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

honest question seeking honest answers - Snow Bunny (the original)

Posted: Mar 09, 2013

For the last couple of weeks, I've been sending out resumes and also frequently checking job sites such as indeed.com and simplyhired.com. So much of what's out there is really looking for recent experience, although it's not actually stated in the ad. Okay, that's the story, now here's the question ... If so many are unhappy doing MT, most importantly because of the lousy pay, why not work at temporary jobs? The pay has to be much better than what you're currently getting. Anyone care to share their thoughts?

Good question. - My thoughts

[ In Reply To ..]
I decided to train for a new profession, but I would consider temporary jobs had I not decided to do this. I think there must be a number of MTs who live in rural areas, and therefore the commute must be a factor. Others may not have the skills.

Temp jobs - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
That is a very good question. I think working as a temp is a good thing. It gives the employee and the employer the chance to see if they are a good fit for each other. It gives the employee a chance to learn some new skills to add to their resume. It gives the employee a chance to have income while they look for another position. Also, many temp jobs can last a long time and lead to full-time permanent employment.

On the flipside... - when I was a temp

[ In Reply To ..]
about a hundred years ago in the big city (remember the Kelly Girls?), I had some HORRENDOUS temp jobs, like one I remember was a whole day making, collating and stapling copies (that one turned out particularly bad with lots of papers flying everywhere and a very peeved supervisor, like an episode of Lucy!). I also did lots of filing backlogs and subbing for vacationing receptionists answering phones, not too bad those, but not a great career path either.

When I became an MT I did find some MT type jobs in hospitals and clinics but those were rare, typing letters and that sort of thing, usually filling in for someone who was destined to return in a short while, so not given a huge amount of responsibility. When I temped with Manpower I got a few stints in places like warehouses, stacking boxes, loading trucks, packing stuff, and other menial non skilled labor.

Sometimes I look back on my temp times and think those were the good old days, but then if I think just a little bit harder... hmmm, maybe not so much! LOL!

I remember Kelly Girls very well. I temped quite a few years - Truthhurts

[ In Reply To ..]
with them in my younger days. Unfortunately, the cloest office for KG was 30 miles away and a lot of jobs were in that area. They soon opened a place 5 miles away and most of the jobs were then local; data entry, administrative assistant, sales secretary (transcribing sales reports, letters, etc.), accounting, and receptionist (yuk!). Got to work for the largest industries in this area. I mainly did it to get both experience, find out what it was like working for a big company, and to get my foot in the door at a company that would be a temp-to-permanent-hire job.

Sadly, being young and dumb, I turned down a very lucrative position because I didn't care for the attitudes of the other people who worked there.

On the lighter side, another temp agency hired me as one of THEIR reps and I really liked that job. Found out all the ins and outs.

BTW, you used to be able to collect unemployment if you were in a long term assignment and the job ended sooner than expected and there was no other job available.

Income not steady...unpredictable... - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
if you've got rent/mortgage, they're not going to care that your temp job ended, and you haven't been called back for another, or you're just getting assignments where you go out for 1-3 days a week...it can be sporadic, sketchy...

in order to temp, you really need to have savings you can count on, or a second income there - otherwise, you can be left swingin' in the wind...

also, with temp jobs, sometimes what you get are the bottom of the barrel positions...really LONG commutes on the other side of town, I mean really ridiculous...you get paid a little more, but you spend it all on gas.

so it's not always the best choice.

I would tend to think all of your listed quirks depend on one's work experience and locaiton - and not so much in the general scheme of temping.

[ In Reply To ..]
/

Then I would say, you haven't temped very much - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
and I wouldn't describe them as "quirks," it's reality, when those office jobs are also disappearing (not as rapidly as MT), for the same reasons: technology, companies wanting to run "lean," get rid of any "excess" human staff possible, and replace with computers. The last temp job I had, I was just there until they could eliminate the position entirely with pagers, cellphones, web-based system, etc.

Wrong. But you would not know that. Please don't presume. - NM

[ In Reply To ..]
~

You are exactly correct - and answer to the OPs post - Anonymoose - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Temp job means just that, temporary. I've got a mortgage I just can't work "temp" hoping I'll get picked up. When DH was in the service I did work for Kelly and absolutely LOVED it. Loved being able two work at various places, meet new people, etc., but he was bringing in the extra income. If I called in one day and there was no work it was no big deal, I went out and sat by the pool (sunny CA). However, now I am the one who supports the family. I can't do that temping. Like you said mortgage, electric, etc are not going to care that you don't have a job. Those are not "quirks" they are facts.

I am probably one of the few MTs on this board who loves my job and the company I work for. Unfortunately my pay is not as much as it used to be and I'm having to make some huge adjustments (none of which are too comfortable, like not turning on heat in the winter time cos I can't afford a $160 gas bill & $130 electric bill and no TV, cos I can't afford that anymore. I'm learning to eat more beans and rice and oatmeal and soups that last us 4 or 5 days, thinks like that, but that's just the way it is. I see so many people struggling, and so many people (including half my family and friends) out of work. My situation is that I need to stay home and work because of things we have going on so MT work is the best situation for me. I'm petrified with all the "new" things going on and hearing companies are sending jobs overseas. Until DH lands a job or I win the lotto this is the way it is for me. Unless my DH lands a super duper job I could not go back to temping. It's just too unreliable and you do go in at the bottom. Your just a fill in while someone is on maternity leave or whatever.

Besides I like my 30 second commute to work (down the hallway), not having to punch in a timeclock, yet always am on time for work. I like not having to get up at 6am (not a morning person), I like not having to pitch in for pot lucks and coffee clubs, birthday clubs, office politics and most of all I like the fact that I've been working in my flannel PJs and have not taken them off in 2 days. :-)

Okay, gotta ask, just curious for the 1 dislike - Anonymoose - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Why the dislike? Because I agreed with Where's my job? Got to say there is nothing in my post that would lead one to dislike it, unless you disliked it because I said I like my job. In that case we have a saying....you are one sick puppy. LOL. Just kidding. Maybe you disliked it cos I said I've been wearing my flannel PJs and haven't taken them off in 2 days and maybe you think I'm a nasty ho. LOL. I have taken a shower though, and now I've changed into a different pair of flannel PJs.

Was just curious as to why the dislike. I really don't care if you dislike my post, was just curious why. Its anonymous here so you can be honest about it. If you don't reply I'll just take it that you didn't like that I agreed with Where's my job.

Dislike - Anonoymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I didn't give you a dislike, but I've got to ask...don't you ever leave the house? I know very few people, regardless of whether or not they work at home, who wear pajamas all the time. The part about the post I didn't care for were your references to pot lucks, office politics, etc. I've always found that it is one's personal choice whether or not they participate in office politics. A lot of people permit themselves to get sucked in. Participating in pot lucks has never been mandatory; again that is a person's choice but generally a person gets as good as they give when it comes to getting along in an office.

Too unpredictable/unreliable - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
I have a family that depends on my income and benefits. Temp work sounds too unsteady/unpredictable for me to feel comfortable with it -- too many unknowns with that type of job for me.

Besides, I don't want to always be the "new girl" in the office and constantly having that "new job" feeling of still learning how things are done only to move on to another "new" job.

I need more permanency. Constant change not for me.

antoher 'to each his own.' I happen to love change and spreading myself around. - never know what may come your way. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
/

Seeking honest answer - anony

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Because temp jobs DON'T offer benefits. Did them years ago and never new how long a job would last. They would tell you 2 weeks, I would go and work not even a week and then be looking again. Talk about stress.

Uh, Kelly Girls used to offer benefits if you were with them for so long. - Truthhurts

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't know how it is now, but years ago, you needed to have so many temp hours built up and then you would qualify for benefits.

Also forget to mention... - If you think "office politics"

[ In Reply To ..]
are bad when you are an employee, for a temp they are probably a thousand times worse. I had jobs for a month or more where no one even bothered to learn my name, was only referred to as "the temp" as in "we need (insert most menial job here, copying, filing, fetching, cleaning up vomit or whatever) done... Oh, the temp can do that."

If you do happen to have fairly good skills at something (I was pretty good at word processing back in the day), the employees will look at you with disdain and suspicion, a usurper who might be trying to steal their jobs, and will treat you accordingly (see first paragraph above).

Also a lot of temp jobs that are advertised (used to be in newspapers, such as "Temp to perm! Great job in advertising/publishing/legal/fashion or other glamour job) were come-ons to get people to test for temp agencies. I was always told the GREAT JOB was already filled, but would I be interested in filing, copying, sweeping floors?

Also the pay was never that great, usually a little above minimum wage depending on what skills they wanted. These agencies are middle men and they take their cut accordingly, leaving you with not much unless maybe you are one of the professional temps, like an accountant, lawyer or engineer.

There are also a lot of folks who have long-term relationships with temp agencies, so it could take a while to work up to the "interesting" jobs unless you had skills that were really sharp and in demand.

I'm not saying that temp couldn't work for some, but for a lot of us, best to try to parlay our MT skills and knowledge into something more permanent or even try to network into our own accounts as supplements for disappearing MT work.

Temps - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
It is not always necessary to go through an agency. Some employers, notably health care facilities, hire full-time temporary employees for positions in HIM, billing, coding and other clerical jobs. Many of these do lead to permanent employment. There are no agencies involved and some of the positions are benefited. No one needs to know that you are a temp unless you tell them.

It's a good way to test a job to see if it's a fit... - and vice-versa. Lots of employers -sm

[ In Reply To ..]
use temp. employees to find ones they want to hire full-time.

Temps...the reality - Travelin MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Temping....I have done it for years. When I did it as an MT we were referred to as contract employees. I never had the problem of being referred to as a temp/contract employee by the regular employees. What we did find on occasion was that we were not liked by regular employees that had been told how much the company was paying for our services. We were told never to discuss our salary. One hospital I worked at the supervisor told the regular employees that we were being paid $55/hr. I WISH!!!, that was what the hospital was being changed by the service, but it wasn't what we were making.l That amount I am sure was a figure that factored in our per diem meal allowance and our benefits. So they saw us as coming in making mega bucks that they were not making. Sure that led to resentment until one of the employees spilled the beans one day and we said no way are they paying "us" that much.

I always look at it as I don't have to get into the office politics because I am there for a specific period of time and then I move on. I don't have to care that Annie spends her day texting her friends and getting away with it. Not my problem, I was hired to do a specific job for a company, not to worry about what their employees are or are not doing. After you have done it for a while it is easy to walk into an office and within a day or two know who is or isn't working and if the office is in a real mess you know exactly why.

The part about it being unreliable is true. I have gone on assignments for 3 months only to have them end after 3 weeks. In fact that just happened to me a couple of weeks ago. The assignment was to be for 6 to 8 weeks covering for an employee having surgery. She got sick and her surgery was cancelled, but they wanted me to come in and train on the software and their might be a week or two between training and her surgery. So I went in and trained only to find out from the employee herself that she didn't know when she was going to have the surgery, because she couldn't do it in March or April. So here I sit, trained and not knowing when she is going to decide to have the surgery.

When I traveled as an MT, I could have 5 days off between jobs or 2 months. I never filed for unemployment so many times in all my life. :)

If you decide to try it, just go in with a smile on your face and the attitude you are there to help them. Be friendly, dress professionally, be on time and willing to pitch in and help with whatever it is they need you to do. If they didn't need you to do it they wouldn't be paying a service to bring you in.

Travelin MT - Question for you - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
Were you by any chance working for KForce? I worked with some KForce MTs a few years back and a couple of years ago KForce tried to recruit me as well. I'd have loved to have joined up with them about 10 years ago before life responsibilities at home were so intense...Sounded like a great gig!

Welp... - Hustle Woman

[ In Reply To ..]
I am currently working a temp job doing medical data entry,as well as answering phones and taking messages. Pros are that I work five days a week, no nights, weekends, or holidays. Don't care for answering phones or making phone calls, but eh - it's part of the gig. The only thing I dislike is that I am not getting benefits - no PTO, no medical, no dental, no 401k, etc. - and with my husband out of work right now, it's been tough to make ends meet. (Thank goodness it's just the two of us - no kids!) Unfortunately, that also means we can't go to the doctor or dentist until one or both of us gets jobs with benefits.

Also, it all depends on what the functions of the job are and if someone would be willing to hire a career MT for a medical records or medical data entry job. The MT field has really gotten bad. Most jobs nowadays are PRN/part-time and most are second or third shift and pay very little.

I hope to return to school when I can for Information Technology. I think I'd fare better in that arena than MT!!

Remeber this though - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
In all reality, the true function of temping is to gain experience/skills to add to your resume. Yes, you can get a perm job from temping, but that's not guaranteed. What you do get though, are those skills and that experience, which makes you a more marketable employee.

I loved temping and hope to get back into it when my kids are older. The two really great office jobs I had I got through temp work.

Also, you can sign up with more than 1 temp agency. This can cover you if 1 agency has no work available. You can also apply for other jobs while you're temping and you have that great skill-based, updated resume.

I think temping is an excellent option for MTs returning to outside work, especially if that MT has only been doing MT for years and is a bit behind on current office skills.

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