.
So we both got new jobs, and we both got raises (Jenny got $3/hour, I got $5/hour). I definitely feel like I was ready for a change, and as much as I loved MHC, maybe getting laid off was a good thing. I feel like I'm finally in a truly adult job, and I like working somewhere local. And with our new combined income . . . I don't really want to say much and jinx it but let's just say homeowner-ship is no longer completely out of the question for us. I mean, it's still going to be awhile, because my hours got cut because of the pandemic, and I have some new fun medical debt, but STILL. Once things get back to normal . . . fingers crossed!
