Clinical Applications Trainer
Greetings,
I have been interviewing for a role at Sidra as a Cerner EHR or other clinical applications trainer. I have an associate’s degree with an additional 70 credits of HIT certification courses (EMR support and workflow redesign) taken at a state college here in the states. I have 8 years of IT support 5 years of medical HIT support and training. I also have a track record of excellence in medical sales and customer service. I am currently the marketing director for a notional transcription company and have experience working with over 10 different EMR platforms on integrations and user training. I also have experience working as an individual and part of a team on project management, implementations, server migrations etc in a medical environment. Most importantly I have an enthusiastic and winning personality and people skills that have helped me immensely when training clinicians and other end users.
I would like to join you all in Qatar, but I am unsure about salary expectations. A friend of mine got a job as a Credentialed Epic Trainer in San Francisco and he is making well over $150,000 USD per year here in the US. I have to make an offer for this job which is a Cerner Trainer and I am unsure of how to proceed as far as a starting number.
If I would be moving my life over to the UEA, I would want to be compensated more than I would in the US for giving up certain freedoms and ways of life and leaving friends and family behind.
I am thinking of listing 50k QAR a month for my minimum offer which would be nearly 165k USD per year.
Your thoughts?
Thank you for your time.
Lyle, a big difference in Qatar is getting the Ministry of Labour to issue a working or business visa. Sidra would need to justify employing you ahead of a local resource or a less expensive resource and the easiest way is to show that the candidate has degree and/or advanced post graduate qualifications from a reputable institution.
I don't doubt you would be an addition to the Sidra team, but sometimes that isn't what matters.
WRT salary. I hear that Sidra need to recruit some 4000 people...I am sure their HR has defined roles and pay grades and would have little ability to move from the pay levels, so what they offer you may be well and truly fixed.
Anyway, good luck with your job hunting...
Well I am hoping that the other year of specialized training I completed at another college in the US will be taken into account. It was a full time program and added up to 70 credits which would have added up to my bachelor degree but that specialized program was not offered at a 4 year university in my area. So unfortunately my education adds up to two associates degrees; however I remain confident that I would make great addition to the team. I wish I could check that box that says I have a bachelor’s degree as I feel like I possess the equivalent. But alas technically I do not have a BA. I will keep you posted on the outcome!
I'm sure that's all true. But in Qatar, it's hard to assess someone's skills from afar so the degree becomes a way of determining proficiency. And they are pretty insistent that the degree be recognized and attested. In my brief research I noticed that Cerna trainers in the US were being paid differently according to degree as well. Some positions required a bachelors degree and paid more. But all that is irrelevant, what matter is what Sidra says.
Mandi
I am aware that I would not be paid the same as someone with a master’s degree. As far as finding it hard to justify hiring someone without relevant bachelors, especially in the clinical applications field I would have to respectfully disagree. Of course having an MIS or HIM bachelor degree would help my cause, at the same time there are many people with those degrees who do not possess a quarter of the knowledge and skills that someone with a specialized associates degree/certifications and 5+ years of experience in the field.
I know it to be true (at least here in the states) that some employers would rather have someone with a specialized degree and more experience than someone with less experience and a higher degree. There are also many things that that come along with putting in years in the field that cannot be taught in a classroom.
One brief article I found here(1)made these points:
“Many executives said job applicants aren't required to have a bachelor's degree, since technology changes a lot over four years. Instead, some suggested offering technical skills in two-year degrees -- or in even shorter classes or certificate courses. Executives at some larger companies said they don't necessarily want the focus to be on tech skills that they can outsource to other countries. "Technical will always be there. In fact, it's easier to teach the technical skills," said Tim Dokken with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. "It's much more difficult to train the soft skills and how to get people to influence, collaborate, work together." Those companies prefer well-rounded people. They say many tech workers have liberal arts backgrounds and shifted into technology .”
I will take your advice and drop by offer down a bit! Thanks!
(1)http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/04/30/mnscu-surveys-employers-about-needed-job-skills/
Well, no, I didn't say that a master's degree was required. But what I will say is that someone with an associate's degree is unlikely to be paid more than someone with a masters unless that person has a skill or qualification that no one else has. Looking around I think there are quite a few Cerna trainers.
Mandi
I think you are dreaming...50k per month is more like the director level. You would be more likely to get approx 35k per month + generous housing allowance...No Cerner experience is a deficet and Mandilular is correct in saying that Sidra are looking for masters degrees any sort of managerial role.
I read QF earlier demanding people with no less than a master degree from Harvard for certain positions in their strategy team.
Generally, it's very difficult to justify hiring a person without a relevant bachelor's degree (not to mention on 50K salary). Have no clue about clinical applications field though.
Sounds good! Yes, Sidra will be a fun place to get started. Qatar requires certain degree certification for certain professions - equivalencies don't count - but I'm sure your interviewers know that. I would say don't go too overboard with your salary demand, as I mentioned, they know what you are making now. QF doesn't respond terribly well to being "high-balled." They believe, rightly or wrongly, that there are a lot of potential candidates for each job. But do make sure you include all your benefits as part of your negotiation. And that you are making comfortably over what you make in the US. It's a long way home if one of your parents gets sick! And Doha is hellaciously expensive. That's why you want to get all your living expenses covered outside your salary. Don't forget, you will still owe taxes on part of your salary. You can ask them to "gross up" your salary in over to cover these. And yes, QF does this in some cases.
Mandi
Did you mean the UAE??? We're in Qatar, not Dubai or Abu Dhabi. OK, that aside, a reasonable offer is your salary in the US plus 25% plus housing, transportation, schooling, medical. And yes, they know what you are making in the US, probably to the penny! I'm wondering if you can even get a professional job here without a bachelor's degree. There are some government rules about that. And the IT field is simply stuffed with people from Asia with lots of experience and a willingness to work for seemingly little. But hey, good luck! If you are truly a one-of-a-kind, you can negotiate.
Mandi
Thanks for the reply. Yes I meant UAE and my education may not be a traditional BA but I would say it is an equivalent or better, I also have Cisco training. I know I would be a great addition to any implementation team and have gotten a good response to my resume. I have some prestigious references and interview really well. Let’s hope for another interview after I submit my offer because I would love to be a part of this implementation and state of the art facility!