How long to stay with first MT job?
Posted By: Chloe on 2007-07-02
In Reply to:
I have a question that I have not really been able to get some sound advice on and was hoping the posters of this board could give me their opions. I would appreciate any views.
The question is how long would you stay with your first (low paying) MT job? I am starting to make some fair money now, but am spending 12+ hours per day to do it, which actually comes out pretty low per hour. While I do appreciate the opportunity to be working right after training, I also feel limited by not having two year's worth of experience yet to try to move on. Most places seem to prefer MTs with at least the two years experience. On the other hand, I am getting very good work experience where I am and do not run out of work. I can't keep up this particular pace forever for what I am earning overall. Would you wait out two years for the experience?
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Stay away!
I graduated from their program in October of 2008. The program was ok, but with limited availablity of instrutors. They rarely answered e-mails, and they take too long to score your quizes. Some of their rules were inconsistent as well. They also do not cover any modern transcription equipment, programs or techniques. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the eduction I received was insufficient, but it is nerely impossible to find a job after their program. I passed test after test, only to be told that my educational experience wasn't enough. I know that many people would tell you it is because the employers know that you can't do the job, but I feel it's because they are not familiar with the program. I finally got a job in the end of February, but that was after months of full-time searching. Honestly, this job was a miracle, and I love it. I won't go into it, but I didn't get this job by normal means. The truth is that unless you plan on working in an office for several years to get your foot in the door, USCI is a HUGE waste of your time and money. I ended up with an at-home job, but this is NOT the norm for their graduates.
Stay away from Accutran
If you are looking for a job, stay far away from Accutran. They do not pay on time EVER!!!!
Stay away from wireless...
...they're more trouble than they're worth. The ones I've tried have all had a slight delay before the sound reaches the headphones, which you can imagine is quite frustrating in this line of work.
Get one with a longer cord instead and you won't feel as tethered (though be careful not to roll over it with your chair!)
I recommend finding something with lots of cushioning around the ears for more comfort and better noise cancellation. A good one will cost a lot, but it's well worth it IMO.
stay away from Toth
Stay away from Toth transcription, this husband and wife team don't pay, Read the other posts. Good luck
stay away from Toth
Read all the posts about this company. Stay away from them, they are a scam, you work and work and will never be paid.
Looking and trying to stay hopeful??
Okay,..... so I am within a week of graduating from my Allied Medical Transcription course.. and have already started sending out a couple of resumes to a few different places.. but I'm finding it very discouraging that almost ALL the jobs require 'experience' .... anyone have a couple places that do paid internships? or will possibly give a NEWBIE a chance?? I live in Oklahoma... and to my dismay there are only like two transcription companies in the state.. that email addresses are valid.. I was considering going to the local hospital.. but not only does it pay honestly like 6.00 hr... I would have to pay for childcare... Yikes!? Any help out there?
Looking and trying to stay hopeful??
I am in the same boat. I graduated Dec 2007, no one will hire me due to lack of experience. How am I supposed to get the experience I need if no one will give me a chance. I am close to giving up now.
From some of the posts I've seen on here I'd stay away....
apparently the pay sucks....and you don't even get paid for at least the first month that you work there. It can be hard finding a job as a newbie, but it can be done. You just have to apply/submit your resume everywhere, even if they say they want experience and if they will let you test for them, take the test. That's how I got my job and I'm making 8 cpl. And I got hired by a national before I was even finised with school by a company that said they wanted two years of experience. Don't sell yourself short by just taking anything that comes along.
I'd stay away as they charge you to test, a big
red flag that they are probably not legit.
stay away from focus infomatics (sm)
there are many many posts about focus infomatics on this board. it is not a positive experience.
You don't renew your agreement. You just stay with them until
s
Total scam, stay away - sm
unless you have money to burn. Lots and lots of people have been taken by them unfortunately. I hope you have not paid them any money because if so you will never see it again.
That would be a clue to stay away if you can't find anything publically on them. nm
s
If you are hired as an IC, is it harder to stay with that company?
Do you have to worry about renewing your contract every so often?
Indian company with base here in USA..stay away..I worked for them once.
I would rather work a lemonade stand before I would work for them again. When you first get the job, you might possibly speak to an American voice. After that you will be dealing with Indian Team Leaders, Indian QA..Indian everything. Not to mention the fact that the Indian QA will tell you that you are wrong on something when you are right. Also, once I had a team leader (Indian, of course)who questioned me on whether or not I knew what headings when into a physical examination...I was transcribing surgery notes. Nonsense like this happened all the time because I would point out the error that QA would make (usually Stedman's to back me).
There are great companies out there who are strictly USA workers, and they are posting on here all the time on the job seeker's board..you just have to keep looking.
Hope that helps! Have a wonderful day!
How long did it take you?
How long did it take you to "develop an ear for it"?? i have a test to write in 2 weeks and with this one doc that is on the test, i really don't think that i will be ready!!!
Any suggestions???
how long...
I guess that depends on the individual. I was going to school, working a full-time job, and working with DKM at night and on weekends. I was pretty slow to start, but had decent typing (WPM). Some of the docs are tougher than others (including their fields and associated terminology, etc.) and still are. Sometimes, the audio slows me down. But, I started in October 2004 and quit my other job in May 2005. I have been working full-time at home since then. Each of our docs is different and depending on which one I am working on, my production goes up or down.
How long have you been an MT?
I work the *** account and very few of the doctors have bad accents. In fact, I think only one is hard to understand and since his stuff is all edit work it isn't that bad. I actually thought the majority of the work is easy to understand and can get line counts quickly. If you haven't been an MT for long let me tell you... CHA is an easy account and most others I have worked are much more difficult to understand!
Pay is a bit lower than I'd like, but I'm going to ask about that being changed.
I have always had work and always been paid on time. They do IM the whole team about the Q being full and needing people to log in and work, if you are already working then just ignore the IMs, I'm sure they aren't intended for those of us working already.
My understanding from emails lately is that they are having issues with MTs who aren't doing work properly or working their comitted hours/times. The clients are getting a bit upset about these things.
I may be leaving, but that is only because I need to find an employee position for the health insurance for my family since my husband is changing jobs in May and will no longer get ins through work.
I've had no issues with either Rajesh or Laila and both have been helpful and kind to me. I guess each person is going to have a different experience with each company...
But how long does it take U to do 45 min. job?
x
How Long Did It Take
Shawna , how long did it take you to complete the CS program?
how long
does it typically take to transcribe 500 lines?
How long does it take you to
type one hours' worth of a doctor's dictation?
Is your internship paid? Can you stay with it and get experienced and apply for an at-home job
s
How long would it take to transcribe
30 minutes of dictation? I'm taking on a new IC job, and the supervisor asked how many minutes of dictation I would like. I'm guessing I should start at 30, but I'm not sure about how long that would take. I've had about 8 months' acute care experience. I don't want to take on more than I can handle. Any ideas? Thanks.
60 days is too long even for me
/
I've done both and all I can say is to think long and
hard before you choose either one. Neither job is all it's cracked up to be once you get to the "real world" of work.
How long is it taking all new MTs
I have been at this job for almost three months and I have yet to rest the goal everyday in one week. I can't wait until my little ones are in daycare/school again!
Are you at the current doc's office all day long? sm
I was thinking that if he wants you to transcribe from his office, could you get that done in a couple of hours, and then go home to work from there? I started my "home work" with one doc. She raved about me so much that all her doc friends called me to get me to work for them. Sit down with your doc and feel him out. He could be a real help to you! Good luck!
How long did it take you to finish MTEC?nm
nm
Some advice on becoming an MT. See long message.
First, you MUST have excellent grammer, spelling and listening skills. Without these, don't bother. You won't be a success.
Transcription is not something you can do in your spare time. It is a very demanding profession. If you work as an independent contractor (IC), you set the amount of time you want to work, but your paycheck is dependent upon how much work you do. If you are not a fast typist, your hourly pay will be low. I think the average MT does around 150 lines per hour. At 8 cents per line, that's $12 an hour. This is just AVERAGE pay.
If you are an IC, you will usually have no benefits. No insurance, no paid time off, all taxes come out of your check. If you work as an employee, you will have to keep a schedule, and usually a minimum line per hour to stay employed.
Becoming an MT requires a lot of training. You are going in the right direction with a nationally approved school. One of the three will give you a better chance at a job if you graduate with high marks. But even after school, it can take up to 3 years to become fully trained and making "good" money, which runs between the $12-$18 per hour range. It is a big time investment.
My advice is call Career Step. I believe Andrews and MTEC will counsel you extensively before they will accept you, to make sure you really understand what you are getting into. I hope Career Step does the same, but I haven't heard as much about them.
It is a tough field, and not going to get any easier, although I still think it is a great profession. You have to look at all the aspects before you decide if it's for you. Call the school. In fact, I would make a list of questions and call all three schools. They can probably help you better than any of us can.
Best of luck on whatever you decide to do.
Distance learners--how long did it take to graduate?
I am enrolled in a program right now that is supposed to take 9 months, but I am now on my 14th month (I think I am close to graduation now). I was just curious as to how long it has taken others to graduate who took MT distance learning courses. Thank you.
Lots of stress and long hours doing MT especially - sm
when you are first starting out. If you have to live on this, then in the beginning it is not a good choice. But if you are married and have a spouse income to live on and yours is just supplemental then that will work. When I first started 5 years ago I made $5K the first year, granted that was PT but I worked FT hours basically. I still work PT but practically FT, 30+ hours a week. I made about $16k this in 2006. Now I am not a fast typist (100-160 lph depending on dictator), and I find it hard to sit here and type for a solid 6 hours so I get easily distracted and goof off instead of working or else I am sure I could do $20K+ easy as I have more good than bad dictators. But some companies have mostly ESL and it is very hard to make money that way especially starting out. So many factors factor into to your income, your ability and typing speed, the ease of dictators, and if you can be dedicated and not get distracted. Obviously the more you can dedicate yourself and work consistently the more money you can make, just depends on your personal goals. Good Luck.
Or not so much stress or long hours, decent pay
I totally understand what you're saying, but being an MT varies so much based on what you bring to the job, where you work, and what kind of account you have that it's pretty tough to predict how any particular person will do. I'm very happy with my job. I find it to be the least stressful job I've ever had, love the predictable hours, and made 34K this last year working strictly a 40-hour week. This is after 1-1/2 years as an MT. I found the first 6 to 9 months terribly stressful because of the high learning curve, but once I settled into my account the stress level dropped considerably. I'm still working the same hospital account I started on, but also work other accounts as necessary. I work for a company that many people on this board say they can't make any money working for; it must have a lot to do with the stability I've had on my account that I am able to make reasonably decent money.
I also agree that there will be jobs for a long time. sm
Been doing this for 18+ years. You won't get rich, but you can make a decent living, at least as much as you would make on most secretarial or retail jobs, once you get the training. I make around $24,000 a year, but I don't push like I used to. I could make more teaching, have the qualifications, but nothing in the world would make me face that. It's a nightmare.
There will be decent jobs in transcription or editing for years, but not the gravy some of us are used to. Just a decent wage, probably average $12-18 an hour from now on, hope it doesn't drop lower. I don't think things are going to be too rosy in many other fields either, so I'll stay where I am until I'm ready to retire. JMO.
As long as you're posting links, how about this one from Berkley
especially where it shows US MT hourly wage at $13.17 and Indian MT hourly wage at $1.50-$2.00. With $11 an hour savings you can hire a lot of QA'ers and still make a killing!
Does anyone know how long it takes for tests to be graded at MediVoxx or OSI?
I recently tested at both companies and am beginning to wonder how long this process takes. While I am waiting for their replies, if anyone could tell me of other corporations that hire new MTs I would appreciate it.
How long have you been away? Might need a refresher course from a local college or business school.
s
Trust me, I've been doing this a long time and I still make stupid little mistakes.
Nothing is worse than being started on a new account, being under QA, and have them point out all of your mistakes. You start feeling incompetent so believe me when I say your mistakes and errors do not go away completely, no matter how long you've been at this. I am beginning to believe no one is perfect all of the time and should feel better about it than I have when I screw up. Just believe in yourself..and everyone else will too.
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