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

Online School & Career Change At 40 - TLT

Posted: Feb 02, 2013

Currently hold Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Worked as executive admin asst for past 15 years. Considering going to Andrews on line MT school. Is this a good investment and career change for me or should I look into something else? Like the ability to possibly work from home. Also, which school is best choice for finding work at home job (Andrews, Career Step, Mtec, etc..)???

please don't do it - read these forums

[ In Reply To ..]
Would not recommend ANYONE get into MT at this point and especially not pay for a course! Executive administrative assistant is a good, well-respected job! Not everyone can do that!

mt job - another anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree with the above poster. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY IN MT.

I have been an MT for 20+years. The pay was good when I started but has dropped by 40% since voice wreck took over.

Working from home is not all that you think it is. Plus this job has now become something I would not recommend to my worst enemy. Stick with the exec assistant.

I agree - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been an MT for 27+ years and I am currently in school to get out. This past year, my pay was cut in half through no fault of my own. I was hired to work full time but most days there aren't any jobs available. Please read the New MTs board over to the left.

close to 40 years as MT, from typewriters to online/at home - look for something else. NM

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Oh the typewriters... - sm

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I never thought I'd miss them but those were the days. I worked in offices and hospitals on a typewriter and, get this, I knew all the doctors and they even knew my name. They actually treated me with respect and appreciated my knowledge! Fast forward about 20 years and look at what has happened to this "career." It really is so sad.

Executive admin asst. sm - Trying to get out of MTing after 25 years.

[ In Reply To ..]
If working from home is your desire, have you considered a remote position for a service or freelancing as an admin asst or an advocate of some sort? I read somewhere such employees are in demand. Also consider getting a book from the library on at-home careers. You may see something that sparks your interest. Sure wish I had your skills. As soon as I take care of some pesky personal issues, I plan to take courses for office procedures and software and try to land one of those jobs. May not become rich, but probably better than the min wage I make now. Good luck with whatever you decide.

yeah can someone tell me how to become a phone operator? - it has always been my dream

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Does anyone know where I can go to school to learn to be a long distance phone operator? I have heard that's a great career with unlimited potential, making a lot of money! Thanks in advance.

Please, please don't do it - Smitty

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I have been in this business for 14 years, started at 10 CPL which was good, currently now not even making 5 CPL, being required to do twice as much work, without even getting holidays off now. This is the only business that I know of where you pay goes down instead of up with experience.

I think the OP went over to the newbie board - sm

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I think she is the same one who posted over there, probably hoping she will hear what she wants to hear there.

I applaud you for going back to school at 40! HOWEVER, - I am 63 & going back to get OUT of MT!

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Unfortunately for us, (the American MTs), the doctors who dictate, and the patients who depend on them, MT as a career is TANKING. Yes, there's still a high demand for MTs, but not for AMERICAN MTs. The transcription companies just can't get rid of us fast enough, because they have a strong aversion to paying a living wage, or even MINIMUM wage! No, all they want are offshore MTs.

Working from home is not the big "perk" it's cracked up to be. What you may save on gas, business clothing and pantyhose, you'll end up spending on utilities to run your equipment and keep yourself warm or cool.

Transcription has devolved from a keyboarding job to a voice-recognition editing job. Your typing skills will suffer greatly, and should you decide after a few years that MT is not for you, and you want to get back into a business office again, you'll be as appalled as I was to discover how rusty your keyboarding skills have become. (That's what I've gone back to school to re-learn, in addition to updating my skills from Stone Age to 2013.)

That's the other problem with working from home - often the employer uses an ancient version of MS Office or Word. There's nothing wrong with that, unless you apply for a job, like I did, that requires extensive knowledge of MS Office Suite 2010. When I took their pre-employment skills assessment, the computer screens might as well have been written in Chinese, for all I could understand them! And before VR-editing, my wpm typing speed was in the high 80's. When I tested recently, it was 40!

If I had a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, I sure wouldn't waste one dime, or one minute of my time learning medical transcription.

going back to school at 63 - Effie

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Any ideas of what kind of field to go into ??? I am 57 and will probably shortly be losing my hospital MT job.. I have been an MT for 33 years.. I can't put my mind around doing anything else. I have tons of college credits but no degree.. and I have grandchildren I am raising...

57! You're just a kid! ;D My current goal of re-learning - MS Office, keyboarding, etc., and - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
then things like Powerpoint, Access, Excel, and maybe a bookkeeping course, is to have the ability to operate PCs and these updated tools that are needed in just about every office setting (except MT, of course) these days.

I no longer even care about staying in the medical field, and in fact, think it will be wise to get out. Even a plain old receptionist job would pay far better than MT, and usually involves advanced word-processing skills, since often receptionists have to wear a lot of hats, not just answer phones. Same with secretaries, and general office workers. I've already had a part-time job offer for my future Powerpoint skills. A friend for whom I'm doing some general transcription on a biography she's writing is going to eventually publish a book, and wants me to do the typesetting, editing and photo placement. And that job could lead to others.

Depending on what type of college credits you have (Biology, Math, Business, Politics, Theatre, or whatever), you could always continue on with more credits along those lines if you think it would open up a new career for you. Or, just sharpening up existing computer, word processing and business skills could land you an Administrative or Executive Assistant position. I'm kind of leaning in that direction, but at this point, can afford to lower my sites, as just about ANY job (including flipping burgers) pays better than MT in its current form.

On a happy note - I'm actually enjoying my classes and going to school! I hated school my entire life, and dragged my feet for the last 4 years about going back, even though friends were suggesting I go back to school. I'm doing on-site classes at an adult school, rather than online, because it keeps me more focused, gets me out of the house, and is retraining my ability to get up in the morning. (Formerly, I slept until about 11:30 every morning, since I work a very late swing shift). So those are all plusses.

Anyway, since I don't really know enough yet to give much in the way of advice, my best advice is to learn as many computer programs as possible, so you'll have a lot of skills to offer some LUCKY employer in the future.

Good luck!

working from home isn't all it's cracked up to be - Des (long post)

[ In Reply To ..]
Lots of MTs who've been working from home for years have let their wardrobes lapse, have lost their customer service and other people skills, have gained weight, have developed social anxiety, and are now finding it difficult getting back into the public workforce.

You should also be aware that just because you're working from home, doesn't mean you can "multitask" home duties with MT'ing. In fact, a newbie most certainly CANNOT do this. MT requires intense concentration, education, focus, and skill, and it's NOT some easy peasy job in which all we do is type what we hear.

These MT schools are still using the same old lure of big bucks working part-time. THERE'S NO SUCH THING! A newbie MT can expect to get at best minimum wage for the first several months to indefinitely, and benefits are iffy, too.

Furthermore, once you graduate, you'll be competing with MTs who have decades of experience. Newbie MTs (even though having graduated from an excellent MT course) still require heavy training and supervision from employers; and since employers have lots of experienced MTs to choose from, why in the world would they spend the money and time on a newbie.

Back to the working from home... Go online right now to any MT employer and see if it'll let you take their MT test, just to get a feel of what you'll be doing.

Also remember, there's no guarantee of work or pay with MT, regardless of what recruiters say. Recruiters work on production, too. Think of them as car salesmen. They'll tell you whatever they think you want to hear to get you to agree to whatever they're offering.

About that no guarantee of pay... MTs get paid by the line, not hourly. If you're not putting characters on the page, you're NOT GETTING PAID. It doesn't matter what you're doing -- e.g. looking up doctor names, nursing home names, hospital names, city names, medical terms, client specifications and instructions, etc. -- you're not getting paid for this work. These MTSOs have us jumping from client to client just to keep us working, and that means constantly looking up names and reviewing specs which is all UNPAID WORK, but still has to be done.

Bottom line, MT is great, if you don't mind stressful, demeaning, life-sucking work for bargan basement wages. Though, on the plus side, you do still get to work from home, oh, but that means you'll be supplying your own home office, purchasing your own reference books, computer, monitor, antivirus software, keyboard, foot pedal, headphones, mouse, and anything else the employer is going to tell you you'll need. Some employers will provide you with a computer and monitor, but be prepared to do without money if these break down, because while they might send you a replacement, it'll take a couple of days and in the meantime you're not working so you're not getting paid.

There are happy MTs still out there, those who are getting the higher line rates simply because they started with that company years ago and are lucky enough to still be on the same clients, but those who are just recently getting outsourced or those who are trying to find better employment are getting the bottom of the barrel, even those of us with many, many years of experience.

Given the degrees you already have, I'd wholeheartedly suggest that you choose something else. If you go over to the Job Seakers board, it might look like there are lots of MT jobs available, but there used to be tons more than that not too long ago, and each and every one of those employers is getting hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes for each posting. You'll also notice that none want to hire newbies.

MT is changing, just like all the other factory jobs that are now being done overseas.

You'd be better served by getting CNA (certified nursing aide) training and then going to work in a medical office as a medical assistant. The pay is much higher than you'll ever get in MT, and the job satisfaction and recognition will definitely be higher.

(sorry for the long post)

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!! - H

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Unless you're going to work in-house somewhere. MTSO's are greedy, they offshore everything overseas where they can pay people peanuts to do the work, and you end up with crappy pay and/or no work available. You don't make enough money to put away for retirement or anything.

If you want to be at home, you'd be better off to run a babysitting service.

Hmm . . . thinking . . . thinking . . . - sm

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Is your main goal to find a "work at home" job? And why?

There ARE a lot of worthwhile REMOTE jobs now, but "work at home" is becoming synonymous with "envelope stuffing at home." That is to say that you need to be established in a good career field FIRST and then begin working remotely.

Right now, MT is not that career field. I would not recommend getting into MT just because you want to work at home. MTs are not doing well, particularly the at-home ones. They work for MTSOs who offshore work to third-world nations, require them to sit around for hours waiting for work that never comes, and pay them pitiful amounts. Regardless of whether the volume of work is decreasing or not, the pay definitely has decreased to poverty-level amounts.

You would do better to find another career and to hold off on your desire to work "at home" until you are established in it.

If you want to get into something medical that MIGHT have an at-home possibility eventually, there is one option that might suit you. With your existing bachelor's degree, IF it is from a regionally-accredited institution, you could do a postbaccalaureate certificate in health information administration (CHIA) from the University of Toledo in (for you) about a year and half. It usually takes a year, but you might need to take courses in anatomy and other prerequisites first. That would allow you to sit for the RHIA exam. You could then work in health information administration at hospitals and other medical care entities. You could code, or be a privacy officer, or something like that.

The pay for those jobs is very good and much more than you could get working "at home" in MT and many other fields. Check the salary surveys on the AHIMA website, and also the salary surveys on the AAPC website.

This isn't suggesting that you become a coder, either. It's just suggesting that IF you want something medical, and IF you are willing to retrain, you might consider health information administration.

MT is no longer a viable career. It has always been dead-end . . . no place to move laterally, no place to move upwards. Particularly if you are working for an MTSO, rather than a hospital, there is no way to move into other types of jobs. You're stuck. And now, you'll be stuck in a terrible job.

MTs everywhere have been getting out for the last 10 years, and those left are desperate to find other jobs and get out, too. Don't become one of them.

I want to do the opposite. sm - CrazyKat

[ In Reply To ..]
Been doing MT for 30 years at home, and want to go out and get an administrative assistant position..LOL!

I do know there are companies who hire employees for remote positions. If I were you, I would look for one of those in your field. It may depend on where you live, as in which state. I saw many for the Chicago area.

MT was a great little money making career in the past; however, now, it is not so good! But, this is coming from one who has worked at home for a very long time, raised my children, and now needs to get back out into an in-office job.

If you have been out in the office or corporate environment and want to work from home, you may feel differently.

Best advice is to look for a remote executive administrative position. They are out there. You will not make any money or have any health benefits doing MT at home that would be worth talking about.

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