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

About references. MT over 25 years and have none - HELP

Posted: Mar 25, 2015

I initially went to work as an MT in-house for a practice in 1990. They outsourced to a company that I went to work for in 2000. The medical practice was bought by a hospital, so switched their work to another facility. I continued to work at home for CyMed. They were sold to SPi, who eventually closed shop. I left in 2009 to work for Meridian Health Solutions. In 2013, Meridian sold out to MM, and here I sit at MM, who states they ONLY verify employment, and do not give references. Now what? I have done this for so long, with no credible references. I am good at what I do. Exceed requirements, pass audits, and so on. How can I better myself from here when everyone I have worked for in the past is out of business?

can you still use personal friends as references - lisa

[ In Reply To ..]
like pastors, teachers, people you know that are also employed?

I think legally this is all they can do-sm - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
My understanding is that most places cannot give a true reference any more beyond stating whether or not you are eligible to be hired. Most employers expect this so I would not worry too much about the reference part.

What I Do/Did - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
I happened to have saved all my former supervisors' names and phone numbers. I put a few down on the application/resume, and next to it put "last known contact information." You can't do this on those dumb electronic applications, but you can on the paper ones.

Also, to save space on the resume and so it doesn't look like you've had a gazillion places you've worked in a short period of time, I put "blah-blah, inc, then in parentheses "formerly blah-blah, formerly blah-blah." I even ended up blending 2 companies that weren't really always related. They're not going to investigate the trail. You can get that on one line. And, you can bring up in the interview that there were mergers and buy-outs, and you're wanting to keep your resume on one page.

If it doesn't say "job-related" references, then you can use friends who have known you a long time, etc. Generally speaking, you can't use relatives' names, but after that, it's a free game.

I'm out of the MT biz, but this has worked fine for me.

References - Kim

[ In Reply To ..]
I have had the same problem with using my last employer as a business reference. The H.R.
Dept says they will only verify my employment. Good thing this new job I'm starting (not as an MT) accepted the verification of employment. Its sad, after almost 15 yrs with a company that eliminates their transcribers, they wont even give a proper reference.

References - Dotts

[ In Reply To ..]
That is pretty common now; companies/hospitals will only "verify" employment. The hospital I worked for and retired from with over 2,000 employees also follows this rule of thumb. However, I got around this by personally asking the VP and my supervisor if I could use them as a reference and they said that would be fine.

What I have done - resume

[ In Reply To ..]
I also asked my supervisor I have worked under for a number of years if I could use her as a reference, but I admit I felt comfortable doing this because we are part of a buy-out and I felt she would be understanding of why I was looking for another job when I approached her. I have also used the info of several former co-workers that I have worked with at former MT jobs. They may not personally be able to vouch for my quality, but they do know I was employed at company xxx for a long period of time, which I feel in itself says something positive about me.

You could also consider reaching out to maybe a lead you have gotten to know a little and ask if she would give you a good reference. I would call to ask this and not do it through company e-mail though.

I did this - Dee

[ In Reply To ..]
Before completely getting out of transcription (about a year and a half), I started a part-time job that I used for a reference, my former CNA instructor, and a former supervisor at my ex-MTSO. It worked out fine!

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