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

finding a job for a newbie... - nazy

Posted: Apr 22, 2011

Hi,

Does anyone have advice for a "newbie" transcriptionist finding work? It seems all the job ads want minimum 2 years experience. I've just completed a medical transcription course and would appreciate any advise on finding work. Thanks!

Happy Easter!

What kind of course did you just complete? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

newbies - mt2

[ In Reply To ..]
I sure wish people would look at the job market BEFORE deciding to go to school for MT and then base their school choices upon what their research shows them.

Unless you went to a top-notch school, you will not fare well looking for a job at this point in time. You will be at the mercy of the companies that truly take advantage of MTs who either know no better, or just don't have the skills, to be picked up by better companies.

I would urge you to apply to every clinic, doctor office, hospital, surgery center, etc in the area where you live.

You can apply and test to every job you find online but really make sure you research the companies because some are out and out disreputable (as are many schools).

Sorry you find yourself doing this backwards, discovering after the fact that 99% of the jobs (at home) require you to have 2 years experience. Occasionally, you will find a company that will accept 1 year but even that will be hard to come by, so I would suggest an in-house job anyway.

I have to agree here, the only way to gain expierince is in-house... - anon40yrs

[ In Reply To ..]
while you are there research the MTSOs, and hang on to that in-house position because with the number of MTs cranked out of the very lucrative business of MT Schools...you'll be applying along with hundreds for any given position, and it will take some time before you get lucky.

Good luck, though, you'll love woring on site. Nothing beats learning the job from the inside - transcription is not only typing.

anon40yrs - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
You are absolutely correct. I feel so strongly about transcriptionist truly understanding what it is to be a transcriptionist, that I would not hire anyone who referred to what they were doing as "typing" or to themselves as a "typist."

I strongly disagree that working in-house is better - Have done both

[ In Reply To ..]
I have worked both in-house and from home. My feedback was practically zero while in-house. The supervisor knew nothing and the other MTs were so competitive that they would not even make eye contact with a new person. They had little groups and excluded everyone else.

My first acute care job was working from home. I had a wonderful boss who was pleasant and helpful. She really knew her stuff and was happy to answer anything and everything. If forced to work in-house, I would, but my best experiences have been working from home.

How long ago? - Reality of today

[ In Reply To ..]
"My first acute care job was working from home."

When was that? Because the reality is that today, given the TAT, costs, etc, SR, etc there just isn't time to teach someone. So if you are coming from a school where you cannot hit the ground running, using your education as "experience," then you really have few options.

Thank you for your comment. - angel456

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for your positive feedback, I am still in school and am getting so tired of these negative feedback from almost everyone. A part of me is so excited to start this profession and the other is so scared that I won't cut it because I chose the wrong school because of finances at the time. I researched the best I could at that time and could only afford $1000 at Penn Foster. I think it is a pretty good school. The only thing lacking is the live tapes from doctors instead of the made up practice audio tapes they give us. I am working real hard but everytime I read these posts I feel like I made the wrong decision.
Angela

angel456 - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
"Made up practict audotapes" will not help you. You need real physician dictation and the SUM program. One of the errors many people make when choosing a school is selecting one based on their finances. If you are having a financial challenge (and who isn't these days?), you need all the more to invest your educational dollars carefully. Personally, I do not feel that PF adequately prepares people, but you could be the person to prove me wrong. In the meantime, it would not hurt you to work with SUM materials on the side. These "made up practice tapes" are useless.

These made-up so-called practice tapes are worthless and harmful - Students don't know what they don't know

[ In Reply To ..]
Not only are made-up tapes worthless, they are actually harmful. I'm not talking about any course in specific, but courses in general that use that kind of practice experience, and many do.

Why are they dangerous and harmful? Because students finish them and think they've actually experienced medical transcription, when they haven't even come close. They don't know what they don't know.

A school director once told me you learn it all on the job anyway - A more experienced and wiser MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I once got a recruiting e-mail from the owner of a very bad MT school. It sounded great at the time. She said that the other schools that are usually mentioned as having quality MT education charged too much because of the expensive materials they use. She said all of that was unnecessary because, and I will quote what I will never forget that she said, "You don't learn anything in school. You learn it all on the job anyway." Needless to say, that is not a school that I would recommend to anyone and it seems to have gone out of business anyway, fortunately. I wonder how many students were hurt in the process.

Thank you for your comment. - angel456

[ In Reply To ..]
Sad to hear.

Thank you for your comment. - angel456

[ In Reply To ..]
I am no dummy. I know I need "live" tapes and that the tapes that I am using now certainly do not compare to real life dictation tapes.

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