After completing a medical assisting program, you may be excited and apprehensive about beginning your new career. In this chapter, you learn how to maximize your externship experience and gain the hands-on experience you need for securing a position in medical assisting. Your externship is an opportunity for you to explore the different responsibilities that are required of a medical assistant. After completing this chapter, you will begin to search for a position; you will be able to complete a résumé, a cover letter, and a thank-you letter. You will form a strategic plan on how to secure a position in medical assisting, and you will gain interviewing techniques needed to compete in today's health-care world.