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

Finding Entry Level Positions - LBW

Posted: Sep 16, 2013

Feeling frustrated and seeking advice. I graduated from Career Step with Honors but can't find an entry level position. I am hoping for flexibility and ESLs are not my first choice for transcribing, but beyond that I am very flexible in what I am looking for. Any suggestions of where to look?!?

Yeah, look outside of medical transcription - if you actually want to

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make a living wage and keep your dignity.

Good luck.

Super hard to find work (even with experience). What is Career Step - Realist

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thinking? The truth of the matter is I'm now making less than I made 12 years ago when I started, and I'm hovering right around minimum wage. I have no benefits. I provide all of my own equipment. I often go through periods of no work, very little work, or flexing until the middle of the night to scrape up a few reports. My resume looks like a nightmare as company after company merged, was bought out, or folded. When I do find work, the dictator is frequently ESL, and the notes are challenging and even lower paying. The big national companies are offshoring our work, and technology is eliminating a lot of what's left.

I'm not unique. This is the state of things for many of us. So, what is Career Step doing in cranking out MTs?

Entry Level Positions - LBW

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Just curious has anyone found any transcription jobs that aren't strictly in the medical field. And while I do believe the field is training, I think there are still positions out there....if not for straight transcribing there is now editing positions as well which I also trained for. Just not sure where to find a job....Really would like to telecommute as it allows me to still be around for family.

What I would do: Test everywhere, even when - Realist

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they say you need a year or two of experience. A lot of them require testing up front, and if that is at all possible, I'd do that and show them my skill.

There are a few companies that will take on newbies; in fact, one was just advertising that she "pays it forward" and hires new MTs. So, definitely watch the job postings.

I'd look in your local area, too. When I first started, I had to take the receptionist job with a transcription company to get my foot in the door. Then, after I did that for about a year and when a transcription opening occurred, I was given a chance. (Sadly, though, I was actually making more then than I do now. I also had benefits, and they sent me home completely equipped and also paid part of my Internet bill!)

Anyway, I don't know what else to tell you, except try taking tests and maybe if you score brilliantly, someone will give you a chance to edit. The testing process is also good experience.

Oh, and to answer your question, yes, there are MTs being hired to transcribe for non-medical companies. I was hired by one, and I know of a couple other people who also found work that way.

Good luck!

Career Step has never been - Rocket

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all that red hot to begin with. They give their students a manual to self-correct rather than live instructors, for one. I have never thought they were a first chair school.

They are thinking about making money - Maggie May

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for themselves, and that's what they are doing. They even do training in India, training them to take American jobs. They don't care if you can find work or not, once you sign up for their course they already have THEIR money.

Just curious - Effie

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Just curious, not being judgemental, but why did you pay for training to be a MT? Did you check out the field before paying out all that good money? Were you not at least taught that ESL dictators were probably going to be the majority of your work? Did they tell you that you would have any choice in the kind of dictators you were given? I am NOT judging.. at one time this field was a great field to be in, so I understand how people want to have that.. but those days are long over... do students realize this?

I am 58 and believe me, if I had enough years left, I woudl train to be anything but a MT.

Not far behind you in age...Wondering if you think - SadBirdie

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we can hang on (editing I guess) until retirement? Are you trying to find other work?

Sue the school - they lied (sm) - Rose

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Take them to small claims court. They knew when they took your money that you would likely never find work and if you did, be paid a fraction of minimum wage.

I've been doing this 26 years and am making LESS THAN HALF what I started at in 1987 - not enough to live on.

Those of you who have been ripped off by these schools also need to spread the word on the Internet and fill out references on that particular school.

I totally agree! - nm

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Sue the school? - MT headed

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The OP entered into the Career Step program in good faith; no one twisted her arm and made her sign on the dotted line. Career Step did what they were said they would do, provided the education. I am almost positive that no promises of guaranteed employment were made. It is not the school's fault that she can't find a job. Wouldn't the prudent thing be to research the career field you plan to enter first? A lot of college grads are slinging has because they can't find work in their fields. Good luck winning a lawsuit - no school promises employment to its graduates.

Any school training for a dying field is a scam IMO - nm

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xx

However, on their site, they say MT is growing! - NoNoNo

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They're either in oblivion or flat out lying!

NoNoNo - YesYesYes

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It is not dying. It is changing. It has always changed. Remember, back in the day some of the older MTs used carbon paper and Wite-Out. Grow and change or die.

They're misleading trusting people. - Realist

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So, yes, they should be sued for making fraudulent and/or misleading claims. Maybe then, these for-profit, greedy schools will stop doing this!

Rose - Thorn

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Yep, that's right. When life doesn't go the way you want it, SUE. That's the American way. How about taking a little personal responsibility? I have been doing this for way longer than 1987 and although I don't make the big bucks I did then, I still make $32 an hour.

Thorn - Your Success

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Thorn, you have obviously found the key to surviving this business in these times very well! Would you please share at least a few specific helpful tips? I am struggling to just survive (often making less in a day than you make in an hour), and I too have been at this for quite some time. I spend up to 20 hours a day waiting for work, reading tips, sending out resumes, researching companies, etc. I would truly appreciate any guidance. Thanks!

My wages are the same as Rose's - Because-

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I refused to accept what MTSOs do to their employees. My time is valuable. When Nuance offered me an employee position (I was one of a handful of WMX ICs they hired for a short time), I already had a good idea of how the company operated and I declined. I tested here and there and was offered the same crummy wages with everything short of an ankle bracelet to monitor me. My hospital called me about a month after I left Nuance and offered me per diem work. I could easily work 7 days a week and the per-report rate is phenomenal. This isn't forever, I realize that, so I continue to look for other work and take classes in things that interest me.

Here is something I do every now and then when job-hunting. I put on a suit, take some resumes and cover letters, and drive through corporate complexes, taking note of companies that interest me. If I see something (I found an organic potato chip company nearby), I stop in, tell them I was in the area, and ask at the front desk for the name of the person I should send my resume to. The receptionists often provide good info on job openings, corporate culture, etc. I got a temp job several years ago that was fun and paid well doing this.

I wish... - CB

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that when MTs who are still making this much post, that they also point out that it is VERY unusual, especially for a newbie starting out. For me, making $50,000+ a year abruptly ended in 2011 after 20+ years when my great company closed its doors due to offshoring competition. We had 30 days' notice.

For example, "Thorn" just stating how much she makes without any explanation is misleading the OP into thinking this is easy to find. I subsequently chose a company out of 6 job offers (all at lower pay than I was making) because of paid holidays off, no weekends, incentives, M-F 9-5 schedule, etc., only to be acquired by M*Modal a year and a half later. I believe my story is much more representative of the industry. I should add that out of those six companies, four of them have since been acquired by M*Modal or Nuance.

We were told the day before - Because

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Thanksgiving that our jobs would be gone Dec 1 when the first MTSO got our hospital account. Most of the 20 employees in the department panicked and didn't wait around to hear any offers. The offers the rest of us received were terrible but we re-negotiated and ended up agreeing on $2/report. Those of us that stood firm kept that rate for several years. Those that waffled didn't and ended up with cents per line and then quit. When the 2nd MTSO came in, it was negotiation time again. Those of us who refused to work for peanuts continued to get paid well, by Nuance, with holidays off. It was not easy and it was scary to know that they could just say good-bye. But we saw our co-workers just back down and either quit or get paid really low rates and burn out. I'll never understand why they didn't ask for what they wanted.

Exactly! You nailed it! What Thorn posted, if true, is NOT the normal experience! - Realist

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Who comes on here anyway, when cohorts are being let go, barely hanging on, suffering, searching, and posts some kind of braggy post about their awesome income! It's irritating, as if to say everyone else is inadequate and not measuring up, but it's also highly misleading to newbies and/or prospective MTs.

A few tips - Thorn

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I have been doing this for over two decades. I have a dynamite expander system that I wrote myself. It has over 7000 entries and works on a word linking system so that I can transcribe at the same rate the doc speaks. I credit my system with my being able to transcribe at 99% accuracy on a high ESL account.

Shouldn't unscrupulous practices also be held accountable? - SickOfIt

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So, if a business LIES and charges a significant sum of money, is actually training students in a foreign country to compete against US workers (thus driving down our wages and eliminating our work), they just walk away willy-nilly?

If I must faces the consequences of my actions, then so should the business that is LYING.

Sometimes the only way the little guy can fight back against corrupt and greedy scoundrel companies is to SUE.

Where have you already looked? - sm

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What companies did you apply to? I am wondering if you applied at all because you seem to be holding out for a "entry level" position with few ESLs and flexibility (whatever that is).

I also wonder because that school advertises that its students have almost guaranteed jobs with a number of MTSOs. Did you try them?

You really cannot be choosy if you want to work. The first thing you need to recognize is that there have never been entry-level jobs in MT. You will have to take what you can get and work like the devil to get up to speed. You can expect to make very little during that time, but you will be lucky if you are not fired for low productivity.

You cannot pick and choose what type of dictators or dictation you do. You do what you get, if you get anything at all.

Flexibility is not what you ask, but what the employer demands from you, as in you working 18 hours a day to get enough work to make minimum wage. Flexible in being willing to sit at a computer waiting to pounce on an ESL, and being happy you got it.

My suggestion is that you do not mention your interests-they will turn off employers. You should also take care to proofread your application and emails carefully for grammar. Not that it matters here, but the errors in your post would magke an employer think twice. I mean that as a helpful suggestion, not criticism. You can't be too perfect.

Schools should adjust transcription--sm - Lacey

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and merge into a closely related school program like medical office secretary/assistant and not offer it as a program by itself. You may need to find a job in a doctor's office or facility that includes transcription skills to gain experience. Hospitals may still hire a transcriptionist entry-level, perhaps even sending you home after a while. Being onsite at a facility for a little while could really help as there are transcriptionists with experience who could provide tips/assistance. Personally, I'm frustrated feeling pigeonholed in this field because of the industry changing and wish I had cross-trained in school or from previous health care jobs. I wish you the best.

Frustration due to pigeonholing - sm

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If you feel pigeonholed, there are things you can do to learn new skills on your own and even for free.

A lot of people have the mindset that you can learn something only if someone teaches it to you. That is not true.

You do not have to go to school, sign up for a course, pay tuition, sit in a chair, drive anywhere, or quit your job.

There are innumerable online resources available for you to use. There are textbooks available that even come with the same online access that you would get in a college class. There are even entire degree programs online for free. Software training is everywhere for free.

I cannot imagine what anyone thinks is in a secretarial course that an MT does not already have or cannot get on their own. You can even learn coding by getting the same books a college uses and studying them.

Employers do not care that you have a silly piece of paper from the career college up the street. They care that you can do fantastic work.

Even pigeonholes have a way out.

Agree mostly, but there's a key component missing. - Realist

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An at-home, isolated worker is not interacting with the public, providing direct customer service to John Doe standing at the desk, etc. This is the biggest hurdle I've been facing with prospective employers. Otherwise spot on!

There are many tutorials, even some offering certifications, online.

Online stuff not alone - Lacey

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I am aware of these programs. I already have had secretarial training. I actually was not thinking about software programs, but clinical stuff such as phlebotomy, EKGs, taking vitals, etc. I feel those who have this knowledge plus the secretarial skills have an edge over a MT. And I agree with the other commenter about customer service and face-to-face contact.

Not quite - sm

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Those employers are not just hiring secretaries who can do some clinical stuff, as you put it. The people you see in healthcare settings who appear to be doing that are medical assistants, for the most part. In many areas, they have to be certified or licensed.

There are many adult ed programs that offer training like that at low cost. Check with community colleges, public night schools, etc.

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