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You are carrying a grudge for two years? Companies change. I have

Posted By: Amazed on 2006-01-09
In Reply to: what kind of proof do you want:? - I had many problems with KS

had only good experiences with them.


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They never change, 4 years ago a Xmas, they lowered everyone's line rate, I left then
NM
Up to date info on Zylomed? People change and companies do to...(sm)
I need current information from MT's that do or have worked for Zylomed (Naples, FL) in the last year. If you've had a bad experience with them 2 or 3 years ago, don't bother writing. People change and companies do too! I need the real skinny on what's happening now. I would really appreciate hearing from current employees! Thanks so much!
companies change all the time - her info is old, she said. (sm/small message)
A turnover in managers,QA, leads, even recruiters can make an impact and happens all the time, so you never know; old info - grain of salt. newer info more reliable and needs to be found while considering.


Grudge?
Don't be so smug. You might be next!
Grudge over us!
Hi Friends!

I don't know why do you express so much of your distaste towards us, coz' after all we are also transcriptionists. I understand how it is to share things with others, but there are lots of people from US who do their studies, research in our country's famous institutions like IIT, IIM, NIT.

Be a little generous and consider us as your friends.

Not to mention, I was living in Kansas when I learned transcription before moving to India.
Sounds like someone has a grudge...
NM
I hold that same grudge - SM
I remember the conference call sometime in August 2006 when Cymed management told us about SPi taking over. They were all acting like it was such a great thing that was happening and that we wouldn't notice any major changes at all. That was the biggest load of crap I have ever been fed by a company! I remember getting a one-line email from our account manager on Thanksgiving day of 2006 saying that she was leaving with no explation whatsoever. It basically just said, I'm leaving; it was nice working with all of you. I held on for a few more months to see if things would stabilize, but they only got worse. I quickly started sending out applications to other companies and got the heck out of there as soon as I got a great offer and I have been much, much happier ever since. I still shudder when I think about my SPi days!
Sure sounds like you have a grudge against OP.
How do you even know who it is unless management has been saying things they shouldn't be saying.

Who knows - maybe you sent the fake resignation yourself or know who did because it sure sounds like you dislike the OP a great deal.
Good advice! I was holding a grudge
I realized that while I was angry and at home all the time with a grudge, my friend was out dancing and going on with her life.  I was the one caught in a trap.  Be above all that, forgive, turn the page and go on.
Best companies 10 years ago..
Agree wholeheartedly with this. Ten years ago, 99% of pay was by gross line. Work was plentiful, always typed in WP 5.1 and sent back to service (which by the way were all small, approximately 30 people at most) by company bulletin board. I made $65,000 a year minimum back then, working for one (yes one) company. The turning point with the downward spiral for this business as far as we transcriptionists are concerned was, I think, threefold: 1) The megaliths swallowing up the small local services or underbidding them for the work and forcing them out of business, 2) the internet (yes, believe it or not), 3) the elimination of or the refusal to pay in the gross line. It was easy to verify a gross line count, i.e., Sylcount, etc. which the small services used. WHAT YOU SAW WAS WHAT YOU GOT, not any more. Sad, isn't it?
Some companies have done this for years.
Went to work for one that required and paid for the complete physical and audiometry/hearing test.  Just took longer to get started making money, in my opinion.  Too bad after all that - after sending me their computer which was required- at their cost - I had to return it - at their cost - after training was so poor and trainer went on vacation in the middle of mine and Tech Support didn't answer phone calls 2nd shift for hours at a time while I was left locked up on MY time.  Figured I was out about 2 weeks making a wage somewhere else.  No wonder the MTSOs that do this can't afford to pay a decent CPL.  ARGH!
4 companies in 15 years is not job hopping. sm
Two companies sold to MQ, one closed when the owners retired and I still work at the fourth one. I see people who have worked at 10 companies in as many months. Sometimes the reasons are valid, ie nonpayment, no work, but most of the time it is just because they do not give any commitment.
Companies that require five years' experience...sm
This October, I will be working as an MT for five years. I'm now looking to change companies and I notice there are several who require a minimum of five years' experience.

Would I be better off waiting until October, when I will have been an MT for five years, to change? Do these companies pay any better than those who require less experience? Or are they all pretty much the same and I may as well go ahead and apply to the ones who have less stringent prerequisites?

I've only worked for one MT company so I'm not very savvy on the MT marketplace. Any advice would be appreciated.
I have been a recruiter for 4 different companies over the past 15 years. sm
This is more common than most realize. For every 20 resumes I receive, only 8 are qualified. Of those 8, only 6 will answer their phone or call back when a voice mail is left. That always amazes me, as why apply if you have no desire to talk to the company? Of those 6, only 4 actually are qualified. You would be surprised how many only want 1st shift, M-F, no weekends, no holidays, no ESL doctors, only internet accounts, only word-based, only op notes, no op notes, only long reports, only short reports, etc. The list goes on and on. We hear about every health ailment, how some are working althought they do not need the money, wish I could say that, about how their husbands do not like them to work when they are home. We hear about how they have to leave for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon because they have to drive their kids to school. Did I mention that they need off every other Wednesday for 3 hours for Cub Scouts and every Thursday for two hours at lunchtime to be lunch mom at the school. Oh, don't forget that they get their hair done every Friday morning from 8 until 10 and they may have to drive their mom to the doctor every Tuesday. I am not exaggerating. They all assure me that they want a lot of volume, but of the 4 that I actually hire, it is even scarier. One may be perfect in terms of volume, quality and actually showing up for work. One will work for an hour and disappear forever. One will beg for work but only take 10 minutes off the system at most. One will have an emergency the first day and never call back, never actually starting.

So to have 100 employees, you need to go through 3000 resumes, hire 500 of them and hope to get 100 good ones.

I was going to work for a large company that gets a few bad and many good posts here but decided that the pressure would be too great. It is hard to find 5 good MTs for a new account. I cannot even begin to think how impossible it would be to find 25 or 30, as they have advertised in the past.

This industry sees a lot of job hoppers. Yes, there are a lot of bad companies out there, but they job hop for no reason it seems, other than someone actually expected them to show up and produce.

I am personally against offshore transcription and will not work for a company that send work out of the U.S. but I know why they turn to other countries to do the work. They have a better work ethic. When they find a good job, they stay with it forever. They appreciate that have a job and food on the table. It is a way of life for them and there are no second chances. They cannot burn their bridges or no one will hire them.

Maybe MTSOs need to have higher standards and hold their employees to them. There are thousands of excellent MTs out there, we just have to weed through so many to get to them that they sometimes get overlooked.

Sorry for ranting, but I really enjoyed the OP's post and it struck a few nerves!!!
Some states/companies have a noncompete thing going on. It took years for Diskriter to be able to
s
Fifteen years experience here and also offered 8 cpl as a max at multiple companies. This biz is
going down hill fast. I remember making 10 cpl 10 years ago and that was cheap..Only profession I know that has gone down in wages rather than up. Very sad. If you offered 8 cpl..take it..
Nothing will change unless we make it change..SM
As long as we accept the exploitation that this MT profession has reduced us to, it will keep going on.  The top of this is the outsourcing.... well, get your legislators involved....better yet, the MEDIA.  How many patients know their private medical information is being outsourced to halfway around the world? The squeeky wheel gets the grease.  Do the patients know that their info won't be sold by some unscrupulous MT (halfway around the globe) to insurance companies, etc., making all this Medical records privacy a joke. It's not just our T-shirts being made in other countries; it's our most personal, private medical information, of which the public is not being made aware of.  Not to speak of undercutting out profession to the bare bone.  Granted, most US MTs are willing to work below market wage just to have a job, especially in economically-deprived areas, where outside jobs are scarce, and kids need to be fed and mortgages need to be paid.  MTSOs know this.  I'll bet they'll be the first to lobby against any action against outsourcing.  (Wouldn't you be...if you got people to work for pennies while you're raking in the big $$$'s ?  Still, notwithstanding the outsourcing problem, we're still going along with all the BS...working for pennies, whatever the client wants, he gets... ever notice how all of the MTSO flak seems to be re. unpaid work...mostly, demographic issues we're not even paid for... bec. It has to be done.. Part of the job... The client put the wrong info but we have to correct it...all unpaid work.  Just give me a job with nothing but straight transcription, w/o the unpaid/demo. flak..I'll take it even at the present, absurd pennies-per-line state of the profession.
I talked to them today. They want 3 years in a hospital or 5 years combination sm
hospital and at home or clinic and at home. For radiology, they want 3 years full time radiology. I thought they were very nice and I have a few friends that work for them and are happy. The pay seems average to high for what I am seeing now. I think they are 0.08 per line or 1.08 for radiology. Beats what I will have with the new MQ program.
Honda is 11 years old, 190,000 miles . Toyota was 15 years old and 279,000 superb
x
I worked on site for many years. I've been doing this for 10 years... sm
I've worked on site, at home, for small MTSOs, for nationals, for hospitals. I've been paid per line, per minute, and per hour. I've been an MT and a QA. I have ALWAYS worked weekends and ALWAYS worked nights for the shift differential because MTs can't survive on 6 or 7 cents a line. At least I can't and I type 105 wpm.

I've BEEN dedicated from day 1, sister, so you are barking up the wrong tree.
15,000 lines per pay period. 8 years with KS, 6 years on this account! nm
Not going anywhere else!
30 years - this WAS my career. The last few years you guys have ruined it.
You work 9-5? Big deal. I work more than you do. I bet I work harder too. Treat US with respect, lady!

Don't talk to us like that and don't expect us to kiss your feet. Kiss ours for a change!
See if you'll be producing more after 30 years of MT'ing and at 50+ years old.
I don't think so. My income increased every year also, until I reached age 50 and 30 years of MT'g, been downhill ever since.
MQ BIG CHANGE?
I just love these posters..gonna be a big change..well, what?  Dont post something like that and not explain.  It only causes anxiety and speculation in an already scarey field, with outsourcing, etc.  Big change, well, come on now..what is gonna be the big change and where did you get your information from?
Well, then maybe that should change.
Maybe they, too, should be paid based on what they produce, with a little bonus if the person stays a year.
Sometimes you just get in a rut and need a change. Sometimes you just
get burn-out in general and think it is the company/account.  I've left a position before because I thought the grass was greener, but it wasn't.  Had to learn new platform, new software program, new dictators with various new accents to figure out, new way to count lines, etc.   Even if the pay was a bit better I still figured I lost money and the grass wasn't greener.   No company is perfect, but there are some very good companies out there, but there can still be intermittent issues with any company.  Sometimes talking with management might resolve issues, sometimes taking a break will refresh you and make you see things in a different light.  List pros/cons of present account and compare that what a different company has to offer.  You may realize you are better off where you are and if not you can feel comfortable that you're making a change that really will be better for you.   If you do decide to leave current account just don't burn any bridges so you leave with the possibility of being able to return if new account/company doesn't work out. 
No. Currently, you can use your own. That may change
nm
I think so...I am not one for change tho....but there

To change
the subject somewhat.  Gastric bypass and lap banding scare me to death!  I personally know of five people who underwent the procedures, and all had complications, one being death.  They all had excellent surgeons, one being my surgeon.  Everyone responds differently I know, and that is the problem.  It is too much of a gamble for me.
change
Are we all in the same boat?  I work for the largest national in the country and am hoping to hear about another position with another company tomorrow or Wednesday.  Many of us have been MTs for years and make less now than then we started.  We get thrown into the national cesspool and may get 20 different states in 20 different reports.  Impossible to make a good line count this way.  I'm slow to change and always fearful, but I'm really at the end of my rope.  Anyone want to add to this conversation, please feel free.  Happy New Year everyone!  May 2008 bring us more MONEY and more CONTENTMENT!!
have to change dsl
well just talked to Vonage and everything was fine until they tried to transfer my line. Said I have to discontinue DSL through ATT for ATT to allow it, then vonage can transfer it...
So I will change to time warner for cable and then get the adapter from vonage. Yes it is a lot cheaper, but have to work out all the transfers.
I know... but I need a change... SM

It was a great benefit for me being an IC because I would work and get big paychecks and being a single mom, I would get the child credits and the earned income tax credits, and I would actually get money back, quite a bit.


But now that that is not going to happen anymore, I want some PTO and all those nice benefits!!!  Im just ready for a change...


Which companies actually hire employees and offer PTO, etc.?


:-)


Change in pay
Contact the Wage and Hour Department of the Federal Labor Commission. This is illegal.
Looking for change
Good luck! I hope you find what you are looking for. I might also add that Landmark is a good, honest company that does not offshore.
Do you know by any change the
system you will be using? Some are apparently much better than others.
I wonder if that will change with the new sm
employee handbook?  I briefly read it this morning and it seems that it boils down to **you owe us this, this and that and we don't owe you anything**.
That will all change.

I've been in the business 20 years too.  I worked for Transcend for 4 years and my honeymoon period with them lasted about 7 months.  Once the honeymoon was over, it was one of the worst job experiences I have ever had. 


What would you like me to change it to? (nm)
I don't like change that much. I started posting here when I was a newer TT'r, so why change?
that says a lot. You would change sm
your mind if you were the sole bread winner as a big majority of MTs are. You wouldn't care about weekends at that point. You do what you have to do to support your family.

You can say what you want, but you have some off as self-righteous and definitely a slap in the face to all of us hard-working full-time MTs
exactly to change this???

x


What you are not getting is the change.
If you've always been used to it, fine...you have worked it out with the mortgage company, car payment, insurance, etc. You've got auto payment set up for your internet or your phone bill. So all those things have to be realigned. That will take some time to readjust both the inflow of money and the getting the autopayments changed.

And, some of you folks really don't seem to have any feeling for those that literally go paycheck to paycheck. I work two jobs. The only time I can take any length of time away from my desk is on Saturday evening and Sundays. Which works out great if I'm getting paid on Fridays. Not so good when it's falling through the week....so you're waiting extra days waiting for payday anyway and then you've got to wait longer before you can get out and do anything with it.

I'm glad your life is so stable that that waiting three extra 3 days doesn't impact you in any way. But having been there myself, and still almost there, I can certainly expend a little sympathy and try to understand how it might be problematic for someone else.
Why don't you change your hours?

I thought you were allowed to choose your own hours.


Times change. It's not about YOU, it's about

what the reality is today, not four months ago.


Congratulations on your windfall, though.


If you have doubts, email or call the person who hired you and they'll verify this.


 


Good or bad change?
What do you think is going to happen?
MQ big change? Hmmm maybe

Big changes a coming...


she's talking about that we will have to volunteer xxx amount of lines to the legal fund


put in for PTO 3 yrs in advance


 be required to have state of the art systems (say the ones for 2 grand)


 pay are own and 10 of our neighbors DSl bills (because MQ may have a stake in that company


commit to not only real chains to the chair but also go on ankle monitors, so that MQ management can tell when we stray farther than 2 ft from our puter's...say to go to the potty


have to go through our supe's, area managers, district higher up's then finally corporate to sign off for the shift or to notify them of our own deaths


not only be able to understand our loving ESL's but to also be able to transcribe in their native languages if they so desire


be ready, willing and able to put up during training all the offshores who so desire to come to the US to train...kinda like a foreign exchange transcriptionist


Last but not least, to have the common sense to duck when that sky falls


 i love those the end is near posts.....geez


Hang on it will change
I am surprised to hear that FOCUS ICs are without jobs!!! I work for another company that provides services for them and we have so many jobs from FOCUS that we are asked to work extended shifts. I know that they have some accounts that are supposed to be VR editing but everyone working on them is mostly doing MT work until the VRE kicks in. We hear it is about 30-60 days from 90% VRE.
worrying does not change anything
Two hospitals that I worked at..rumor was they were going to oursource.  We were told no way, dont worry about your jobs.  One hospital was reassuring us on Monday, Thursday we had a meeting and were told we were let go, pick up our purses and leave.  The other hospital was reassuring us in the morning and by 11am we were called down to Human Resources and let go.  Corporate is not gonna tell us what they are deciding as they dont want to scare the transcriptionists away and then they wouldnt have transcriptionists.  Plus the management are only workers like us.  Whatever they know, if they tell, they will lose their jobs.  Corporate looks out for making a profit for their stock holders.  I have heard the rumors about MQ also, some from office workers themselves.  If you are a good transcriptionist, dont worry.  MQ isnt gonna get rid of the transcriptionists.  It is the offices they are merging.  The transcriptionists will just have to call in to a different office.  Also, there are many transcription companies out there.  Nothing you can do about corporate decisions.  If you worry so much, you will make yourself sick. Used to be when I first started working, there was loyalty between employer and employee.  That isnt how the American workplace is any more.  Just remember, transcriptionists are in demand.  You will do fine.
subject to change..lol
I worked for a large national for an entire week, getting only one report per day, but one of them was really really bad. The patient had allergies listed and then the same medications listed in "medications." The family history had the father 2 different ages and dying of 2 different disorders, and it went on and on. I sent it to QA with a description of all of the obvious and potentially dangerous errors and was told "it is verbatim and not our problem." Scuse me...that could be somebody's grandma laying there about to be given a medication that could or could not be deadly due to an allergy!!
I wonder if there was a change in management...
...to account for your different experience.  Something for potentials to consider.
As much as things change
there, yes it will change again, for better or worse, who knows, I sure don't.
Is Webmedx going to change all their
accounts to VR like Transcend is doing? I work for Transcend and am going to find another job due to that fact. It's a pity cause I liked my job until that happened. Webmedx sounds good, but if they are gonna do the same thing, I won't go there.