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IT people aren't paid well where I live, and I'm not

Posted By: IT2MT on 2007-11-23
In Reply to: So are IT people not paid very well, - Z

willing to move to where the money is. The job market is saturated here with qualified IT people, so we fight tooth and nail for a $12/hr job requiring a college degree. I wouldn't say I'm unusually productive at MT. I use ShortHand as an Expander and stick to smaller MTSOs with decent accounts.


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if you live among trashy people, low income people, people w/o goals or direction,
content to just get by, you by default become a part of a group. "people" have decided to group trailer people as trash. that is because there are enough people in that group to earn the title and even if you aren't trash, you are categorized by others. did i think i was trash in lower class neighborhood surrounded by people who drank and fought all weekend? no but i knew i wasn't staying and did not try to pretend that all the fools in the neighborhood were just nice folks who ended up where they were because high horse snobs deemed their neighborhood low class. people for the most part live exactly where they belong because they don't want to educate themselves, they don't mind "trash" around them and they don't want to be bothered trying just a bit hard to extract themselves from that world. they justify everything to themselves i guess saying everyone who doesn't like their lifestyle is a snob and the comedians (Jeff Foxworthy/Chris Rock, etc) who make fun of them are just ill-informed.

As for me, I fought hard to get out and don't even want to look back. It amazes me people stay for generations.
why yes the quality of air where i live is quite different than where the city people live.
Lots of pollution.  That's why everyone is moving away from the city and areas zoned for multiple housing units and low income housing and trailer parks.  Population is dense and near manufacturing.  So yes, the air is different but millions of people pay a little extra for the quality, the space and privacy afforded to those who move out of polluted crowded areas such as you defend.  There is always a reason why some areas and housing is cheaper than others.  Maybe it is the air and maybe it's something you can't quite put your finger on but you know you would prefer not to live in certain areas.  You know what I mean or are you living in one of those areas?  They tell after awhile you block out the sounds, the smells and get used to the pollution.  I don't know.  I didn't stay long enough to test the theory.  My mental and physical health is way too important to me. 
It's because we aren't paid enough to

wow - where do you live? I only paid $600 PLUS crown (sm)

Crown was about 800.


That's what people who aren't college material always say.
Sour grapes.
Aren't you people confusing SS with disability?

I was under the impression that there was no limit on income when your retire on SS.  But, there is a limit if you are on SS disability.  And I believe that amount is around $900.  However, if you are on disability, they also count how many hours you work.   If you are making $900 or less, but working more than part-time hours (something like more than 16-20 hours), that could still disqualify you for disability.  So, I'm confused on this too.   But back to the SS retirement discussion, I thought back in the Clinton Administration, they passed legislation that made it more profitable for retirees to work once they started receiving their SS retirement.  I was glad to hear this as many retirees want to work and they shouldn't be penalized.  After all, the income taxe and SS taxe and Medicare tax goes into the big government kitty, so working retirees benefit everyone.  I'm a believer in keeping retirees busy and bringing in income if they so wish. Well, Doxie, I am on your side.  You asked a simple question and why some are beating up on you is puzzling to me.  You asked a legitimate question. But if you really need to keep it at $900 or less, just divide your line rate into $900, take that answer and divide by four, and that will be the amount of lines you want to stay under per week.  -


Thank you too! I'ts obvious that people aren't reading

into the reason for my OP.  I haven't even suggested this option to my son. He may very well say, "No way" or his favorite line lately, "Whaddevah." 


If it works, it works, if it doesn't, whaddevah. . . .on to plan B.


I won't stop until he's happy.  My original inquiry was not about opinions about homeschooling.  Geesh.


Probably people aren't too thrilled about being sick on weekends either. nm

I don't know where you people live
but in my neck of the woods if you are only making $20,000 a year, you are well below proverty level, with all the people who have quit from my old office, that is a drop in the bucket from what they gained from those salaries alone!!!
I think that other people who live in the same neighborhood
also bought their homes and paid good money for them. They have the right to look out their window that they OWN and not be forced to look across the street at Bozo's Big Top.
Some people live like this for years.....

The last time I got out of the hospital I couldn't work for almost two months, and that really set me back.  I'm single so have only one income, and a house payment with a second mortgage.  You can do a lot of things with beans, rice, potatoes.  There are loads of dollar stores and outlet stores almost everywhere...... Big Lots, Grocery Outlet, Wonder Outlet, day-old section in the grocery store... even meat from the day before if you get there early enough.  Sometimes right before bakeries close you can get bags or boxes or donuts and bread for almost nothing.  As for the ice cream, can't help you on that one.  Things are tough everywhere it seems. 


And why do we think that we deserve to live better than other people?

This country is plagued with consumerism and lots of people don't seem to know when enough is enough. We have garages for our cars and other stuff when people in other parts of the world don't even have anything close to our garages to live in. No where have I read that only Americans are entitled to all these luxuries that we seem to think we can't live without. (Having food, clothing, shelter and clean drinking water is considered a luxury in many parts of the world, so please don't use that as a bully pulpit.)


I, too, am tired of this argument! 


You can't judge people by what coast they live on....
I am originally from the East Coast and I am NOT a "nasty woman". The writer was cold hearted yes....but it doesn't give you the right to blame the East Coast. You could live anywhere...it depends how you were raised in the long run. I was taught to always treat others as I would expect to be treated...imagine that from an East Coast momma! Have a good day.
are there any websites that have live chat for MTs? that actually have people in them?
???
I am taking it that you live in my area..and people just don't get it here..
I know this is going to probably upset a lot of people on here, but at this point I have to take up for doxie. I believe she must live in the same area as me, and it is very, very rural..a place where you can barely make enough to survive.

Doxie, I have been an IC for many, many years and love working this way. If you would like to talk about it, please feel free to get in touch with me. I understand what it is like to have to live here and make a decent wage...and I can even tell you how to go about being an IC..which is what your original question was. :)
So are IT people not paid very well,
or are you unusually productive at MT because you can write true macros or something like that?
Well, then how come people could live comfortable on one income back then? huh?
x
Pay is very low and people had trouble getting paid. nm
 
trailer parks have long been the but of jokes about the people who live in them.
You know that. If you choose to live in a trailer park that is certainly your right but sorry the stigma is there and I nor the OP created it. There was a running joke about Paula Jones (Clinton's "friend") being trailer park trash. Why? I don't know as I do not live in trailer park nor do I want to because I don't want the stigma. I was looking at property in North Carolina and there was no zoning regulation so the property was across the street from a trailer park which brought property values down. I am not making this up nor do I create it. It is what it is. Oh, BTW, there is a new show coming on MTV, a parody I think of the home improvement shows, where a gay biker type grit, tries to rehab trailer homes. Hilarious. Again, I didn't make it up nor stigmatize trailer parks. Someone took a concept of their idea of people and their trailer homes and ran with it. There is also the same idea in Blue Collar TV with Jeff Foxworthy on Comedy Channel.

Bottom line, there is a stigma to living in a trailer park and you have to learn to live with that. I personally can't live with the stigma and do not entertain the thought of moving to a trailer park. I think it would be hard on my kids to have that trailer park stigma on them as they enter school.
I think I misstated it - the at home people live within an hour of the hospital - sm
this is what the hospital is absolutely positively trying to avoid - having people all over the country doing the job. If the equipment breaks, if there are meetings, etc. - these cannot be done with transcriptionists all of the country.
I don't know if they get paid but I know they limit the people who will buy with these crazy name

Can you imagine having to say I live at 555 Squirrel Run or 555 Wild Turkey Walk for the next 10-20 years?  Just the image of squirrels and wild turkeys alone would force me to look elsewhere.  Got any good names for streets? 


Question for QA people who are paid by the line.
I recently accepted a QA position that pays 3.5 cpl. I will be a full time employee with this company. What is the average amount of lines per pay period - that you are able to QA?

I know that this varies per person, but I'm trying to get a better idea of what I can expect to earn.

Thanks
I don't know! I've heard people live longer with a healthy sex life.
n
Yup, it's fact of life when people are paid on production..SM
I hate cherrypickers too, but part of me wonders from a devil's advocate point of view, what if everyone just refused to do the crappy dictators? Maybe they'd be forced to clean up their act. Because when you get right down to it, CRAPPY DICTATORS are the main problem causing cherrypicking, NOT the MT.
For QA consulting I'm paid per hour; QA instructing (college) paid salary, QA editing paid per li
I am an IC and work for two different MTSOs as well as instruct at a business college.
why no, i don't live in snobville. did you think you knew me? i live in heritage hills a suburb
it takes a little longer to get to work and shopping but thank god i have some privacy and am away from the congestion.  lovely trees and lakes all around.  maybe about 20 minutes to a large shopping mall.  but no, i don't even know where snobville is.
I know they live a long time, so if there is a chance they will out live you - sm
make sure you make provisions for them in your will. I have only had cockatiels and some finches, so don't really know anything about the bigger birds. I love African Grey's but they are very expensive.
if mt paid 9, editor paid 4 or 5...how can company charge 14 and make it..sm

I know the going rate in our area is 14 cents per line.  As MTs most companies here pay us 8 or 9 cents a line.  Now add in the Editor rate at 4 or 5 per line..you are paying OUT more than you can charge a line.  How would companies stay in biz?


Unless all work is sent by the company overseas at pennies per line, this would not pay for a company.


just curious how this works out


Live and let live. Don't force your lifestyle on me.
x
I used to live in MN now I live in MS and they were both cold last night!
Will take MS cold over MN cold any day, and I don't miss the snow. I miss the Mall of America, though!
I live in PA, can I help? If they are close to where I live, I would go check them out for ya!
Where in PA is this company?
But how much are the US EDs gonna be paid? Typically this work is paid at 2-3 cpl. nm
:+
You don't get paid an hourly rate you get paid by line - sm
so because of how you are paid (not an hourly rate) you don't get OT, especially if you are an IC.
I would move on. I think it is so unfair not to be paid for spaces! I think we should get paid

per keystroke, but that'll never happen.  I just think that these national companies are going to keep finding ways to cheat us.  I found a job working for a hospital as an employee, paid hourly plus incentive, and they let us expand everything!  Somebody's gonna have to kill me to make me give up this job.  I will never go back to the national's again.


I feel for you though.  I know that for us MTs those good jobs are few and far between and some have little choice but to work for the nationals.  I just happened to luck into the job I have now.  I just applied at the right time. 


Good luck to you whatever you decide.


If those companies paid a fair wage, and paid more
all came out equal, people wouldn't feel the need to try to make up the deficit by going for the good stuff. I actually prefer the harder, juicier reports. But I can't make a living doing only that, because the pay is not commensurate with the difficulty. So even though I prefer not to, sometimes I have to pick up some of the easier, more boring 'line-o-matic' reports just to make ends meet. Tell your MTSO to make it work their while, and MTs will stop taking all the easy work away that you obviously would prefer to keep for yourself.
You wont show UE being paid because it is employer paid -
the employee will never have to pay this.
What you "should" be paid and what you "are" paid

sadly are two very different things.  Good luck on demanding more..because someone else will just come along and take it for what they offer and they know it. 


You must live where I live. I ran into the same sort of SM
situation when I was the president-elect of the local chapter and the VP-elect of the state chapter. I bailed out. There was no fighting it.
LOL! Don't live in NH. Live in ConnectiTAX. LOL NM
NM
Can you live on 7.75 cpl or do you need 9.5 cpl. If I could live at the lower, that is what I
:+
10$ late if invoice is not paid within 10 days. At day 15 work stops until invoice is paid. Hardly
xx
Each state has different laws. Where I live, if I have clients in the same state I live in, yes I ne
have clients from another state, no I do not need a license. Every state is different. I checked with my attorney and the State Business offices.
so many people was wishy-washy nowadays...love to see people make
a stand for what they believe in...

it is kind of wierd those statements have to be made in the first place but guess we are an ever-transitioning country and are still young. so many different beliefs yet not much tolerance.

I found your post respectful, and right on as to how you feel. it does not seem that difficult to sift through to read and respond to messages someone might not care for...
Just remember that it is not the people on this board who short changed their people and ONLY after
caught did they (after they were suied) make an effort to look good by sending out these checks. Now, think about this--had they done this many years ago when they short changed everyone, that would have been honest. Does it not bother you that only after they know they are under the gun that they are doing this to try and make themselves look good?

I used to work for MQ and I used to like what I did. I never can say I really liked the people that I worked with, but I really think they had some of the best accounts that I have ever come across in the MT industry. I loved working the major teaching hospitals that I did, but that certainly does not mean that I enjoyed being cheated out of pay.

So chill already. People have been cheated, were lied to, and only AFTER they got caught have they tried to return some of the money they robbed us of (as well as cheated their clients).

We all have reasons not to be happy with this company and you go off on us because we are complaining of things like small refund checks of a penny or a few cents or a few hundred dollars and NO WAY to even check to find out if this is correct?

I am sorry you are unhappy all of us thinking that there is still a dead rat in the cellar, but there is still a dead rat in the cellar and nothing will bring the dead rat back.

I would hold no love for a company that I know willingly cheated the very people who helped THEM make money out of their hard-earned money.

Go take a deep breath and think about that.
My people skills are just fine. I just want to hire people who want to work.
I've not been ugly, I've asked questions, legitimate ones.  Please tell me what is wrong with that.  This site is not just for MTs, it is for QA Editors, Supervisors, Service Owners, there's even sections for Billers, Coders, and Nurses.   
rude people? I would take good pay over polite people any day
Besides that they have never been rude to me and I have been here for almost 2 years. What do you consider a bad account?

I know my account is a little tough, but I am used to it. I am tough!
Rude people? I hardly think so. They are some of the nicest people I have ever worked with. sm
Not just management, but QA as well. No one is rude. They are a very understanding staff. There is one account that is hard but all it takes is getting used to it. Once you are used to it, it is no harder than any other ESL account that you would do anyplace else. I have heard all these things about TH from the archives and I have yet to come across rudeness or any kind of thing that I have read about in the archives. I would definitely pursue them if I were you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
2 people to do that amount of work, is she nuts? More like 20+ people - nm
x
See how much fun we can have? We aren't always mean!
A little fun with typos can turn into a whole new city!
Why aren't we all doing something?
I have only seen 2 or 3 people say they are happy with MQ on this board. If we are so unhappy, why can't we band together and be heard?
Some are and some aren't, just like here.
nm