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

After sitting here for several hours with no work, gotta love the ad for SoftScript. sm - SSMT

Posted: Jan 03, 2011

It states, "Most important plenty of work. We do all we can to assure you will stay busy your entire shift. NO waiting or praying for work to come."

I guess today and the last 2 months have been my imagination.

Plenty of work - Longtime MT

[ In Reply To ..]
We are in a seasonal slump right now. Anyone who has worked in this business for any length of time knows this happens. As far as hiring, with growth comes the need to hire and get MTs trained BEFORE the new business comes in.

I am not some newbie, I am well aware of the seasonal slumps, but sm - SSMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I was running out of work in October -- shall we blame Halloween for that? And any place I have worked in these 30+ years, I have always managed to scrape out a few reports each day, but not here. I have had days where I literally had NO work at all.

If you are telling me you would not be upset to live on half a paycheck for 2 months and still see the company you work for perpetually advertise for new MTs AND promise an abundance of work, then you have much more patience (and savings) than I do.

My company sent us emails saying a certain client - had sent tons of work. Yet when I -sm

[ In Reply To ..]
logged on this morning, it was the same old "NJA". So where (or to what country, I guess I should ask) did all this supposed "tons of work" go?

That's what they tell us every month........ - -n/m-

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This is the busiest time of year actually...if no work need to go find some.nm - CaliDeb - 12 yrs in

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nm

I'm right there with you. I could paper my walls with all of my OOW emails. nm - LTMT

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x

Once upon a time we even got overtime! - starstruck

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I think SS must have lost a couple of accounts recently, and I'm thinking this was unexpected--which is why the NJA lately. In my time with them they have been very honest about the amount of work. At one point I was ready to quit but one of the managers advised me to hang on and things did pick up. It's hard to know whether to go or stay when things might be equally bad at a new place. In theory I understand they have to have new MTs at the ready because of turnover, but it sucks to see ads for new transcriptionists AND a NJA message.

I am a new hire though I have yet to start. I've been - Second, third and fourth thoughts

[ In Reply To ..]
reading the posts about SS and was hoping maybe I would be one of the lucky ones. LTMT, are you the same LTMT who worked for Landmark? I read how you were happy at SS, then not, then hopeful again. I guess things have not improved.

I am seriously thinking about not even starting. The job I have now is lousy but I am beginning to think that SS might even be worse.

Give it to me straight.

Thoughts from another newbie - sm - Confuzzeled

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been with SS for about a month now, and yeah the work has been slow, but in all my years doing transcription I've never seen it not be slow this time of the year.

Most important to me at this point is that they *communicate* - I've had more communication with people at SS in my one month than I had at the Q in 13 years, and shocker of all shockers, after a month I still have the same supervisor!!!

I'm PT and only supplement my DH's income. I understand the frustration a lot of you are having being the sole breadwinners, and I'd say find something else, this industry isn't gonna make anyone wealthy nowadays. :(

If you'd started 2 months earlier you would have had no supervisor and a wad of sm - SSMT

[ In Reply To ..]
unanswered emails. Wait, that's not true ... you get the automated response with a ticket number that's so personal and THEN they never answer you.

It is better now that the PMs are in place, but to read you say how great they are at communication is a laugh.

And yes, I am the solebreadwinner, so I am not doing this just for "pin money." I expect it to be slow, but it has been NONEXISTENT. Out of 4 accounts, you'd expect I'd get the occasional person with the flu or something.

Only the worst form of management advertises for help while the employees they have are starving for work.

Just to clarify - Confuzzeled

[ In Reply To ..]
I suppose I sounded a bit condescending there - SS is far better than where I *came from* - so far, so I'm not dissing it.

That place is still hiring as well, even though the employees they have are getting NJA constantly due to offshoring and they are letting people go for failure to make more than minimun wage...go figure.

Also, I am working for more than pin money. My DH took a 10K a year cut in pay 4 years ago and is now on partial unemployment due to lack of work, so I'm paying bills and buying groceries too, I'm just not doing it alone.

Good luck to all of us!

Sorry. I didn't mean to be testy. After another day of no work and emails sm - SSMT

[ In Reply To ..]
promising me big accounts are coming in a few weeks, I am just kind of mad at the world (mostly me for making such a dumb choice of staying at SS).

Promising me work a few WEEKS from now after already suffering for 2 months just doesn't cut it. I know now why they always have an ad for new MTs. They don't know how to treat the MTs that they have.

Good luck to you. I hope it works out for you. I'm giving my notice in the morning.

SSMT - Please read - Curious

[ In Reply To ..]
Did you really turn in your notice and, if so, did they try to talk you into staying?

I have a standing offer from SS but so far I've kept stalling them as to a start date. I'm only looking to supplement my current income (I'm the sole bread winner in my household) so part-time is fine but...Is there even enough work there to make any money part-time? Do you hear through the "grapevine" if all the accounts are dry, or is it just a few of them? I did a quick check of the archives but couldn't find any posters who said they worked for SS and had plenty of work.

Like I said, I'm just looking to supplement and don't need a ton of work but darn, it's such a hassle to go through training on platforms, learning the account specifics, etc., only to find myself sitting here twiddling my thumbs when there isn't even enough for part-time. I'd even be willing to work crazy graveyard hours if there were work available then.

Sorry to "talk" your ear (eyes) off, but you seem really objective about what's going on there and I'd like to know your feelings about this.

TIA!

Yes, I gave my notice, but my PM talked me into staying awhile longer. sm - SSMT

[ In Reply To ..]
She gave me 2 more accounts, so now with 6 accounts I can actually eke out my lines. She did admit that the accounts were overstaffed due to new hires waiting for a new account. That, plus the holidays ... blah, blah, blah.

If you are only part time, you should not have any problem. I basically have been working part time hours, even though I was hired as full time. They have one more pay period, or I am out. I am fortunate to work 2 other jobs or I would be homeless by now.

The training is no big deal and the platform is easy. You'll sit on your tushy for 4 hours or so for training and get a whopping $8/hour and then you are on your own. After you are off 100% QA hold (usually just a few days), you are pretty much left alone.

On the plus side, my pay is almost always early, the little bit that I get, and I do believe the production managers will try to help if they can.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

SSMT - Curious

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks so much for your input. Today I received a couple of other offers from other MTSOs, all who seem to have the same lack of work issues as SS, so I'm going to have some research to do tonight before I decide which one to take (or to keep looking).

Hope the extra 2 accounts make the difference for you. I can't imagine shuttling between 6 different accounts and yet still not having enough work to make my line count. Yikes! Hopefully when those new big accounts start everyone at SS will be back to having plenty of work.

Thanks again!

If you've already accepted the position, why not go ahead and give it a try? sm - LTMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have had a particularly bad experience from the start, not just a lack of work but a MAJOR lack of communication. However, now they have the production managers in place and now that the holidays are over, perhaps things will get better. I do believe that my PM wants to help. Whether she can or not remains to be seen. In my mind, I am giving it one more pay period. If this one sucks too, then I'll just go work full time at one of the part-time jobs I have. Everyone justifies the no work thing because of the holidays, but I never ran out at my part-time job, in my opinion due to the fact that they do not overhire.

Good luck to you. Every person's experience is different, and you are starting at a better time -- the holidays are over, the PMs are in place, and supposedly new accounts are coming on board.

Oh, and no, I never worked at Landmark. I applied once and never heard anything.

Good luck. :-)

Thanks LLMT and SSMT. - second etc thoughts

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I, too, am the sole support of my house and having for 3 years worked jobs that are overstaffed and dealing with lack of work the entire time, I'm taking heed of what others say. Some people do have good experiences when others do not. I have been one of the have nots for 3 years. This was to replace my other job. Instead, if they will let me change hours, I will work both and if this should work out, then I can quit the other.

As it is, these MTSOs just look for bodies to hire. If 5 can do the job, hire 25.

Thanks for your voicing your experiences. I realize there are probably some happy with their experience at any particular MTSO, but I am more interested in what most not some have experienced as I really cannot expect to be the exception.

Workflow - ny

[ In Reply To ..]
Work exists. what is your willingness to take on difficult dictation and make not a lot as a result? There will be no communication when you most need it too.

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