That sucks...all I can say is hang in there...

• Anyone STILL low on work at Keystrokes??? - KSMT3
  • Have you talked to your lead? sm - KSMT4
  • KS low work - radmt3
    • If you are rad, you should be busy not slow. sm - KSMT4
    • Wow, so glad to know I'm not the only one. - KSMT3
      • Talk to your leads or call the main office to see if you can get a backup account... - Ohio-KS-MTMom
        • Already done that - KSMT3
          • That sucks...all I can say is hang in there... - Ohio-KS-MTMom
            • I sure hope so! - KSMT3
              • Maybe it's your lead. sm - KSMT4

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

Tookie Williams

It is hard to adjust to new rules, but you will catch on.  Reading over material/samples provided by the part-time employer is a great way to familiarize yourself with their ways of the trade.  Also, do not argue with QA.  Let it go.  If they let you go because of your QA score, then it was not meant to be.  There are plenty of others who would appreciate your intensity to learn.  Do not beat yourself up about it.  If you have a full-time job, then you know that you are worthy.  Keep trying, you are definitely playing it smart.  Never give up what you have until you find what you want. 

I'd like to address something that's really bothering me as I see it expressed so frequently -- It's what I call THE GRATITUDE TRICK.

First, I am not trying to find fault with what you wrote.  You sound like a fabulous mom and a very dedicated MT.  I really admire you for the sacrifices you've made to accomplish what you have -- and that goes for everyone out there in the MT world who has done the same.  I mean this sincerely.  I am amazed at what some of you have managed to do and how you continue the struggle now.  Hats off to you all!!! 

But I have to question why do MTs have to make such sacrifices in the first place???  It sounds to me like this has been the case for many years now.  If we are the professionals we claim to be, we deserve the same standard of living that any other professional gets to have who works out of their home.  The perks go across the board for everyone who works from home, no matter what profession--gas savings, wardrobe, etc.  We are no different.  This aspect of what our job is worth income-wise is only a small part of the equation.  The difference for us is that we are not fairly compensated for our work as other professionals are for theirs.  THAT is what sets us apart, not the perks.  

I think this is a way the services have used to keep us in submission for years, and it's dirty playing.  I do not feel grateful to my employer to be able to work from home.  My gratitude goes to God for the technology that allows me to do this.  Heck, I'm saving them money in overhead from working from home, buying and maintaining my own equipment and reference materials, paying my own Internet service fee, etc.  No, THEY are making money OFF OF US.  Yes, businesses do that.  They have to earn a profit.  But it is wrong for them to tell us pretty much to go away and be quiet and count our blessings because they are so kind as to let us work from home, thus making us feel that we should be ashamed for wanting to be paid more.  This is nothing but a mind game.  They are using this way of responding to us to shut us up and we're falling for it.  Next, it will be but at least we hired you and didn't send the work to India!  Little by little we are being demeaned by them as they reduce benefits, demand more in production, etc. all the while telling us how lucky we are to be able to work from home and we're falling for it. 

If our profession (and I keep using the word profession because that is what it is) goes down the drain because of technology, etc. then we can't control that.  But let's not help it along by buying into a mindset that says we're not valuable.   Anyone who has the knowledge and skills to do this job well should see their worth reflected in their paychecks, bottom line.  All the other stuff is just icing on the the cake.  

I think we as a body of professionals and as individuals need to have a much greater sense of self-respect, self-worth to begin with.  We are not the cast-offs of the working world!  If you can do this job well, you are no idiot.  And all of us know, this is anything but an easy job.   Many of you have invested most if not all of your working lives doing transcription.  Companies should be grateful to YOU for working for them.  A qualified MT only increases the company's image. 

Now how to become fairly compensated is a whole 'nother can of worms given what we are up against today.  But I think we need to start valuing ourselves more before we expect to be valued by those for whom we work.  This gratitude to our employer trick they use on us has got to be exposed for the dirty trick that it is and it needs to go!! 

I think a lot of our frustration with this profession comes from such mind games.  If you can keep your employees confused, if you can keep them from feeling they have no right to complain, you've got it made as an employer.  They're under your control.  But in the end it weakens employee morale which results in frequent employee turnover which results in loss of production while new people learn the accounts, etc. so it really backfires on them and is a stupid (to put it nicely) way to run a business.   You can run it right into the ground this way.

Even the benefits packages are somewhat of a joke if you can't afford the insurance.  I'm sure the companies have ways to write off those expenses to their own benefit.  That's another trick they use on us.  My dental insurance won't pay the rent.  Pay me a decent enough salary and I'll get my own dental insurance!

If we have any hope of turning our situation around, we need to be able to see the tactics that are being used against us.  Just trying to point out some red flags here as I see them. 

I'm do a different platform/client, but I also hired in this summer, and went through a rough time at first.  I talked to my supe, and after changing my schedule a bit and taking on two secondaries, things have become much better, and there's actually been OT on my accounts for the last few weeks.

Check the backlogs on the community page.  Some accounts regularly have OT approved (its in the little box at the top left, who's approved for OT and for how long).  Maybe you can get trained on some of those.  Are you willing to change your schedule at all?  My accounts consistently have certain heavier days than others, and before I was off during the heavy days.  My supe asked me to shift my schedule and it has made a very positive difference.

Yes, a whole penny or 2 might break these companies.  They keep us at a low rate thinking that will encourage us to get on there more for OT and type more.  I am afraid it it beginning to work the other way for me.  I am furioius that I asked for a raise and they never even had the decency to get back with me to deny me any increase, after asking them twice.  I guess its too embarrassing for them to say why they are so cheap and can't fork over a penny extra per line.  If this economy was not so bad and there were actually jobs available I would be there now.  I am sick of having to type every single moment of the hours to get paid.  When all these other office workers and other kinds of workers get paid for just standing or sitting there is there is nothing for them to do.  Nobody says lets count how many new accounts you have opened or how many groceries you put through your line and you get paid by each piece.  I really miss the old days of working for a doctors office or clinic and getting paid by the hour and then getting OT if working OT.   I remember times when the older women that I worked with were not as fast as me and they still got paid a decent hourly rate even if they weren't typing as fast.  8 cents a line is just spit.  My company loses people everyday and they don't care.  I would like to tell them its because of the pay.  They would rather train a new person instead of keep someone that has been there for a year or two.  I don't know what their thinking is.  They just think, oh well, we'll jst get someone else. 

And why couldn't they have told us this MONTHS ago when they knew the account was changing to VR?  A little warning would have been nice, to give people time to get their resumes polished up, etc.  The timing is horrible too with all the MDI'ers looking for work, the job market's got to be really tough right now.

Good luck to all my former team-mates - maybe we'll meet again in a better place some day.

Transcend has turned into one of those companies that do not give a crap about their employees anymore.  They just put us on VR and then cut our pay by 40% but did not bother to tell us about the pay cut until yesterday, which is 12 days after the pay period began, but the pay cut started on August 1st, which means if you were planning on getting paid 7 cents per line for all lines typed from August 1st to August 12th, then that is just too bad.  I guess we have to figure it out.  Maybe I can call my bank and ask them to cut my mortgage by 40% this month since my employer cut my pay by 40% with absolutely no notice.  They are so full of crap.  They have people quitting left and right.  I know of at least 3 MTs who have had to get 2nd jobs because they NEVER, EVER, EVER have enough work to go around.  I had to bust my butt to get the few lines I can get by working at 2, 3, even 4 a.m. because that is the only time there is enough work to work for a couple of hours straight without running out.  I used to be one of those MTs telling everyone how great Transcend was.  What a fool I was!!  They really got me this time.  I know that these National companies are generally dirty, but I NEVER, EVER though that were this dirty.  They just went from being one of the best companies to work for to one of the worst in a matter of a few months.  One more thing, they just switched to this new platform called which is for transcribing and VR, and it SUCKS!!!  It is not user friendly and has all kind of problems with it.  Now is definitely not the time to sign on with Transcend, and TRUST ME, if you do, you will SOON regret it.  TRANSCEND SUCKS!!

you are going to have to learn it.  At some point, the companies that do not do it will be forced to because these other companies can offer a lower rate.

I hate it too.  But there are things you can do to build speed and earn close to what you were.  Give it time, first of all, but ask for help... get a mentor, learn that program inside and out.  It has become part of our job description.