Been trying to find steady MT work for 8 months now, at least
Posted By: SM on 2009-02-06
In Reply to: Anyone else having trouble finding a job?? I have over 16 years of experience, sent out at least 10 - DistressedMT
At first, no one would even respond. A few months ago I decided to take ANYTHING from anyone who actually did respond.
I'm used to getting paid 10 cents a line for the past 12 years, but when I did get a bite from a company, I took it, even at 7 cents and 8 cents because at that point I was STARVING and worried about making my house payments and paying my utility bills!
Now do you know what the problem is? All three frickin companies have very little to NO WORK available. This is consistent.
Now, at 7 and 8 cents a line and barely squeezing out any work between three DIFFERENT companies (even though they KNOW I am available to do any and all work they have), I am just about as bad off as I was before finding these jobs.
I know nothing else and have no college education, BUT I do know my job backwards and forwards, research skills, terminology, pharmacology, anatomy and physiology and everything else that goes with being a good, experienced MT.
Do you think I am getting paid for this experience? No. Times are bad right now, but they've been bad for me for many, many months. I just don't know what I'm going to do anymore. I rue the day I went to school for this godawful so-called profession.
Every day wake up, raring to go, hopeful there will be SOME kind of work available, at least to make $80 or $100 a day, AT LEAST.
But every day I end up stressing out, worrying, continuously being broken down because even though I'm a hard worker and a darn good MT, I am treated like low-class scum by my creditors because all my bills are late & I can't pick up the phone anymore due to bill collectors on my back. Believe me, I paid all my bills on time every time when the work was abundant and I WANT to pay my bills, but good intentions don't pay the bills. Neither does little to no work at a lame 7 or 8 cents a line.
I also have little food in the fridge or pantry, and things are beginning to be shut off left and right.
I don't know...
It's just extremely frustrating and stressful. I can't live like this anymore but have no way out.
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steady work...gearing up to start new account....but there was no work on Tues as it was a holiday
Be patient with your eyes open....
steady work
I have steady work during the week and don't need to work weekends, but my husband's job and paychecks have been hit by the economy, so I'm adding some weekend work at least through the end of the year to help make up for it.
I would go where you are sure you will have steady work all the time.
:
That was my point. There will never be any steady work for anyone with TAT at 1 hour
I'm certainly not going to be sitting at the computer 24/7 waiting for reports to trickle in. We are so stupid to be putting up with this. Why do we stay?
I, too, work for MQ out of one of their CA offices - 7 years now. Steady workflow sm
I wouldn't say I don't run out of work, but maybe 3 times a year I do. Just depends. Around school time beginning I do. May pay is probably above average because the company I worked for that MQ bought paid really well.
I have had absolutely no problems with MQ, though the things I keep hearing and seeing do bother me that I belong to a co. like this. But personally, they've been too good to me.
I guess not all offices are the same, for sure!
I need help finding a good company with steady work..sm
that pays a minimum of 10 cents a line. I have been an MT for 27 years and I take pride in my work. Things have changed at my current company and cherry pickers have taken over so I end up doing all the reports no one else wants to do. This takes me longer and my line count is suffering. I know there have to be good companies out there that pay well and need good employees. I have left my email address if anyone would like to offer me some hope and share names of companies. Please no flames, I am just an honest MT wanting an honest job with decent compensation. Thanks for any help.
My dad owns a dental lab - GOOD money, steady work, very tedious though
nm
I find it odd that no one knows what the MQ incentive plan is and wont for several months but
you have been hired on the new incentive plan. Somehow I am sorry but this whole thing just doesnt ring true. I just doesnt gel with what we were just told by email and snail mail by the CEO.
Nope...MDI-MD...no work x 2 months!
Yes, but I did not work for almost 6 months during my daughter's chemo -sm
my income drastically tanked from late March through Sept. (I made about $300 a month in that time period), plus I have never worked FT for them (i.e. 90 minutes a day). I am now doing about 75 minutes a day though + an account of my own on the side now, so doing about $2K a month now. So I expect this year to be a bit higher in the income level. Only 1 person works FT for them as far as I know, most people are PT, its all IC so it really does not matter. But there is always work left over every day that wasn't farmed out to somebody to do.....and they are getting new doctors every day which is great I think.
Work some holidays - don't really mind during the winter months, but
when summer rolls around, I am at the beach on the holidays and do not work them. As an IC, we get nothing extra as far as $$ just the extra work.
Can't complain - have plenty of work all of the time.
Just return the work, submit your bill, the scurry and find more work elsewhere. sm
They will never meet with you before next week. It is Thursday, already. Be prepared to sue for payment, because you will probably need to. But, most of all, find other work elsewhere, because I have a feeling this final payment will be a long time coming.
1099 form? I did IC work for an MT company a few months (smsg)
in 2007. Shouldn't I be receiving a 1099 form from them for tax purposes? I haven't yet and am wondering if I should contact them. I paid my quarterlies. I thought the law was they had until 1/31 to send it.
Slow and Steady
I too do not name myself a typist. i have learned many moons ago it is not speed that gets you the clients - it is accuracy. I may do between 15-400 lines per hour depending on the client and format, etc. But because my accuracy is way up there I have not lack for work ever, and my clients know that a kind referral is always a pleasure. I have private clients and work for MTSO - and enjoying watching my lines go up and down on my time, at my pace.
I gauge my counts from day to day and know if I need to put in a bit more to make my bills. I do not worry about how others may or may not be making $45.00 an hour. I only believe what I make and know what I can earn. Line counts will pick up when you concern yourself more with accuracy and stop thinking about the numbers all the time.
Steady eddie
I like your attitude! :-)
agree with U steady eddie, and bet if they were paying (sm)
downtime - they'd THINK TWICE and hire appropriately!
Can't find any work
I guess I need to start over as a newbie. Can anyone tell me the companies that hire new MTs? I have a lot of experience, but not acute care. Maybe, with my experience, I can start at the ground level at one of these companies that does not require experience with acute care. All the work at my company is gone, the docs editing their own reports now.
I don't get this. Why would somebody be obliged to find work SM
for other MTs because she has a good job?
"When they find out they have not work"?
And no question mark?
Wow...
Try to find an office you can work out of where other MTs can help you out!
nm
I work 2nd not 3rd but I find taking a nap
just prior to start of shift makes a big difference is my staying power and alertness through the shift. I usually take a 30-minute _power_ nap. Yes, I keep the same schedule on my off days unless family members force me to get up early! Then I just take a longer nap during the day! My productivity has increased from 1100 lpd to 1800 to 2000 lpd since I switched shifts. No one else on the systems helps a lot!
Do you find there is more work at those times
and less stressful because of a good workflow?
I think you need to find a different line of work.
Never did TrimSpa, etc. just talking about dieting in general. Slow and steady is preferred way
s
Don't work for a national. Find a small
MTSO that pays well. They are out there, as long as you hold up your end of the bargin. I left my hospital job to work for a national, several nationals now but who is counting. I found a small company and finally am making the $$$.
Good luck to you.
Can't find work...should I start a business?
I am about to finish up my certification at a local college and have been extremely disappointed to find that it seems no one is going to hire me to work for a company because I don't have 2+ years experience....even though I've spent the last 2 years transcribing school work....I am trying to decide if I'd just be better off to take what I've learned and try to start my own business. Financially, I am able to do it, but I'm just not sure how much of a headache it might be. What should I do? I kind of feel like I've wasted a lot of time and money. I'm pretty confident that I can do the work, but how can you prove that to someone who just wants to know if you have experience? I just don't know what to do.
How do you find a balance in this type of work...
with family, friends, hobbies, etc and still have time to type! Is it possible, if so, how?
Finally steady money. whew. Applied and got job at Dept of Law Enforcement entering
They started me way above minimum because of my experience. I was shocked and happy all at the same time.
And of course I'm esctatic to not be wondering how much money I would be getting each pay check. Working on production in transcription now is like playing Russian Roulette.
There's good benes where I going, retirement, sick days, no games with my health insurance. I should have done this long ago.
How to find legitimate work as an independent contractor?
I work about 25 hours per week for a company, making 7.5 cpl. I'd like to try supplementing with some IC work to try to make more per line. How do you go about scouting out legitimate work?
Thanks...
Does anyone know where you find work transcribing talk shows, CNN, FOX, etc.?
I've been doing medical transcription for years and thought it might be a change of pace to try transcription of that type of work. Does anyone know of a company that transcribes that type of work?
Supposedly more dfficult to find work as coder, than as MT.
zz
I've done all work types also and always find myself making more
doing radiology than any other work type.
I think it's mainly because it's more repetitive than the other work types.
With your three years experience, you should do fine jumping back into it.
Good luck.
So what do you do to keep motivated to type during the work day? Sometimes I find it so hard to...
stay focused. When you're working at home it is soooo easy to turn on the TV, take frequent breaks to answer the phone, talk to hubbie, play with the kids, take a hot bath, play solitaire on the PC, surf the net, post on a message board, etc.
I just wondered if anyone had any miracle cure for the wandering mind?
You can find different work gloves in Office Max, Best Buy, Staples,
s
I also live in Georgia - how did they find out you work from home?
NM
I am extremely curious as to what new hires do when they find out they have not work. Do they quit,
do they get transferred, what happens to them.
Does anyone find the search feature on this board doesn't work right?
I can't ever seem to find the old posts that I know are there by using the search feature. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?
When work gets slow and you're switched to unfamiliar dictators does anyone besides me find it ha
nm
I *only* make $40K a year for full time work. Now I find that isn't decent is or fair?
nm
$32K/part time 6 months/full time 6 months
I have kept my child home with me half the year, but when pre-K started I began working full time. Helps to only have a main account and one backup account for the 2nd year now, so my abbreviation program rocks and rolls when I focus.
go to chat room on web site and find out. i'm working but if you find out, let me know.
creepy dude.
my take is that she worked inhouse, not at home, and now wants to find out how to work at home. nm
x
I find most of my abbreviations here. Scroll all the way down until you find the abbreviation box.
http://www.mtchat.com/frame.php?frame=message
I have been doing VR for 6-7 months.
The system has not improved in that time and it is much more time consuming to edit VR than to transcribe. I believe the companies are selling VR to the doctors saying it will eventually be perfected and dictation will be done cheaper and quicker. Right now that is definitely not the case at this point in time. On the other hand, VR for banking and other services seems to be working well. I do believe it's the future of transcription but for now it leaves a lot to be desired and is very, very tedious and kind of nerve wracking if you are used to transcribing. 
On the other hand, for someone who cannot transcribe but has medical terminology course, you may be able to make some money on VR and I suspect that is exactly what companies have in mind when they push VR. Eventually all MTs will be replaced by MEs (medical editors) at a lower line rate. I have seen as low as 4 cpl posted for editing so for someone who wants to work at home, I guess that's good enough especially if you can't transcribe all that well utilizing expanders, etc.
I have been there 5 months and have never (sm)
been happier. They are great!!
Sure! It took me 3 months to get (sm)
good at MT (no formal training, just science background); like you, I sort of fell into it -- was getting divorced and leaving grad school, needed a job, had done transcription at temp jobs, so saw an ad and jumped -- made a grand total of $300 the first month, 10x that after 3 months. There is only one other job I've ever had that kept me as interested as MT -- working as a paralegal doing insurance defense work. I love the challenge of researching a new piece of equipment, I love hearing people's stories, and I adore working at home and avoiding all the politics and other garbage of a worksite. I love working all night when the work is plentiful and breaking my days up how I like. What's not to like?
I like it. I have used it for a few months
and it is very easy to get used to. The only thing I don't like is it doesn't spell check your work until the end, I'd prefer to have it checked as I go along, like in MS Word.
About 2 1/2 months here
My biggest problem is in the evenings. I am so sick that all I want to do is lay down and sleep until it passes. I work two jobs, so I am having the difficulties you are talking about. I am moody, too. This is my first experience with this while being an MT, so I'm right there with you on not knowing what to do. Good luck!
At the very least 6 months
It is absolutely overwhelming in the beginning. Worked in-office and tried to quit my first day after a half hour! How lucky I was to have a patient supervisor and kind co-workers. (Plus good references that actually showed sample reports--so helpful to see what the ''finished product'' should look like.) I hated my former job so I just kept coming back, reading everything available, and taking terminology classes. Maybe I was a ''slow study'' but after around 10 months, things started to make sense.
As a new MT myself, not quite 6 months
on the job yet, I take any and all feedback with a grain of salt. The tone of the e-mail does not bother me as long as useful information is being given. I did not graduate from one of the top 3 schools either, so I appreciate the opportunity to work and learn at the same time. Feedback often makes you feel degraded and dumb to a degree, but let us face it, we are. We are ignorant to the world of MTing. We do not know everything. We learn daily. Once you begin implementing the advice given you will probably find that critical e-mail will lessen. Also, trainers often do not have the time or resources to be "sweet" to everyone they train. Their primary responsibility is to make you the best MT you can possibly be. Learn, grow, and do not take it all to heart. Good luck.
I did for 6 months sm
a loooonnnnngggg time ago when my kids were tiny. I started out pouring the models but had to leave due to babysitter issues. There is very good money to be made there. Based on production but I believe they pay by the hour. Go for it. Not any more boring than MT can be at times. Around here if you can paint the porcelain teeth, the pay is close to $20 an hour.
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