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Evaluate switching cost, options
before career retraining

By Roni F. Noland, Globe Correspondent, 4/13/03

Need advice about managing your career or your workplace? The Job Doc can help. Our specialists can answer your questions on topics ranging from career transitions to management issues. E-mail queries to jobdoc@globe.com, or send letters to Job Doc, c/o the Boston Globe, P.O. Box 2378, MA 02107-2378. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

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I am a programmer/analyst who was laid off in August after 19 years. The tech field is devastated so I am looking to change careers. I am interested in becoming an X-ray technician. What I have researched is most companies want a two- to four-year degree in biology/electronics. I wouldn't mind going back to school. However, I couldn't manage it for two years. Every month out of work would cost $2,000 just to pay expenses plus whatever the courses cost. I am hoping that you may know of a 3-6 month course or entry-level on the job training.

Unfortunately, you have plenty of company as a highly skilled and experienced but unemployed information technology professional. Retraining and career change is, of course, always an option. However, I encourage you first to broaden your job search as one way of riding out this dismal economy. Look at in-house IT departments in financial institutions, hospitals, universities, law firms, and nonprofits, rather than continuing to target only the ever dwindling high-tech sector. The jobs will not be as cutting edge, lucrative, or perhaps challenging, but you will be staying in the field, and perhaps will be positioned well should the economic picture change for the better. Continue to take relevant professional development courses, so that your skills remain up to date.

Before going to what you have determined is the expensive route of retraining, make certain that the new career you are contemplating is truly one:

• you would enjoy doing.
• a good fit for your work style, your skill set, and your personality.
• and a field where you will find jobs.

X-ray techs, or radiologic technologists and technicians, are in high demand. Radiologic technologists and technicians take X-rays and administer nonradioactive materials to patients for diagnostic screenings. Formal training programs range in length from one to four years, depending on prior experience and training and degree granted. The shorter, one-year certificate programs are open to individuals with some healthcare background. A two-year associate's degree is the ''gold standard'' of training for this profession. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2002-03 Edition, (Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor), a bachelor's or master's degree is desirable for supervisory, administrative or teaching positions.

There are a number of accredited training programs in radiography in Massachusetts, ranging from 21 months to 36 months, with the average length of study, just under two years, at 22 months. These community colleges, Bunker Hill, Holyoke, Massachusetts Bay, Massasoit, Middlesex, Northern Essex (Lawrence campus), North Shore and Quinsigamond Community Colleges, all offer accredited radiography training programs. Check out the program nearest you. Faculty and staff at the schools will be more available to talk with you about your retraining and career change options than busy hospital personnel; don't forget, the schools want your tuition. Make appointments with relevant college personnel and ask all of your important questions.

I'm not sure that I understand the figures that you quoted in your question; you are currently unemployed, so loss of income is potential income, not real income. As part of the career change exploration, you may want to sit down with a financial planner, and run some numbers again, to see if retraining will pay off for you in the long term. According to the occupational handbook, in 2000, the average starting salary for radiologic technologists was $36,000. Half are employed by hospitals; the remaining half in other healthcare settings, such as private offices and clinics, or as sales representatives or instructors with equipment manufacturers. Specialties include nuclear medicine, CT scanning, angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

For additional career information, visit the website of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, www.asrt.org.

Job hunting beyond websites

I have just been laid off from an area HMO, and am now job searching. My background is entirely in healthcare, more specifically, 11 years in medical records. I am a registered health information technician (RHIT) with a strong background in health insurance. I have been trying to look into Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Massachusetts, in Quincy, but every time I go to their website, there is absolutely nothing listed in my field. I just thought I would ask you if you have any suggestions about how I could go about finding out what they really have available. Do companies put all their job listings on their website?

The reason that you are finding ''absolutely nothing'' in your field on the Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Massachusetts website is simple: the company does not have positions for registered health information technicians. Although it would seem logical that it would hire registered health information technicians to work ''from the other side'' to verify hospital and physician codes, that is not the case. According to Susan Leahy, director of media relations at Blue Cross in Quincy, all health information work is done by computer.

You may wish to check their website for ''case registrar'' positions. Case registrars work in a busy high-volume call center, handling up to 100 calls from patients daily seeking detailed information about their care. While your background in medical terminology would be relevant for this position, you would also need medical call center experience. Tracey Zysk, who is in charge of hiring case registrars, can be reached at 617-246-3229.

In general a company's website is only as complete and up to date as the maintenance that supports it. In addition, with the explosion of online job websites, some companies are increasingly relying on these mega-websites to meet their online recruiting needs.

I strongly recommend that job seekers regularly check:

• one or two of the large job websites.
• the company websites of specific organizations they are targeting.
• one or two sites sponsored by a professional organization in their field, in your case, the, online Job Bank hosted by the Massachusetts chapter of the American Health Information Management Association, which you can access at www.mahima.org/jobbank.

In addition to checking the websites as outlined above, you may wish to register with agencies or headhunters who specialize in matching candidates to jobs in your field. Allied Health Source receives job listings for permanent positions in your field in hospitals and large physician groups in Greater Boston. Call Tobi Gold at 800-562-0447, or visit their website at www.alliedhealthsource.com. Kforce lists interim positions in various healthcare fields, including HMIA. Their website, www.kforce.com, includes a geographic index to jobs, or you can call them at 888-663-3626.

However, no job candidate should ever rely solely on sitting at his or her computer as the only - or even the most effective - means of finding a job.

Repeatedly, research has proven networking to be the most effective way to find a job, across career fields. I am certain that after 11 years as a registered health information technician you have developed relationships with other people in your field. Networking is at heart nothing more than cultivating those relationships and using them to obtain advice and information that will aid your job search.

Taking a multifaceted approach to the job search - responding to ads both online and in print; registering with employment agencies or contacting appropriate headhunters; and actively networking - multiplies your chances of achieving a successful outcome.

Laws governing working overseas

I am a final year student at the University of the West of England, Bristol in the United Kingdom. I am currently studying sociology and social policy and would like to work overseas in the public sector, e.g. probation work. Do you have any advice on the direction I should take?

In order to answer your question correctly, I consulted with Boston immigration attorney, Gerald C. Rovner, a past chair of the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. According to Rovner, as a citizen of the United Kingdom, you are entitled to visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program for up to 90 days. If you take advantage of this program, that might be a good time for you to test the job market here for someone with your educational background. The challenge for you would be to find an employer who would be willing to ''sponsor'' you, and prove that they were unable to find a US citizen with your particular qualifications to fill a vacancy. Given the depressed job market here, it is not likely that you will be able to identify an agency willing to sponsor a foreign national to work in the probation department of the criminal justice system. Criminal justice happens to be one of those areas of study that has become increasingly popular in American universities in recent years. While on a tourist visit, you would not, of course, be allowed to work in the United States.

An alternative to seeking paid employment would be to consider applying for a trainee visa. With a maximum period of stay set at 18 months, a trainee visa requires that you have secured a formal course of instruction for your time in the United States. Of course, during those 18 months, any incidental ''hands-on'' experience that you acquired, would be allowable. This option allows you to apply the training that you receive in the United States back in the United Kingdom, and does not take a job away from a US worker. Apply early for this type of visa if you are interested, as, according to Rovner, it takes about six months to obtain approval.

Roni F. Noland is a career counselor and coach in private practice with over 20 years of experience. She can be reached at RoniNoland@attbi.com.

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