I spent over 2 evenings testing

Filling out their interview questions, answering questions about my computer, and it would be just my luck they would either send an e-mail in just four  words, "we can't use you" or not send one at all.  That would just bite. 

The test was not really difficult just that I have no control over it, I cannot speed it up, slow it down.  I kept stomping the floor looking for my nonexistant foot pedal. LOL.  I am afraid there might be something I missed on the test.

Here I wanted to apply for a few more companies to see if one could offer me a better deal than another, but I bet I will have to go through the same thing, and I am not real sure I want the job.  What if they offer too low of pay?  What if their line quote is too high? 

That is my vent.  whew.!!!!  I am going to bed.

• I spent over 2 evenings testing - applicationt
  • I feel your pain. I have 30 years experience, - Resume
    • yeah, ditto, not to mention - sm

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

no matter what a company wants, be it ESL specialist, etc., the best test to give ANY applicant is one that is not planned, one given right on the spot, verbal, one that has not been scheduled so the person has had no time to get nervous, but throw about 15-20 questions at them, general knowledge for their level of skill, and it can tell you wonders about their knowledge that is retained!! I actually find that the retention rate of folks hired this way is actually higher than intense testing given by some of these larger national companies.  We all know that it takes sometimes a couple of weeks for even the best MTs to understand (I am speaking of the ESLs or bad dictators).  There are some companies that give these as tests and what does that tell?  Tells nothing and means nothing!  Some of these that do well on these actually cannot do the work.  How do we know that these folks have not actually had someone else do the test for them?

I find the best way is to pull a pop test on the spot in the middle of the interview and it works!  Don't ever give the same questions to two separate applicants.  Have a database of questions to pull from.  Score from the ones you ask and move on from there.  If the person cannot do the work, you know it in a day. 

I believe it was the old EDiX that used to give over the phone questions, but they still scheduled this and people had time to get nervous.  This way there is no time and well, you would be surprised at what folks actually do know...and in some cases...what folks actually do not know when given multiple choice, but to me this is an excellent way of testing, takes very little time, which I personally consider to be too valuable to waste 3-4 hours on a test, which someone who is experienced and has worked for 10 to 15 years in the field should not be required to do anyhow, should not be asked to do.  When you have worked 12 hours during that day for a company (and some have), why should they have to take 4 hours to do a test?!

Think about it!!

I have recently spoken to other recruiters from other companies and they have agreed with me on this and I hope it catches on because it certainly is less time consuming and tells you all you need to know without giving them the actual work to do.

and work on building your expander, macros, etc. you could get your line count up faster.  Don't know if you have a line per day committment or hourly committment, but if you have lines you can get them finished quicker with a better expander and have more time to play or do whatever.  I am NOT a morning person, but I feel so much better when I do make myself get up and then by 9:00 I've made my line committment and I've got the rest of the day to do what I want/need to do and if I need more lines I can work an hour or two after dinner.   I almost feel like I have a 3-day weekend because I'm finished so early that on Friday I'm done early, my DH has an early day at work and is home by 10 usually so we have an almost full day to play.  

Reassess your situation.  What were your reasons for coming home to work?  If you didn't have to work at all, would you spend all day sitting in front of the TV watching all that mindless garbage and letting the housework go?  Maybe you're burned out or depressed.  Maybe you just lack self-discipline as somewhat else suggested and you really need structure.

Just some things to think about.  Working at home isn't the fairly tale that most people think it is. 

trying to get my supervisor to understand I DON'T NEED TO BE TYPING IN 10 HOSPITALS!

I need to be left in one hospital that I can learn. That means I need to know the surrounding doctors, doctors in other hospitals, streets, area SNFs, all that comes with the territory.

I never got one glimmer of hope that she understood.  Dense as a brick.

That's what happens when you have people in charge of MTs who HAVE NEVER TRANSCRIBED!

They think we can just sit down.........turn on the "machine" and just spit out transcription because we know medical terminology.  WELL SORRY - IT DOESN'T HAPPEN THAT WAY.

Yet they want HUGE LINE COUNTS.

They aren't going to get good TATs or HUGE line counts flipping me from one hospital to another at THEIR LEISURE. 

Somewhere along the line they have me CONFUSED WITH A MACHINE

Have you tried the realtor sites?  If you are looking to rent, use rent.com, apartmentguide.com, forrent.com.  Also, go online and look at the online newspaper for that area.

The price of real estate is ridiculous there because of the demand. We once looked at a mobile home and I kid you not, the insulation was hanging out the bottom, no skirting, chickens running around, and the neighbors horses within 5 feet of the back door (free flies too).  They wanted 800 a month with 2400 to move in.  Even the apartment prices are pretty high for what you get there. 

I agree--this is a losing battle.

The world is becoming one big place and I foresee a time when you'll not be identified as a citizen of a country but rather an employee of a company. Government is not supposed to be micro-managing business or our lives. Social responsibilities should be handled at the "ground level"--where we live, work, and worship. When the churches stopped doing the social work needed, government stepped in and now government is not doing the job so who's next--companies. There are many companies that are doing the right thing.

There is so much energy being spent here on trying to stop change. That's just not possible. You would better serve yourself if you would adapt to the change in whatever way necessary so that you are ready when it happens.

listening to papers shuffle!  Even when I fast forward these annoying reports there are minute-long paper shuffling that goes on and on throughout the paper!  I wish these doctors would get organized!

thanks for vent.

I spend more time on the electronic, computer, mechanization of this stuff - I can't even do transcription.

I use to think being a hooker would be bad, but now I'm having second thoughts.  And I definitely am having doubts that "creature comforts" are worth the pain of living in the so called civilized world we are in now. 

Oh yeah, by the way, I spent 2 hours on hold altogether just trying to get to a tech support at NORTON! an hour trying to get tech support for my internet provider, another 6 hours screwing around with the computer - 2 hours the other day just moving it from one room to the other.

I am so out of here!  They (the MT companies) can find some other *patsy* to sucker these costs onto.

in my computer.  Eventually I couldn't even use Email.

It took hours and hours of being on hold to get tech support at Norton/Symantec!  Then they were all Inidan/Chinese/French - couldn't understand a word they said!

They were having me call my internet provider - internet provider making me call Norton - back and forth back and forth! grrrr

Finally they sent me to www.symantec.com/symnrt and I had to literally break my computer down and rebuild it. 

My computer kept saying "you are already running a Symantec program on your computer....then it said you have done an illegal action/every time I did anything!....then it said the Configuration Wizard is still working (had to figure out how to turn that stupid thing off....it changed the settings in my internet options panel/I never touched it but when internet provider looked in there it had totally been changed.

I couldn't update my LIVE UPDATE! Whatever it was kept locking me out of dialing out or loading the new updates which of course left me vulnerable to viruses.

I have Windows98 - but the Norton Antivirus program is for both Windows XP and 98.

Good luck if you have Norton!

booze - really knocks you for a loop. 

What most don't realize is while there are laws protecting your medical data in the United States, these laws are unenforceable overseas.  So basically, a patient's supposedly "protected health information" isn't really protected at all once it electronically crosses the borders out of the U.S.  I think it is important that all patients be aware of this fact and have a say whether or not they want someone in India having access to their medical data!

I've been talking to a newspaper reporter in my area who is interested in running a story on this subject especially because I have firsthand knowledge of a local hospital who is outsourcing all of its transcription to a MTSO that offshores to India.  I'm very excited because I've been pushing for public awareness of this subject for a while and I feel like I'm finally on the threshhold of effecting real change in my little part of the industry.

Anyway, change has to start with us, the MTs.  We are MTs and we are patients.  We have valuable knowledge as MTs about what happens to our protected health information and we should pass that knowledge on to those patients who don't have the benefit of being employed in the healthcare industry and are unaware of what happens to all that electronic information that makes up their medical record.  I've told my whole family to ask "who does your transcription" at the doctor's office, the hospital, etc.  When the doctor's office or the hospital hands you a HIPAA disclosure, that's your opening to ask questions about who all sees your medical record, who does the transcription, and is your medical information protected even if it is sent to India to be typed.

Okay, that was my soapbox speech for the day. 

I hate it when I spend so much time looking up things I do not know (terms or medications, or even a referring or copied doctor's name and address) and then the doctor changes his/her mind and says to just take that back out.

Or, you spend all that time looking things up and researching, then at the end they say 'Oh, by the way, here's all the information you just wasted your time looking up.'

Ggggrrrrrrrrrrr. 

I'll be back to rant more later because this has REALLY been getting on my nerves lately, and seems to be happening a lot more often.

My company has been having conference calls on one of my accounts in which they request that you attend (they take roll call) to learn new rules, changed rules, updates, etc. on the account.  This has turned into a real pain because it takes so much time out of your production that day.  They say it will become more "routine" as time goes by because of the volume of the rules, etc. 

I was wondering, do any others have had that situation and, if so, have you been compensated for that time? 

I should note, I am an employee, not an IC, and am paid by the line.

Thanks!  

I am testing on Friday for a new job. I need this job very badly, because of the benefits. If anyone has any suggestions on where I can find some practice tests(written exams), please let me know! Thanks.