Can you cut your hours back at your current job and do MT at home PT? (sm)
Posted By: ss on 2006-06-25
In Reply to: scared to death...what to do - LavenderMT
This would be a way to break away some for your FT without actually giving it up and at the same time staying current in the outside world. Then if you had a PT or p.r.n. MT job at home, you could get a feel for how it would be.
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there is no way you can work 8 hours for 2 companies at the same time. My current
job requires 8 hours a day period, not a specific line count. Granted if you are working a job that does not require 8 hours, but only a minimum line count then fine, but not if you are REQUIRED 8 hours a day.
I do QA at home and just kind of lucked into my current job but (sm)
I also check jobs ads frequently and even occasionally apply for other part-time work. Most I have seen want you to have very recent MT work in the basic 4 or currently working as an Editor for last last 1 year or so. Not in all cases but that's what I've seen.
Not used to working 40+ hours and my back is
nm
Yes, I'm back. 3 hours=255 lines. Think I'm just a little upset here!!!!
No kids, husband gone 12 hours, you work at home? SM
Priceless! That sounds like the perfect arrangement to me. I'm not kidding, either.
Time saved working at home is about 2 hours
The time it takes to get up, shower, do make-up and hair, dress, get in the car and drive to work, then back home equals about two hours for me. I work a PT job along with a FT job at home. Plus money saved not needing to use a dry cleaners, keeping up the ward robe.
I do have assigned accounts and even those I can't get back within 24-48 hours at end of week. s
I think I need to have on-call coverage to help, but I don't have much time to train...I sometimes just think it takes less time to do it myself than to train someone new, but I'm just tired of working all the time. If I could find people who have so much experience that they can just be able to work and get it right by having a sample report and a template...hard to believe, but not everyone can do that....Also need a c-phone to access work on my system.
I work whatever hours I want, as long as I have the reports back in TAT...
I have assigned doctors...
Have done both, and still prefer at home, making more money and setting my own hours. (sm)
In-house your required to meet a productivity of nothing less here on the east coast of 135 to 155 lines per hour, not to mention the QA's done weekly!! Yes, weekly, random 10 reports per MT!! I never had a problem with the QA's always between 99.6% and 99.8%. But, you work straight, no talking, in your little box (I call it). Yes, the benefits are a perk, but not that much and I worked 2nd shift always, so it was 18% of my base wage. I am still making more at home productivity wise and take a break when I want to. But, like you said circumstances change. Good luck!!
Hated it. The office politics, the dressing up, the back-stabbing. I do in 4 hours what I did in 8
at home. That hospital environment with all those women backstabbing, worrying about how long other people took for breaks or lunch, who was in favor with the supervisor, who fit in with the cliques, UGGGGGGHHHHH! I can't believe I am saying this but MQ looks good compared to those days now that you got me to thinking. (Not that good pay-wise/benefit-wise though)
Going back home
It was awesome to see them visit back home and all the support they have there. Elliott's mom just makes me cry. Did you see when they were riding in the parade and his mom just hung her head and seemed so overwhelmed. She is so proud of her son. They are always showing their family/friends in the audience. I've been wondering about something though. Where are Katherine's friends? They show her parents all the time, but I don't recall seeing any of her close friends. Seems like she would have a ton there since she lives so close by.
Right-on.... if I went back it'd only be as an at-home
'in-house' person. I have no use for all the petty office rules, peering over shoulders, dress codes, politics, power-plays, etc. I'd rather have my cats as co-workers.
Love being back home...
but frustrating at times. Seems everyone wants my job. It's soooo easy they say. Now I'm not an expert by all means and I continue to learn as I go. Discipline is one of the keys...my poor house doesn't get cleaned anymore (I wonder when someone will notice).
And those moms who think I work at home and call on you to pick up their kids because their "working". That's my boiling point.javascript:editor_insertHTML('text',' ');
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Sure! As soon as I'm back from my summer home in the Hamptons!
Fine. Be sure to post back here in a year and tell me about her at-home job. nm
x
I worked at Home Depot awhile back
for 3 years in the paint department. I have done them all and also taught the classes on Sundays. You might want to call your local Home Depot and ask when they have their paint classes. Lots of information, and they should let you try out the techniques as well.
I have never had links on the left side. I have always had to go back to the home page to get them.
.
You're so right - I gave my notice - 5 more days & Im back home!!
I worked at home 9 years - back in an office for a year -cannot WAIT to be back home again. Office politics and BS, silly little rules that make no sense, traffic, hours less in each day because you spend that time commuting, people who care if you have a $200 purse or not...when you work at home you can still have friends, but you get to choose who you spend your time with!
My 8-year-old threw up on the way home from family celebration Christmas Eve, all over the back seat
Then threw up approximately every hour from 10:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. Christmas morning. Not the Christmas I had planned, up cleaning bodily fluids all night. Somehow Santa managed to come overnight, too. My husband, me and the 2-year-old didn't get the bug until last night, it's vicious! Hopefully that's all over now and we can enjoy the rest of our vacation!
Update on Tom kitty - we brought him home Saturday and he is back to his playful self today. SM
I brought him home from the vet on Saturday. He was still running a temperature, but it was much lower - 103. It had been 106 when we took him to the vet. He was still lethargic, but had started to groom himself. I have antibiotics I have to give him twice a day, by Sunday afternoon he was becoming playful again and was drinking a lot more and started to eat more. Today, he is back to his old self. Attacking my PC wires and walking on my keyboard, trying to get my fingers when I type.
I am so relieved! 
For us slow pkes---my best would be 3 hours, worst 6 hours - just depends on the dictator ,
I have to look up (i.e. Dr. names, addresses)...I have to do a lot of that and it majorly slows me down, without all that and good not too horrible dicators, in 1 hour I can do anywhere from 15-20 minutes of dictation.
But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit
you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.
That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT. Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day. My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive. If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.
Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs. JMO, tho.
If it's my fav doc with lots of shortcuts, 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours max
x
I see, we sit at the keyboard for 40 hours and then throw on 20 more hours
Is this how you do it? Me? I got a PT job so that if my FT job didn't have enough work to meet my needs financially, the two jobs together would.
They hired me to work a specific shift and that is what I am working. If they want me to type after I clock out, then I will happily do so.
I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
I do 2000 lines in 6 hours - so maybe 3 hours - nm
x
typing 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week
is TOUGH.
on my wrists I mean.
and not getting any benefits... and for a salary of less than 30K? not really worth it...
Current says:
q.i.d. is fine
q.8 h. is preferred, for clarity and ease of reading the number.
Don't eliminate the periods, don't use dangerous abbreviations, and don't use illegal abbreviations such as q.a.m. because they are Latin and English mixed.
Does that help?
Yes put current job. If it is your first
job you will need to show the experience to get another job. You don't have the give another company any particulars about why you are looking for another position/more work. Most just want to know when can you start and the hours you can work.
Nothing will ever be more current than SM
the Monthly Prescribing Reference. Google it and the link comes up. It's updated as soon as a drug is FDA approved.
My current favorite....
revises every sentence at least 3 times without fail. My first runner up dictates on a cell phone, drops every other call, and spells out every other word in case I don't know how to spell anything with more than 6 letters.
any other current nyers on here - I went to the
state board out of curiousity and there are very few. Does New York have a shortage of transcriptionists???
Just curious - if there are NY'ers - where in NY do you live? 
What is your current screensaver?
Mine's a beautiful aquarium (XP Plus!) except I only have three fish - you have to pay for more and I just don't wanna.
are you current with your dues?
'Nuff said.
Not really. Why don't you ask for a raise at your current
employer if you're happy there? How long have you been there?
Current Breitner MTs.
Are there are any CURRENT Breitner MTs out there? Would like to talk. Please reply. Thanks.
Poll: Age/Sex of current MTs
My theory is that the majority of MTs working today are in their 40s or 50s and are female.
Am I correct? We shall see....
RE: Poll: Age/Sex of current MTs
Divorced, age 52, male, long-time Transcriptionist (>15 years)
Not with current gas prices ...
I wouldn't. And you are talking about a total of 4 hours of driving per day, 20 hours per week, that you don't get paid for. You don't say where you live, but do you get snow, ice, etc. in the winter? That would be a nightmare.
It's good money, but personally I don't think it's worth it.
I have current QA contractors.
It would be cheaper still yet to give them a good raise and let the offshore MTs do the work, or so it looks on paper.
Just weighs heavy on the mind.
Current Listings
Does anyone use these boards anymore? The most current post I see is 3/22/07.
More yrs in than you & I get 8.5 w/current employer. Have gotten 9 cpl in
,
Probably so. And my current one. And past one, too.
They might as well - they don't seem to have anything more productive with the time they spend in their plush offices behind closed doors. Unless maybe it's napping.
With our current administration, just about anywhere
Except the middle east, of course. We shoulda' nuked it all off the map on 9/12/01.
Not me. I was actually intimidated by my current
company. They haven't laid down a lot of the rules in writing, or even verbally, but several other MTs have told me how it is. They are very strict and I got fussed out because I didn't respond to an IM immediately. I'm still on probation for another 2 weeks and I'm curious if I'm doing what they except of me (my QA scores are great so I know I'm doing quality work) and they have nothing to say to me, or they are waiting until probation is over and then will lay everything on the line.
I think maybe most companies seem strict at first because they want you to understand you can't have 24 hour TAT. Some companies allow a long TAT, most don't. I know a lot of MTs who work for spending money and aren't interested in FT work, yet they take FT positions and then don't work a required schedule.
I also think that if you produce a minimun line requirement, produce a good product, aren't constantly taking time off, etc. that the company will cut you some slack. Good reliable MTs are scarce these days.
Any current info on SS?
I read a lot of bad about SoftScript on here, but all of it was 2 or 3 years old. I'm wondering if anybody has any current information about the company they'd be willing to share. I've been talking to them about a job doing editing work and am curious to know if their reputation has improved at all. Thanks.
current pay scale
I am an IC with 30 years experience. I am currently making 12 cents a 65 character line with no benefits, no time off, no taxes taken out, which is nothing compared to what I used to make in the hospital with all benefits.
None of us make enough, nor are we appreciated for our speed, knowledge and hard work.
Good luck! I hope you get your raise. You deserve it.
My kids have suffered greatly from me working at home with them home. SM
I have been working at home as an MT since my two kids were born. They are now 4 and 5. In the first few years, I had no help whatsoever. Their father was a bum who didnt work or take care of them while I worked. Your children get neglected while you work basically. And babies and young children desperately need your attention while they are home with you.
My kids have so many behavioral problems right now because of their neglect. I would try to set them up with things to occupy themselves, like coloring or a movie, etc.
I finally put them in day care and things have improved, but there are still a lot of issues because of the damage that was done. They still try to seek attention by doing bad things and they dont listen to me because they are so used to me letting them get away with a lot of stuff because I was too busy typing to discipline them in their early years.
If I could do it all over again, I would definitely have put them into day care from the very beginning.
My advice would be to seek PT care for your baby. Maybe you can do some work around her schedule a little when she is home, like when she takes a nap, and then bang out a bunch of work while she is in day care.
I enjoy being alone at home, but I've got one home sick from school already.
One on one with a kid is nice, too.
This summer has been absolutely crazy. I haven't had a moment to myself for three months because all of my kids were home traipsing their friends through the house and yard. My husband switched his work schedule, too, so he's around more than usual. However, I like not having to do two loads of dishes and four loads of laundry a day. There are no toys or clutter dragged out everywhere. I can clean the house first thing in the morning, and it stays clean until everyone gets home at night.
I even got to relax with a cup of coffee and watch TV for half an hour this morning, something I liked for a change instead of cartoons or kids' movies. I signed up for an online class that I've been wanting to take. I can exercise without being interrupted. Yesterday, I went to the mall and spent all my saved up gift cards. I got some clothes, books, bath stuff, and a new coffee mug. My work gets done a lot faster, too. Call me nuts, but I've never had the luxury of being alone in the house for 14 years. It's kinda nice. I love my family with all my heart, but I love having a few hours to myself each week, too.
Except now the cat and dogs have been acting weird since the kids went back to school. They must think that I need someone or something to clean up after and correct behavior on. They're getting into everything and racing around the house behind me.
my take is that she worked inhouse, not at home, and now wants to find out how to work at home. nm
x
Forget "per line." Your take-home pay should be taking home SM
roughly what it was before. If it is not, is it because your current pay rate for editing (which in many companies keeps changing as the VR system is developed) is too low or is it because your talents and skills are more for speed typing than speed editing?
If the first, discuss it with higherups, and go get a new job if you don't get the response you need. My last MTSO was secretly refiguring how production was counted to pay us less. I can accept hard reality, it was the secrecy that burned. Sometimes, though, it's just that the learning curves of individual editors and that of the system aren't in sync, and you end up temporarily making less.
If the second, though, recognize it as soon as possible and change to straight transcription work, in your company or a new one, for as long as you can find it.
As for why we aren't paid more for a higher skill, that's just the way the labor supply ball bounces. Best wishes.
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