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Watch that first step off the horse. NM

Posted By: It's a doozie! on 2009-03-14
In Reply to: I am really surprised - sm - OkayEveryone

nm


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We should go one step further than that!
We should stop buying products made in other countries if at all possible (Wal*Mart comes to mind). Don't forget: Every time you buy a foreign product, an American somewhere at some point lost her/his job to offshoring because of that product. MTs represent ONE segment in a loooooooong line of people who are losing/have lost their jobs to offshoring.
One step further
You got one step further than myself.  I sent my resume but didn't even hear back from them...so I am guessing they were probably inundated with resumes.  Doggone it anyway!
I do not see you on any horse either

You have a right to your opinion and I respect you for it.  You said what others want to say, but do not want to be criticized for saying.


Maybe Transcend needs to step up
to the plate and fix these issues before their investimate goes down the drain.
Yes but Transcend needs to step up
They are loosing a lot of their money by allowing MDI to continue to operate they way they do. I personally would love to see them merge MDI into Transcend and be one company. I'm holding out hope this happens, if it does not then I'm leaving MDI.
Been there . . . this is actually a step up on dictators for me!!! NM
NM
You don't have to go to Career Step
I smell something a little fishy here.  Are you advertising for Career Step?  I repeat if you are already a transcriptionist, then you can apply for online jobs.  It does not take a certificate from Career Step.  I have been offered many jobs online, and I do not have a certificate from Career Step or any other training program.  
Career Step
Just to clarify about Career Step, the cost is nowhere near $5000. It is in fact, between $1500 and $2000 the last I knew. I do not work for them, but graduated a year ago and they did prepare me for acute care MT work. (After 9 months I am making about $20,000 a year, working 2 IC jobs for a total of about 40 hours a week).
Career Step
CS has been a dream for me. With their training, I had 7 offers for at-home MT employment within 2 weeks of graduation. It is a hard course, and the final exam has a 50% fail rate, but it really prepares you for the real world of MT. If it wasn't that hard I think I would be dead in the water. If you want to learn more, they have a forum for people who have questions about joining at http://careerstep.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/frm/f/6960008433
and their website is www.careerstep.com. Before joinging, I checked them out with the BBB and called them probably 20 times with questions. They were very helpful and have a shiny record with the BBB. Also, they are one of the few schools approved by the AAMT, as you can see from the AAMT website. They are also a lot cheaper than most places. Hope that helps!
Career Step
Career Step is legit (and I don't get any $$ for recommending them). The course is self-paced and allowed me to work from home right after graduation. The website has all the cost info. on it. 
Career Step
If I knew then what I know now, I would not have attended Career Step.  I would have attended MTEC or Andrews.
Does feel like the new Q. This is step 1...
Beware.
Career Step
My sister took this course 3 years ago and was hired as a graduate. I was able to view this course and was very impressed with it and how it prepared the students. There is a lot of practice dictation starting from beginner to advanced, working your way up. Another good school is M-TEC. When I helped my sister research what companies were looking for in graduates, these were the 2 schools that always popped up as being recognized by companies that hire graduates.

I went to a local business school and worked on site at a hospital/clinic for 5 years before working from home.
I agree, but it's a step up from
and I don't care to the Nth power.
Hold on there! Now I must step in.

Don't be putting down people who like to do VR. I did straight typing for over 15 years and I am making the same, if not more, doing VR now. I was not a very slow typist, and quality is my first priority. I've been doing VR for almost a year now and love it. What makes it easy for me is I never really relied on Expanders to up my line rate since my hospital didn't really allow them, except for autocorrect. I didn't have an Expander until 6 years ago. Doing VR, I can't use the expander I did finally learn, but it's no big deal.


Like some other posters stated, it depends on who else is doing the reports whether or not VR is easy or hard.  Some days, my reports are easy, other days tough. It's the same when doing straight typing. Some dictators are easy, other are tough.


I don't think VR is really made for large companies with hundreds of transcriptionists. It's made for the smaller companies that all conform to the same verbiage.


If you're good/fast/quality-oriented with straight typing without expanders, then VR would be good for you. If you rely on an expander to get those lines, you will have a problem in the beginning, but if you're flexible, it will pan out.


Don't down people because they like VR. You know what they say......try it. You may like it.


 


Let's take a step back

Okay.  I think we can agree that in this industry, like every other, there are some bad apples.  There are some bad MTSOs, some bad MTs and even some bad clients.  And there are some good apples, too. 


Unfortunately, even the best MTSOs have to deal with a lot of new realities in this business that limit their options.  Over the past 15 to 20 years, the business has become much more competitive, clients are now being run by bean-counters who squeeze every penny out of contracts that they can, and the investment that an MTSO has to make in technology today has simply skyrocketed - not only the initial investment, but the ongoing investment in tech people, etc. to keep it running.  On top of that, there's been the deteriorating business climate that has actually been going on since 2007, although it didn't attract significant notice until late in 2008. 


And now comes speech rec.  There's a lot of MTSOs who haven't been thrilled about this because it's a huge investment and because they know how crummy SR really is - but clients become sold on the exaggerations in savings that the SR missionaries preach, and start insisting on it.  So you'll do SR or they'll find someone else.


The costs to every business in America for what we call compliance (to all of the jillions of laws that affect business) have also skyrocketed.  You can find plenty of information about this yourself.  These costs include all sorts of insurance and a lot of costs in terms of your operation just to keep yourself out of court or an administrative hearing of some kind.


MTSO's don't run the industry like some people here seem to think.  Clients run the industry.   Technology runs the industry.  Congress and various administrative agencies at every level of government run the industry.  Lawyers run the industry. 


There is one thing that I do criticize many MTSOs for, however, and that is the crappy line rate that many of them are paying for SR editing.  The typical scenario is that they promise you'll be able to edit jillions more lines per hour than you can transcribe,  so you shouldn't mind going from 9 or 10 cpl to 3 or 4 cpl.  Unfortunately, you buy into this and then discover that if you do your editing job properly, you really can't do all that many more lines per hour.  So your next paycheck sucks.  You give it a little longer...and your paycheck still sucks.  A couple more paychecks that suck, and now YOU are the one who is out of options. 


It's no good telling people who get caught in this trap Well, then, get into another field! because by this time they have no money to be trained in anything else.  Their kids are already fighting with the dog to see who gets the food in his bowl. So my criticism is the shameful way that many MTSOs have dealt with their people.


What bothers me the most about this is that every line of an SR document gets edited - even if it doesn't need to be changed.  In other words, there's really no difference in the KNOWLEDGE that an Editor has to bring to a line whether she declares the line to be correct or decides that it needs correction.  That line is correct is PRECISELY THE SAME SORT OF JUDGMENT as saying That line is wrong. 


This is a knowledge business, not a typing business.  There is absolutely no excuse for reducing the line rates so drastically (and little experience to show that people can still earn the same living).  This means, then, that the MTSO is buying knowledge on the cheap - and that's one thing that I can't forgive them for.  That, and the way they sucker people into accepting editing jobs in the first place.


 


 


 


its true, but wish WMX would take the first step
been here for awhile and I am not an underperformer by any means.  Yet i still get the NSA message dozens of times a day for the past month.  So while I think that waiting it out is the right move for me and that those who can't will go someplace else and create more work, I do wish mgmt would evaluate who is not performing up to par and cut them loose.  Sorry if that sound harsh, but i consistently do over 200 lph straight and close to 300 ASR and I think those that perform better should have some kind of preference over those that are at 125 to 150 lph, which i believe is below what mgmt expects each day.  don't mean to be offensive to anyone personally, but this is what the industry has come down to. 
okay, your first step would be to find out...
What the sale or merger involved, if the sale involved assets only or if it included ALL contracts. If the sale was assets only (meaning accounts) you SHOULD be free of the contract. This would mean they could not have included employees as an asset. If the terms of the sale included existing employee contracts or included the employees as assets, you would be bound by the noncompete clause. Sounds confusing but makes sense. In other words, you need to know if they sold you guys along with the company. That is what happened to me in the past (this was way long ago, 1970s). The new company paid $1000 per employee. We got no notice. one day they told us at 2 p.m. today you no longer work for _____ but are an employee of _____. I walked right then and there. I was not then nor will I ever be for sale! Fortunately for me, at that time we had no noncompete clause in place so we just went and recruited the old clients and started our own service.
This was from the horse's mouth.
Perhaps you need to get a new horse.

Remember the packet changes are effective January 1, not today.

It's unfortunate you aren't being paid for downtime. I was paid several times for 40 hours, when my hours fell short.

I see the packet as MQs move to finally consolidate EVERYONE onto the same plan of management so this ridiculous "but my office says and it's true" stuff can stop.
The horse's mouth would be
The Administrator can only go by what she is told by the company directly or an MT has to produce proof that they offshore before she prevents them from posting on this board.
High horse
You make some good points but the vast majority of MTs don't apply to your condescending e-mail.  Glad I don't work for you.  You find some poor employees in any industry, and the few bad apples in the MT business are not the reason work is being sent overseas where the work is even worse quality (but done with a smile - I give you that).  Whatever - I will just be glad when this post has moved on to another page. 
Come down off our high horse

I used to have excellent credit too until my husband lost his job and I had surgeries 9 months apart. There are circumstances that do cause people to lose their credit.


Maybe some bad luck should hit you and then you would understand how some of us feel!!!!


Come Down Off Your High Horse!!!

It sounds like you have spent too much time at the beach listening to the waves and in the sun as your brain is fried.  Who do you think you are talking to anyone this way??? 


I have a good job, make good money and I always have work but your attitude is just right down horrible.   


Since you don't spend much time here, I think you should just probably stay totally away if this is the kind of attitude you bring when you do decide to be here.


I don't see you on a high horse...sm
I agree with you 200%
Get off your high horse already

I have researched anything and everything I have ever delved into thoroughly before jumping on it.  If a newbie jumps right in without researching first, it is their own dang fault.  Geez. 


You are on a very high horse
Might want to come on down and sit in the horse stuff with the looser MTs....waaaah
from the horse's mouth
Per company e-mail from Transcend CEO, the merge is with Transcription Relief Services.
No? The horse is at the glue
nm
Well, come down off that high horse
you seem to be on. Where do you get that Now Let Me Tell You Something. First of all, who are you and what does it matter. You talk like that to your kids, not to another grown person. Sissy, go back to mothering now, ok? More experienced MTs know the 3 day leave for a funeral, newbies seem not to know.
Yup - horse i out of the barn, that's for sure.
,
Anyone hear of Future Step?
I received an email from Future Step telling me about a job.  Never heard of them.  Never applied with them?????
QA is not a step up. They make less than the MTs and are on quota.
x
but of course, people in the 10-step program
.
They do get a fee for all who actually enroll in career step.

let the MTSOs step in the MTs shoes - sm
If they cant pay a decent wage, them maybe it is time to let some of the clients go and work for yourself. It is just like MTs, if you accept a low rate of pay that is what you get. Stand up for yourself MTSOs and ask for more money. Get a back bone.
To follow that logic one step further,

then why is Transcend trying so hard on this board to convince everyone they are not the anti-Christ?  If they were that good, everyone would be beating a path to their door and they wouldn't have to be defending themselves to the degree we are seeing...


but correct me if I'm wrong...


that horse fromthe packet and
the Qnet rules. tellher to go lookit up.
Wow 8 years and already on a high horse? you
would be a good QA person one day, NOT
Can lead a horse to water....D&L

I can understand you're still working for D&L because I too have never been one to jump on the bandwagon.  It is my own mistake not to have abandoned ship on D&L back when all the signs were saying GET OUT NOW!!!  I remained loyal to this company and worked my butt off for them.


In the end, what did it get me and everyone who stuck around doing what they could?  Nothing except a string of financial crises, ignored calls & emails, empty promises as they dumped their financial dilemma on me and the rest of us.


D&L still owes me for work done from June-July.  They haven't yet paid their original set of MTs that worked the hospital account.  They lied to us for weeks and suddenly owned up to the situation with the Oh Well email filled with promises of making good on pay.


....We are told that the payment will be honored when represented our bank has delayed availability of those funds until Thursday 07/19/07. Once those funds are made available we will immediately issue checks to anyone effected by this situation. We apologize for this unfortunate event and will expedite payments once funds are made available......


Here it is September 9th already, still no check.


Sorry to say, but what makes you think they have any intention of making good on YOUR check(s)?


Seriously, it's in your own best interest to find other employment quickly and not waste another minute working for free or you too shall suffer a financial crisis that will take months to recover from.


Good luck in your job hunt.


To quote Donna directly......It is what it is


 


the horse has already left the barn nm
x
Oh, that's horse puckey. The reason they
offshore is because they want a higher profit margin. You think MTs should now work for minimum wage so the MTSOs can keep their earnings high? No way. The quality in India is AWFUL. You get what you pay for, and hopefully the resulting lawsuits by the patients will make it less cost-effective.
Beating a dead horse
Not sure about NOW but they used to hire a lot of people M-F who had to work only 1 weekend per month. I chose to work on a weekend day because of more money but a lot of people that were hired still work M-F and rotate weekends.
Dead horse is right, Sharon
These people do not want to listen to reason, do not want reassurance, and quite frankly do want to have to expend the brain cells to LEARN. They'd rather trash the company, VR programs and MTs like us who are successful at it and make good money at it. No point wasting your time or effort.

I say let 'em go...Sounds like TTs better off without them and I'd hate to think I have co-workers of this mentality.

Have a nice dinner out...One of the beauties of working for TT (even on VR, lol) is the extra money for the nicer things in life. At least when all of these posters bail we'll have even more work and even more money to enjoy the finer things in life!
Oh, horse poop, anyone can retire
I can retire, no big deal about that. Stated the facts, she is retired and she has come here to gab. I don't think she is particularly lucky. I am the age of retirement but choose to work because I want to make double the money. Don'cha think that is smart? I also don't have to worry about working, just do because I want to.
Beating a dead horse here, but

If these companies came on here and started naming employees that were bad news, you all would be in a hurry to find a way to make it someone else's fault.


There must be grounds for the poster to be sued by TT or else a lawyer wouldn't have taken the case.  Who wins?  No one. 


The poster allegedly being sued came on here to gather up a herd of followers and then closed her thread.  I don't see her posting any longer, do YOU?  But, you are here to defend her?  For what reason?  It makes no sense to me.


Whoever this person being sued in my OPINION has screwed up this board for the last few days.  It is nothing but fighting and bashing!  That poster is gone with the wind now, probably never to return again and we're all at each other's throats.


Can we please quit beating this horse; it's dead; deader than a doornail!


 


Career Step is $1320 or $1560
x
If they use MTTEST by Career Step - Don't bother...
...just like Career Step's program, MTtest is GREATLY flawed. And the potential employers don't bother to review this or your testing. If an employer lazily uses MTTest (and is recruiting people to buy Career Step's scam terrible training program), I don't bother. Even if you get it right, the module is flawed and will likely say you got it wrong. Don't waste your time being insulted by same.

Companies that actually send you dictation to transcribe are the best to test with. They test your true knowledge/ability, not through a flawed and inadequate multiple choice module that's sole purpose is to recruit people to Career Step.

Just my 2 cents... :O)
Each journey begins with one small step.
If one hospital/MTSO sees the folly of VR, the lawsuits, etc., they will stop this NONSENSE.  Thank you for your validation of my efforts. 
Watch out for SPi

I used to work for MQ and started working for SPi before all the latest changes that really screw up the MT compensation.  Nobody here cares about doing things the right way and they can make you work for nohting at all.  Recently found out that one of the managers at MQ that was one of the reasons I left there has made op manager at SPI and she is probably behind all these bad decisions.  DONT WORK FOR THIS PLACE. I have just given my notice and am moving on.  SPI wont be a good place to work until they start listening to the people who really know what they are doing and stop listening to the people that will bring the company down.  STAY AWAY FROM THEM.


oh, oh watch out
This is starting to sound like TransTech!
I watch the job ad looking or not and NO
they seem to be going down more. Look at them. Even want to pay less (7 cent)until off QA. We are already losing big time as if, we make even less until get used to their system, acct specific etc. I could understand if paid by the hours, but this is not the case at all. WE not the company are the ones who lose during this period.

Look at the ads, 7 to 8 cents. POOH!!!! Even saw 5 cents and recent... in last few days.