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

Unemployed and do not know why - db

Posted: Dec 11, 2009

17 years in this business - I have tested and tested and tested some more - I have been told that I have failed their test, passed their test with no further response, and told positions have already been filled, what is wrong with these companies and have I been blacklisted or something - I left a company in Oct, which was not a good company as I have read many discerning reports of this company - so what is one to do? Down and out in Bama

What is your old company telling them - Tina

[ In Reply To ..]
when they call for a reference check? I also left a company in October and have tested for a couple of others and received offers and am starting with one this month. I'd worry what your previous employer is telling them when they call as a reference check. Also, if you test and pass and don't hear anything back, keep in contact with the company you are interested in. Let them know how much you would like a job with them. Sometimes they get overwhelmed with the amount of possible new hires and some get lost in the shuffle.

RE: REFERENCE CHECK - HeidiHo

[ In Reply To ..]
I also have worked as legal secy before this thankless MT biz (22+yrs) and can say this: In regard to reference checks, while not a legal requirement, virtually all companies have adopted the practice of:
1. WILL VERIFY DATES OF EMPLOYEMENT, BEGINNING TO END
2. When asked, "Would you hire this employee again, if the occasion provides", etc., etc. (This 2nd question had been a roundabout way for prospective to weed out applicants who later sued. The reason might have been, as was in my previous Fortune 500 company (Ad agency), not to rehire former employees (issues of "trade secret issues/competitive advantage" - nothing to do with employees performance) but might give future employee reason not to hire, i.e, "Negative response from former employee".

For this reason (former company could care less about prospective hiring company -- they are, after all, competitors) -- they want to avoid lawsuits, because an employee who is PO'd about not being able to make a living bec. of negative (implied/direct, or whatever) implications by a previous employer have been a cash cow for attorneys working in this field.

Ive got over 30, and I havent even gotten a callback, - let alone a chance to test. (SM)

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm pretty sure it's partly because of age, but even more because I've been around enough to know that things were not always this way in the MT biz. I'm starting to consider telling them I've only been at this for 3-5 years (which is what they're always asking for in their ads). You rarely see anyone asking for more than 5 years' experience, and NEVER more than 10.

yes, especially now with the economy, - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I think more than ever that companies are trying to cut their costs, so they would rather hire a less experienced MT and pay less. They know the experienced MTs expect to be compensated. I looked around for a week, thinking of changing companies, and was completely shocked at the lack of response.

Ive been "looking" for 2 years - not at MTSO's, but - only in-house hospital jobs. (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
Pretty few and far between. I've applied to the few jobs that came up that were within commuting distance, but only one ever even got back to me. Another, that I actually called, was interested, but offered no health insurance, and their pay was only $16/hour. Not nearly enough. I told them if they ever decided to add insurance and a couple more dollars per hour to the pot, to give me a call.

$16 an hour - mt way too long

[ In Reply To ..]
you have been looking for two years, but $16 an hour in this economy didn't interest you? I understand the insurance problem, but wouldn't it have been better to maybe take $16 an hour and at least have a job instead of sitting two years wihtout a job?

How many years have you been doing MT? I don't think anybody is going to call you back if you say such things to them.

If you have loads of experience, $16 an hour is probably the bottom line but I would rather make $16 an hour than nothing. Just can't help some folks I guess,

I was willing to take $18 if they had PTO and bennies. - $16/hr wont pay rent and health ins. costs.

[ In Reply To ..]
Also had to factor in gasoline at $3.20 a gallon and up, commute time (30 miles each way) and car wear-and tear, not to mention auto insurance costs going up if I'm putting that many miles on the car.

I've been an MT over 30 years, (with no hope of retirement, so I plan to work 'til I drop.) I'd take only take $16/hour (plus bennies) if I could work from home. Otherwise, it's not worth paying for COBRA for 3 months waiting for the insurance to kick in.

If a possible future employer is only going to offer peanuts, I'd just as soon they not call me back. You and I (and they!) all know we're being cheated and devalued. As long as we accept it, they're gonna keep on doing it.

$16 an hour - mt way too long

[ In Reply To ..]
I understand what you are saying BUT, correct me if I am wrong. You don't have a job at all correct? Do you have health insurance now? How are you surviving without a job? Seems a $16 an hour job is better than job. I may be missing something in all this, but $16 an hour is better than 0 an hour and no income. Explain this please. I have been doing this over 30 years too and if I didn't have a job, didn't have insurance, I would still take the 16 an hour job even if I still could not afford health insurance. I have got to be missing something here. If this is "black and white" and you don't have a job now and no health insurance now, then I don't see how $16 an hour as opposed to 0 dollars an hour is a bad thing? You might not be able to afford health insurance on this but you can eat! You have an income now right? Must have to pay rent now. I have lost something in all this, explain please.

$16 an hour - MT Way too long

[ In Reply To ..]
Almost forgot....if you are working for an MTSO now, then I can see where $16 an hour would be low. With your experience, you would be making much more than 16 an hour on production. I am just confused here.

I would not give up my job for $16 an hour either, but if I had no job, that would be different.

Re: Production at an MTSO - (sm)

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Production is one of the reasons this job isn't working out. I AM experienced, I AM good at transcription. But you know the drill working for MTSO's: They bounce you from account to account, so you can never get fully up to speed. They continually "improve" their transcription platform, which continually gums up and slows down the system. They keep cutting pay, so you have to work more hours to make what you did before. The better dictators go to VR, so you get stuck with the ESLs and the mumblers. So even though you're working more hours, you're earning less than you were the year before.

I just don't believe someone with our experience and skills needs to be taken advantage of like that. I have the skills, but I won't give them away for nothing, even though that's what the MTSOs want us to do.

Better dictators go to VR? - Knowing

[ In Reply To ..]
Then why did I spend all day yesterday listening to ALL those ESLs on my VR platform? Drat. Gotta tell them they gotta go not supposed to be there, so this post says.

Where I work, the VR system is fairly new. Theyre - starting it off with the better dictators

[ In Reply To ..]
partly to 'train' the VR, and partly to 'train' the client to believe that VR is a viable option. Won't be long til our ESLs get herded onto the cattle car of VR, too, and there'll be nothing left to type, just a bunch of crap to edit.

I DO currently have a job. But the pay stinks, their - platform is slow and not MT-friendly, (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
and I need something better. Yes, I have health insurance, but the deductibles and copays are so high that other than the meds I need, or the very occasional office visit in order to get the meds refilled, I don't go to the doctor if I can avoid it.

Yes, $16/hr. is a few dollars more than I'm making now. But - if I factor in the cost of buying my own insurance, or doing without, plus the things I stated above, then it's the same as I'm bringing in now.

I already jumped "from the frying pan into the fire" when I left my previous job for this one. I don't plan to do that again. I'm sitting tight at this job until what I'm looking for, either in or out of the MT field, comes along.

If I had NO JOB, then OF COURSE I would take the $16/hour job. But if there's one thing I've learned since working for this penny-pinching company, it's how to balance a budget. My current budget allows me to get by - just barely - as long as nothing unexpected comes along. If my car breaks down or a pet needs vet attention, then I'm in trouble.

My current job turned out NOT to be the greener pastures I'd believed it would be when I accepted it, and there is no going back to my old job because the MT pool there is being steadily eliminated. So I now consider my current job to be a "tide-me-over" job until I find something better.

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