Has anyone interviewed or worked at Cerner corp. ?

[compguy786]

I recently had a interview with Cerner Corporation for Systems Engineer. They invited me for a second interview at their KC headquarters.

How do you like working there, and how did the interview go ? there are mixed reviews online, but i think it would be better to consult on the forum.

Thanks !

 

[classy]

I have not worked for Cerner, but I very familar with Cerner. The hospital I used to work at switched to Cerner. I can't imagine working for Cerner can be a bad thing. They are one the top clinical systems.

 

[Leros]

I interviewed there. They screwed up and brought me out on the wrong day. The people who were supposed to interview me weren't around. So that didn't go so well. I basically flew out for nothing.

That being said, I got to take a tour of the place and talk to some people. I was really impressed with their products.

 

[compguy786]

That's some great info ! Any others ??

 

[compguy786]

bump

 

[The Sauce]

Cerner makes one of the most horrible EMR's. Doctors flee from Hospitals that implement Cerner products. Go work there and make it better please.

 

[jmolayal]

I recently had a interview with Cerner Corporation for Systems Engineer. They invited me for a second interview at their KC headquarters.

How do you like working there, and how did the interview go ? there are mixed reviews online, but i think it would be better to consult on the forum.

Thanks !

I worked there from 2006 to 2008. Expect to work primarily with recent college grads that have degrees in everything from IS related majors to underwater basket weaving. Generally, new "Solution Deliver Consultants" are given some training and sent out to learn by fire. You'll love the people you work with, and loathe the hours you have to put in.

When I started, a good friend of mine summed it up like this. There are two kinds of people that work there. Those that follow the herd, bang their head against the wall, and kill themselves trying to get ahead. Then there are those that invest more time in understanding how the system works, and how they can make it work better for clients. The first kind flame out and quit around the two year mark. The latter either leave and go into independent consulting after 2 - 3 years, or become life long employees. (Full disclosure: I went independent).

Now, the stock options, Employee stock purchase plan, and retirement plans were all really good. Pay out the gate from college is meh.

If you're going into engineering, I don't have much advice for you. Nice folks, hard to get a hold of, and they generally avoided us consultants.

- Jaison

 

[theevilsharpie]

Cerner makes one of the most horrible EMR's. Doctors flee from Hospitals that implement Cerner products. Go work there and make it better please.

Everyone's EMR products are horrible.

 

[Matthiasa]

Epic Systems EMR tend to rate pretty highly.

 

[Saint Nick]

Not much to add, but I drive by their KC headquarters every time I go down to KC! At least I think their HQ is off I-29 by KCI

 

[brainhulk]

That's what we use at work. They always bring down the system for updates on the graveyard shift! grrrrrrrr

 

[slag]

That's what we use at work. They always bring down the system for updates on the graveyard shift! grrrrrrrr

I suppose that's better than the middle of the day when everyone is using them??

 

[Matthiasa]

They should be able to do updates without bringing anything down, given the nature of how hospitals operate.

 

[vi edit]

I worked there from 2006 to 2008. Expect to work primarily with recent college grads that have degrees in everything from IS related majors to underwater basket weaving. Generally, new "Solution Deliver Consultants" are given some training and sent out to learn by fire. You'll love the people you work with, and loathe the hours you have to put in. When I started, a good friend of mine summed it up like this. There are two kinds of people that work there. Those that follow the herd, bang their head against the wall, and kill themselves trying to get ahead. Then there are those that invest more time in understanding how the system works, and how they can make it work better for clients. The first kind flame out and quit around the two year mark. The latter either leave and go into independent consulting after 2 - 3 years, or become life long employees. (Full disclosure: I went independent).

You pretty much summarized Epic too. They are the same way. Almost entirely recent college grads that they chew up and destroy in 5 years. It was crazy during activations and seeing these fleet of early 20 somethings that have barely stepped foot in a hospital trying to implement a 600 bed EMR go-live.

 

[vi edit]

They should be able to do updates without bringing anything down, given the nature of how hospitals operate.

Define "updates". Like minimal ones that fix particular things bugs? Or planned, large scale annual updates?

 

[Matthiasa]

Planned large scale stuff, not easy to do mind you but can absolutely be done.

 

[vi edit]

Planned large scale stuff, not easy to do mind you but can absolutely be done.

For the large scale stuff you have to bring down the DB. That's just how it works. With all of the coding changes, DB reconfiguration, ect it's just too risky to try and slide it in while "live". To mitigate some impact to clinicians you have a shadow/production copy you publish out for read only access to results and prior documentation. It's nothing new and hospitals have to be able to function without a system in place. They all have well documented downtime procedures in the event of power loss, network outtage, EMR downtime, ect.

 

[compguy786]

Interesting stuff, The mixed reviews are strange. I heard KC is a $hitty city. Is this true ? I live in Charlotte, And would rather stay in the south than anywhere else.

 

[FoBoT]

I heard KC is a $hitty city. Is this true ?

no
its a good place to live.
ok, well maybe you actually meant 'the city' itself. only rich and poor live in the city and if you're rich, it is good , if poor its bad . the KC public school district has been de-certified, i forget the official term, for the 2nd time in ten years, the state board of education has had to take them over again. so the rich people that live in the city proper send their kids to private school. the poor people have 'no choice'. the in betweeners all live outside the city, which is great , there are great suburbs all around the city. so normal people with families that work in the city, live in the suburbs

if you are single, there are some renovated parts of the city where they have built modern lofts/condos so you could live in the city and not commute. everybody else commutes. i drive 50 miles each way so i live way out in the country and work downtown

 

[Saint Nick]

Interesting stuff, The mixed reviews are strange. I heard KC is a $hitty city. Is this true ? I live in Charlotte, And would rather stay in the south than anywhere else.

KC isn't really shitty. It's a big town with a good night life, but you'll be in the Midwest. Closest other "large cities" would be Omaha, NE to the north about two hours and St. Louis to the east about four hours. Omaha is more or less similar to KC. KC has a strong blues/jazz culture. Great BBQ.

Actually, according to Wiki, KC is larger than Charlotte. You might enjoy it! Cerner is located north of the city by KCI (AFAIK). Cost of living is low!

 

[Zeze]

Systems Engineer
47 Cerner Salaries
$58,379
$45k-$68k

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Cerner-Salaries-E1242.htm

 

[Tweak155]

You pretty much summarized Epic too. They are the same way. Almost entirely recent college grads that they chew up and destroy in 5 years. It was crazy during activations and seeing these fleet of early 20 somethings that have barely stepped foot in a hospital trying to implement a 600 bed EMR go-live.

I have a friend that works at Epic since he graduated college. He still likes it and got me an interview there. I was offered but turned them down. They contacted me a few years later saying they were still hiring and asked me to interview again. They increased their offer by $12k and increased benefits, but I still didn't want to live there. I gave them a number I would accept and they didn't go for it (they shorted me by freaking $1k). I told them its nothing for a company like Epic to give up another $1k a year, but could mean a lot to a family and I wouldn't accept less than I felt I was worth. They told me the offer is always on the table.

Looking back I'm glad I didn't take it. I'd have more money but that's it. Ironically I'm in between jobs but I still don't want to live in Madison. My friend is in the 6 digits after only 4-5 years.

 

[vi edit]

Looking back I'm glad I didn't take it. I'd have more money but that's it. Ironically I'm in between jobs but I still don't want to live in Madison. My friend is in the 6 digits after only 4-5 years.

Where do you live now? Madison is an awesome town IMHO. And as far as $1000 being make or break...if you are getting an offer of say....$50,000 is $1350 a paycheck really going to make your life that much better than $1330?

 

[Tweak155]

Where do you live now? Madison is an awesome town IMHO. And as far as $1000 being make or break...if you are getting an offer of say....$50,000 is $1350 a paycheck really going to make your life that much better than $1330?

Its not so much the area, its who I live by. The downtown area was nice, but it was a lot of farmland beyond that. The tipper was being by family.

And that's cool if you're willing to bend what you feel you're worth, and obviously there are varying degrees depending on the amount, but I'm not. If they won't pay me what I'm looking for, another company will. Had Epic not based their work weeks on 50 hrs, I'd have accepted less. But you're going into a work ethic where you know your free time is greatly reduced compared to what it was before.

Even though I'm in between jobs I'm not hurting for money. In fact we just put a cash offer on a house last week and we own both our vehicles and don't have debt. I'm happy with what I'm doing, and being firm with what I want keeps it that way.

EDIT:

And comparing 1350 to 1330 is not the point. How much less would that affect the company vs how much it would affect me? I could understand (more) coming in at several thousand less, but $1k less than my asking range is nearly an insult.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

close friend of mine got recruited out of college and went to work for them. (BS Comp SCI 2004 graudation) this guy is a HARD worker and they ran him RAGGED sounded to me like they pull heavily from college for entry level, then work them to death.

my friend ended up quitting after a few years (dont recall how long exactly), was so burnt out he played poker for a living for a couple years. eventually he got back into programming and found a job near me out in No. VA area.

He didnt specifically say anything bad about Cerner, but he is a great worker and I feel they took advantage of him...