A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

MTSO's - why do none of you ever post your CPL you are paying - when posting open positions? SM

Posted: Dec 31, 2013

Seriously. Why do you withhold this information? Would it not make more sense to post that right at the start so people know if they are even willing to test with you?

It wastes your time, doesn't it, to review tests and resumes if your pay rate is not acceptable to people? Or it wastes someone else's time to grade the tests, then wastes the hiring person's time to review the information and make an offer if someone knows they won't take anything less than what they've decided.

I've asked this a few times over the years and never get an answer back, so I decide the company has no respect for it's MTs and I look elsewhere. I'm really curious about this.

Would any MTSO (large or small) care to honestly answer the question - WHY do you keep your pay rate a big secret until after everyone has wasted their time on tests?

Posting salaries - Anon2

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't work for an MTSO, but here are some reasons why employers don't post salaries in advertisements - No one does, by the way. They might give a range, but that is rare.
1. Salary information is confidential.
2. People are paid differently depending on their experience. The employer might not know how much to pay you until you interview and test.
3. If people knew the salary and thought that is what everyone made, perhaps no one would apply.

Have you ever applied for an on-site job where you knew the salary when you entered the application and interview process? I think not.

"Have you ever applied for an on-site..." - Elle

[ In Reply To ..]
"... job where you knew the salary when you entered the application and interview process?"

As a matter of fact, yes. In fact, I've known beforehand how much a position paid in almost every job outside of transcription that I've ever applied for. This is not as uncommon an occurrence as you seem to think it is. A stated pay range is even more common in employment ads, at least in my area. If they don't state at least a pay range, I won't even bother with them. MT is a different entity than the outside world. The MTSOs have no incentive to state how much they will pay because chances are most of those looking would laugh and move on.

not in our area - northeast

[ In Reply To ..]
My son recently went to round three in the interview process. They skirted around ranges but it wasn't until he received a formal offer that the salary was definitively addressed.

In my other job (not MT related at all) jobs are lasted as ranges, NEVER is there a "we pay you X" in an ad. In first interviews, they always stay in the ballpark. Not until a second interview or offer is the definitive number given.

The only jobs that I see giving actual salaries may be government jobs where you are plugged into a formula but even those come with ranges most often.

So I think the assumption that it's not the way it's done in the "real" world is not an accurate assumption.

MT companies could put their rates out there. It's not because of the MT they don't, it's because of their competitors. The MTSO has a pretty cut throat gig - and I'm not talking about the big guys, they just make up their own rules. The regular MTSO has to fight to keep a place in this game.

Must be a regional thing - midwest

[ In Reply To ..]
because where I'm from they do list at least a salary range. There are those that say depends on experience and I will usually skip those or I may call and ask. If they cannot at least give a ballpark I don't trust them.

I'm not even looking for a transcription job so I am not counting them. I'm done with this business. But looking at ads for office work or hospital jobs and the like, it is actually uncommon NOT to find at least a pay range, if not the exact starting pay, listed directly in the ad... at least for the type of jobs I am qualified for.

As I said, perhaps this is a regional thing.

To all - Anon2

[ In Reply To ..]
I am on the west coast. Going back 30+ years, I never applied for an on-site MT job or any office job that made the salary public. I interviewed first, and then an offer was made. Most of those times I looked at the whole package, not just the salary. No one I worked with was paid the same salary, some people had seniority and were paid more than the new hires. Several times I was hired above starting salary because of my experience. In my neck of the woods, salary info is considered confidential; sharing salaries with coworkers usually causes trouble. My MT job ended a little over a year ago and I went on numerous interviews. In none of them was the salary posted in the ad and I was clueless going in. In fact, it was never discussed at all until they got ready to make an offer. I applied for jobs with MTSOs too and had the same experience. I disagree with Where's My Job. I never felt obligated to take anything I didn't want after going through the application process. I didn't realize the MT had become so exclusive that the standard HR practices no longer applied.

agree - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I recently applied for a management position with an MTSO. In my cover letter, as requested, I clearly stated my salary requirements (I wanted at least what I was making as an MT which was a good year this year). I went through a 90-minute phone call with the woman I'd be replacing. She totally indicated she thought I was perfect for the job. I needed to talk with the MTSO. Well the MTSO never even bothered to make the phone call. Turns out the job paid NO WHERE near the ballpark of my required salary. I've seen the same ad back on the other job site a couple of times now and I just want to tell people to save themselves 90 minutes of their time - cause $30k for the headaches of dealing with all they wanted simply wasnt going to cut it. They didnt even have the cajones to say it up front so I could make a "clear choice."

I agree. Jobs listed with my DOL almost all state the wage. - no message

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Baloney. There's no reason at all that these people - cant give at least a range SM

[ In Reply To ..]
instead of the lame and pathetic old "competitive wages" phrase that they all trot out when people know it's likely 7 or so, 8 or 9, 10 in rare cases.

Pay with experience. That's reasonable, but again why not at least sayso,with an idea of "x from xyz depending on account and experience" kind of thing.

If people think that's what "everyone" makes, then they dont really have to apply if it's not a wage they will accept. If you wont accept 3 cents, then dont apply for a job that states 3 to 4 cents. That should be easy to figure out for one's self.

Competitive = baloney. They all pay about the same, with maybe a difference of a quarter to a half cent, and they know it. Whoopie.

And if you, Anon2, dont work for an MTSO or are not one, how would you presume to know that this is their line of reasoning? MT is a whole game of it's own, an entirely different species than other employment.

I don't think there's any valid or logical reason these people can't post a salary range. If a real MTSO would like to speak up and explain, that would be great.

They do all pay more or less the same - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
SO why get aggravated because they don't post salaries...with a fraction of a cent difference between MTSO.

Not true with outside jobs, though. Here you might find a large pay difference even among similar or alike jobs. I've had corporation jobs where people were paid quite a different pay range for exactly identical job titles & duties.

Many of the hospitals out here on the west coast post pay ranges - Meek n Mild

[ In Reply To ..]
*

Just checked Universities of CA, OR, and WA hospitals' - Meek n Mild

[ In Reply To ..]
jobs boards. All post pay ranges.

They don't post it because it's SO LOW - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
They figure if a person jumps threw a bunch of hoops first - they'll be more likely to accept crummy rate. Because it's a "sunk cost" - you've already sunk so much time into it, you don't want to have "wasted" that time testing - so you take the position.

It's just because the pay is poverty wages. My opinion. One flat rate with no raises.

that's absurd - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If you are taking a crap paying job just because you spent time interviewing and testing for it, then sorry, you're an idiot. Have we seriously reached the point where an MT can't say- nope I'm worth more than that and keep looking?

I used to be an MTSO and had to work out what to charge a client, what to pay the MTs. Now that I work for another MTSO, I knew up front what my lowest number was so I could make what I need/want to make. Had it not been offered, I'd have moved on. I just dont get this victim mentality that because you interviewed and tested you have no choices. That's simply absurd.

Most places of business - No longer post salaries

[ In Reply To ..]
It used to be commonplace for non-MT jobs to post salaries on job ads, even in the newspaper. This is getting to be less common now, to the point where nobody does.

Back in the good old days of MT, before job applications were done online, you spoke directly to recruiter and he or she would answer all your questions upfront. You got to talk to them BEFORE they had you test (hard-copy, by the way), and it was so much more personal.

MTSOs are just big mills of slave labor now,so you can expect almost none of them to pay well. If they do, have a backup plan for when it all goes bad.

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