the key factor would
Posted By: an on 2008-02-04
In Reply to: That is ridiculous! They have an "abundance" of work this week - TTUSA
be do they consistently have an abundance of work?
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Luck is a factor
but are MT companies all so bad? If you have been at 10 companies in 10 years, and all were bad, that is very bad luck and I feel for you. I've been with only 1 company for the 2-1/2 years I've been doing MT and have had no problems with them. Good account, good supervisors, good pay, occasionally run low on work, but rarely. I get very nervous reading that so many companies out there are horrible. Actually a lot of people think my company is horrible from the posts I read here, but it hasn't been for me. I'm going to be nervous if I have to look for a new job.
There must be a personal talent factor to it. SM
So many say they lose money, I'm another who definitely makes more editing, i.e., significantly more than double the line count, but then I'm not a fast typist, so shifting a lot of the emphasis from fingers to reading and editing decisions works for me. Now, if only I had fast fingers, too...
definitely a deciding factor there. I am already stressed
with my current situation and huge cut and turned down a few other offers b/c high ESL would be MORE stressful, so good to know. thanks so much for the heads up...are you a TT?
It's that 'ol GREED factor, again! - no/msg.
x
you didn't factor in what you would have spent
working in an office - clothes, shoes, gas, vehicle wear-and-tear, driving in bad weather, lunches, travel time (what's your time worth to you), make-up (I only wear make-up when I'm going out), laundry (I wear my sweats twice before washing), office donations/kids selling stuff, manicures/pedicures, pantyhose (I count that separate from clothes cuz it's a PITA to wear).
Then there's all the stuff you miss out on cuz you're working - kids' school programs, ball games, dance recitals, on and on.
I'd love to make more than 9 cpl, but the truth is a lot of us don't even make that. You have to weigh the good with the bad. I'd rather make a little less than have all the stuff above to deal with. I never got in this biz to become a millionaire. I got it in to be home and I wouldn't give that up for a few extra bucks!!!!
Some things to consider that factor into line rates. sm
There are two sides to this. The larger companies like MQ, Spheris, Transcend, Keystrokes, et AL have a lot more accounts and more volume so they make their money on volume and can pay more. They also have more overhead than smaller MTSOs and need payroll people, recruiters, benefits people, etc.
But here is what no one considers: If I pay someone 0.09 per line, I have to pay taxes and unemployment on them. My portion is 15% between SS and unemployment. Benefits such as PTO and the portion I pay for insurance and 401K (there is a fee to the employer to have someone run it at the company that you have your 401K with), etc cost me approximately 22% more. So actually, 9cpl + 37% = 12.3cpl. Add the cost of doing payroll, bank fees, liability insurance, etc. and there is not a whole lot left over. Most hospitals will not pay more than 13cpl, some 14cpl. My break-even is 13.2 cpl. This is normal; I talk to many MTSOs at MTIA meetings and on my own. The big ones above are the only ones that make a lot of money, but their companies produce a lot of lines every month.
Do I make good money? Yes, but I put in a lot of time getting accounts and keeping them happy, doing the juggling act to keep my employees busy on good accounts. Payroll takes time, recruiting takes time, sales take time PLUS a lot of accounts take a lot of day-to-day work.
I am not complaining about being an MTSO, I just want you to know that there are two sides to everything and the industry changes prevent us from paying more than 7 to 9 cpl. Factor in offshore driving our costs down and those companies that undercut everyone, and small MTSOs may go the way of 8-Track Tapes.
I see the industry going to just 10 companies or so and hopefully they can stay in business too with speech recognition, offshore and everything else that comes along.
Sure, factor it in, but no one knows what the future holds and MTSO has no control over those
:+
Agree. It' hard to use that as a rule-out factor nowadays.
Where you live doesn't factor in when you work with nationals.
When you work on-line, companies will pay the same regardless of whether you live in NYC or in some small town. I live in a small town and I am nearing $40,000 as an IC for 2 national companies. My pay is not based on where I live or my cost of living, rather on my production. I am paid 8 cpl, but because I use an Expander and can transcribe 250 lph, I make a decent wage.
This is only my third year as an MT and I have been with one of my companies for a year and a half and the other one for 8 months, so it doesn't take years and years. I did have to change jobs a few times though until I found the right companies and the right accounts that I could make money on. Some of the accounts I worked in the beginning had so many ESLs and the platforms were so slow that I knew I could never make any money there.
What you need personally to cover your bills should be the deciding factor. And what you MIGHT earn
m
The insurance cost is double for Transcend but insurance probably doesn't factor in for her.
I have heard more good things about Axolotl than Transcend, although it seems Axolotl may be less flexible with your schedule and someone told me that QA was pretty strict, which should not matter either if you have worked for a hospital and know what your QA score is.
Not unethical, when you factor in the unethical companies
She's just another MT trying to make a living like the rest of us. The old way of taking it 1 job at a time while you dump 4 fly-by-nights in order to find one that is honest and actually PAYS its MTs, can lead to lots of between-job time with no pay at all. MT has become a cutthroat business, and in order to stay in it, one has to sometimes turn the tables on these unscrupulous MTSOs. If EVERYONE did, you better believe they'd clean up their act pronto.
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