Question about Cerner Corporation

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SCNCY

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I could use a little career help/advice in regards to Cerner. I have a job offer for the velocity analyst position at Cerner, which is like a training/rotational program for the company. Once you go through training, you spend a couple weeks with teams within the company until you find a fit, at which point you join that team. I have the following questions:

What kind of jobs do most of these velocity analyst end up in?
How willing would they be to put my interests in to consideration when rotating me around with various teams?
If you have any, what are your overall opinions about the company.

I am curious about this because when I ask my recruiter these questions, I cannot get a straight answer. They say it is based on business needs at the time, which makes me worried about getting in to a position that I will ultimately not enjoy.

Any help would be appreciated!
 

kirk89gt

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While I cannot speak to the company and most of your questions, as an HR professional, I would encourage you to talk to others that work for Cerner to get a feel for the position. I am assuming you have already interviewed. What was your gut feel of the place? Typically your gut will not steer you wrong. If all else look up Cerner on glassdoor.com. There may be some good insight on the company and the position directly on there. Good luck!
 
Feb 6, 2013
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I could use a little career help/advice in regards to Cerner. I have a job offer for the velocity analyst position at Cerner, which is like a training/rotational program for the company. Once you go through training, you spend a couple weeks with teams within the company until you find a fit, at which point you join that team. I have the following questions:

What kind of jobs do most of these velocity analyst end up in?
How willing would they be to put my interests in to consideration when rotating me around with various teams?
If you have any, what are your overall opinions about the company.

I am curious about this because when I ask my recruiter these questions, I cannot get a straight answer. They say it is based on business needs at the time, which makes me worried about getting in to a position that I will ultimately not enjoy.

Any help would be appreciated!

Think of it as an extended interview process. You will most likely land on one of the teams that you were on during your rotations. From my understanding, it's basically like a draft. Once your rotations are finished, hiring managers raise their hand get you on their team. If more than one manager wants you, then it's a probably a broader discussion of fit vs other candidates. From what I've heard, should have a pretty good sense of which team(s) you will land with before the program is done.

Full disclosure: I don't work at Cerner, but I know several people that do, and a close friend went through a very similar rotation program.
 

brianhos

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What the heck is a velocity analyst? That sounds made up.
 

tzjung

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I worked at Cerner for about 8 years. The velocity rotation is used so that the 'In Training' employee can get a view of several departments within the organization. This gives that person some perspective when they move into their more permanent role. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Good luck! Cerner's a great company in KC and hires TONS of cyclones. In fact..when I was there (last worked there in 2010, ISU had the third most employees by educational background behind only MU and KU.
 

clonehenge

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I have a friend that works for Cerner and loves it. I think even if you initially get put in a position you don't like they're pretty good about letting you move. He moved up very quickly and is now in an executive position.

Cerner is a pretty darn good company to work for...get your foot in the door and then go from there.
 

kcclones

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Worked there for 3 years...great company out of college and looks great on resume to move after a few years. take it
 

Angie

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I have a friend that works for Cerner and loves it. I think even if you initially get put in a position you don't like they're pretty good about letting you move. He moved up very quickly and is now in an executive position.

Cerner is a pretty darn good company to work for...get your foot in the door and then go from there.

Same here, a friend and her husband both work for them in KC and just love it. She has been promoted multiple times, as has he. She just moved to a new location they built that is far closer to her home. I believe they are demanding, but it's a demanding market with competitors like Epic out there.
 

Rabbuk

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Velocity sounds like one of those buzzwords. Like synergy or productivity.
 

SCNCY

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I appreciate the comments and keep them coming!

More to the story, I currently have a job and also have an MBA. The job I am in now i dislike and have been asking my current employer to get in to an area that I want to be in. Really, my decision has to be whether I continue to hold out at my current employer, or move on to a company like Cerner where I can get in to an analysis type job.

The ideal job I want is to be an analysis, whether it is a financial analyst or a business analysis. I want to work with numbers, find areas of improvement, and act on them. Which is, on paper, what the Velocity analyst position says it is. However, they could make it sound better than it really is. What I don't want to happen is end up in a role where I am in pay role operations, human resources, or some other operational type position. I don't mind analyzing the operations/numbers of such areas. I am trying to figure out what the chances/risks are of going to Cerner and ending up as a recruiter for example vs. a role where I am an analyst.
 

Chipper

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Cerner is a great company, with a solid future.

Can't speak for specifics of Velocity Program, but I know several in more senior professional levels. They work hard (look up Neil Patterson's parking lot email) and are on-site frequently but are rewarded for it.

Any of you still in Healthcare IT?
 

Cyclonin

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I appreciate the comments and keep them coming!

More to the story, I currently have a job and also have an MBA. The job I am in now i dislike and have been asking my current employer to get in to an area that I want to be in. Really, my decision has to be whether I continue to hold out at my current employer, or move on to a company like Cerner where I can get in to an analysis type job.

The ideal job I want is to be an analysis, whether it is a financial analyst or a business analysis. I want to work with numbers, find areas of improvement, and act on them. Which is, on paper, what the Velocity analyst position says it is. However, they could make it sound better than it really is. What I don't want to happen is end up in a role where I am in pay role operations, human resources, or some other operational type position. I don't mind analyzing the operations/numbers of such areas. I am trying to figure out what the chances/risks are of going to Cerner and ending up as a recruiter for example vs. a role where I am an analyst.

I think that is the beauty of the rotation program. I went through a similar program at another company right out of school and found something that stuck (I liked the area, they had an opening, boom). With the rotation, I am sure you will get a chance to do something that seems interesting to you, and then you will be able to tell if that is something you are interested in for the long run.

My advice would be to take the position, take full advantage of what the program offers and be vocal about what you would like to do. I know a lot of people go through these programs and take the "I will help wherever it is needed" route, but that doesn't really tell you much about what you want to do.
 

flander1649

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I have a lot of friends that work for or have worked for Cerner most of them them do enjoy it even though you do put in a lot of hours. You do a lot of traveling and work with a lot of young people so it has a very good social aspect to it. Another perk is building up hotel and flight points.
 

tzjung

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Keep in mind that it's only called a 'Velocity Analyst' because its part of the 'Velocity Program' at Cerner. The Velocity program at Cerner is the on-boarding of new employees and it has that name because they 'Speed' you through different departments.

Once the 'Velocity' program is over they will move you to a permanent analyst position on another team.
 

aeroclone

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Others have sort of alluded to it on here, but I have heard many comments in the KC area about very long hours and a sweatshop mentality, at least for a couple years when you are getting in the door. That said, I don't have any close friends that work there, so that is all second hand at best.
 

coolerifyoudid

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My sister worked in HR at Cerner for many years and eventually left to go to Hallmark. She had to put in some long hours, but her travel was not extensive. I'd assume travel is based on position just like every other company.

They just built a new complex out near the speedway in KC and have been pretty stable (i.e. not prone to layoffs *cough cough* Sprint *cough cough*) over the years. You're bound to hear good and bad things about any company if you ask enough people, but the concensus on Cerner is pretty positive.

I'll see if I can get a hold of my sister to ask her about the velocity analyst position.
 

SCNCY

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Same here, a friend and her husband both work for them in KC and just love it. She has been promoted multiple times, as has he. She just moved to a new location they built that is far closer to her home. I believe they are demanding, but it's a demanding market with competitors like Epic out there.

What kind of job/skills did you friend have that got her promoted quickly?