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

New MT looking for new career!!! HELP! - rocky

Posted: Apr 08, 2013

Well, I wish I would have looked at this forum before going to MT school. I tried working for two different MT companies. First one I hated the platform/pay and the second one I really liked the account and platform but my work wasn't "clean enough" and they let me go after two weeks. I think I got canned because I questioned some QA redlines and was told I was wrong (no, no comma. Yes, you put a comma. That's hypenated. No, not hypenated.) I even had the audacity to tell QA that's how Merrium-Webster spells it.... QA gal was an I'm-smarter-than-you type and a total you know what.

Now here I am with no job, no prospects, and no clue as to what to do next. I have an Associate's Degree in Court Reporting and spent 17 years in that business. I took the MT course because I wanted to do something from home and I really enjoy transcription work. I also discovered that newbies take a long time to make it above minimum wage, am I wrong? I made 300 bucks for probably 80 hours of work ($3.75 an hour).

Any suggestions on a decent paying job???

With your experience in court reporting, how about scoping? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

was a scopist - rocky

[ In Reply To ..]
I need $1,500 to buy software/key to become a scopist, need cash first

Rocky - Nick

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm a guy, a law student, and (hopefully) getting out of MT altogether. Have you thought about becoming a medical paralegal? The firm I clerked for did a lot of personal injury cases, etc. and had two paralegals. They made really good money. They spent their time organizing documents, drafting briefs, doing legal research, etc. Don't know if that would suit you, but the people I met seemed to like it. It is just a passing thought. Good luck to you.

Thoughts - Cathy

[ In Reply To ..]
Have you tried legal transcription? I have heard that still pays well, though I could be wrong. Your background in court reporting would probably help with that.

Another thought would be to try to find a smaller MT company. I have found a very small company that I am very happy with and get paid well (11 cpl for straight transcription) and it is more flexible. I know those jobs are few and far between, though. I looked for a few years before I found this one.

You could also check out Elance, Odesk, and other freelance sites to see if anything appeals to you. Some of those jobs turn into permanent positions. Don't forget about general transcription and interview transcription as well. I have seen ads for criminal justice/police interview transcription and you would probably have a heads-up with your court reporting experience for that too.

Do you like to write? Another MT on this forum recommended Textbroker to me. You do freelance writing for articles, product descriptions, etc. They were looking for someone to rewrite articles with a legal twist. Maybe that would appeal to you. I don't know if it would be enough for a full-time income, but you might be able to bring in some extra cash until you find something else.

Good luck to you and all of the rest of us MTs as we try to navigate our way out of this industry or figure out how to stay in the industry and adjust to all the changes taking place.

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