cna or phlebotomy & ekg training?

[D.]

I worked as a cna years ago I know there are always jobs in that field and I took a medical assisting course but never found a job in that field so I was wondering if I go back just for the certificate in phlebotomy & ekg or the cna which would be better or should I just get a cdl ?

[Steve N]

CDL as in Commercial Drivers License? Seems like a very opposite career from the medical professional. Only you could make that call. Pick the career you'll enjoy. Money is crap if you wake up every morning hating life because of the job you have to go to.

[Monique]

I think that finding jobs is tougher because more folks have credentials (i.e. degrees, certifications) than ever before.....thus this makes the job market more competitive. I have found that by far the key component in getting our feet in the door is networking. If you are still interested in being a MA, I would encourage you to update your resume, and to consider stretching out your job radius in your search. If possible, try and establish some connections with people in the health care field. One way to do this is by going to health care conferences. If you have a University based health care system in your area, check out their continuing education section on their website as some of these systems have annual health care related workshops or conferences. You may also want to consider making professional cards with your contact information, certification, and interests so you can give this out. Another tool that I think is a great way to network is using Twitter. There are health care professionals who use Twitter professionally, and you also get a lot of great information as well. There are also job related things you can follow on Twitter, to include some that post job announcements. I will admit personally I wasn't using Twitter until several months ago when I was encouraged to use it, especially professionally.

Like Steve N said, CDL is pretty opposite in a career, and if you don't enjoy what you do....then life satisfaction just won't be there.

Even if you get your CDL, that doesn't mean you won't find challenges in finding a job with that field either.

I feel that we just have to be open to relocation in this day and time in finding a job. After I graduated with my Bachelor's degree, I had to move several hours away to a new city (had never been) for a job. It can be scary for some to think about uprooting him/herself or family to move....but as the saying goes sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do.

Ultimately as Steve N said you need to pick the career you'll enjoy. (P.S. Meant to give him a thumbs up, but wasn't paying attention and hit the thumbs down! I wish yahoo would update this so if you make a mistake you could update the rating!)

Doing job searches is also a great way of checking out the job availability in your geographic location. You could search health care websites (i.e. hospitals, etc) as some hospitals also have clinic jobs on their career website. You can also use online job searches, like Indeed http://www.indeed.com