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

Newbie considering giving up on MT - frustratedinPA

Posted: Nov 14, 2010

I am a newbie to the transcription world. I have a year's experience in this field but it is so frustrating trying to find a job and finding that person/company that will give you a chance to gain that experience. I am getting frustrated with job searching and every job saying they require 2 years experience or even more like 5 years.

I did go to online schooling and graduated and felt like my schooling taught me a lot.

I gave up a good paying office job so that I could be able to work from home so that I could be home with my two little boys. I am now wondering if I made a mistake? I just don't know whether to give up on this career and go in a different direction or keep trying? Any ideas?

Thanks!

I hear ya. I have been an MT for 9.5 years (sm) - Yochana

[ In Reply To ..]
and have been laid off due to the MTSO losing the account to India. I really understand you wanting to be home with your boys...they will grow up and be gone in no time. I HAVE to continue as an MT because I am part caretaker for my blind dad...but the pay is SO dismal. They expect perfection at an India pay rate. There is always the possibility you will luck up on a job, but who knows. I sure wish you the best. Wish I had info I could share with you.

You may have to invest more inhouse time first. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If you have a year of experience in a virtual setting and are not getting hired, perhaps you aren't demonstrating what you need to be on testing?

Try giving it another year inhouse (hospital preferred but a larger clinic will suffice) to improve your skills.

In house - FrustratedinPA

[ In Reply To ..]
I left working from an office b/c babysitting was too expensive and costing me almost the majority of what I was making. It doesn't make sense to me to go work in house and not make any money...that isn't why I got into this field.

It isn't an automatic given that you can work from home. - please sm

[ In Reply To ..]
There are many factors that are at play here.

As I stated in my previous response to you, if you already have a year's experience and are not able to demonstrate the kind of test results employers are looking for you may have to go back inhouse for a while.

Just because you go through an online or even a brick-and-mortar school does not mean you are fully prepared for working at home. It gives you a foundation to start building on.

This is a career, not a quick-fix so you can just drop out of the normal job sector. Sounds to me like you are more interested in working from home rather than making this a career.

Perhaps you should go to Alpine Access or Live Ops and do call center work from home. You can start it immediately if you get hired.

You'll need to be somewhat interested in MT work to do well in this and you'll have to show employers that you have what it takes.

A word of advice on changing jobs in this field: Never, ever quit a job until you have already started working another and determine that you like it and will be successful at it.

Wish you well.

Bashing is not what I was looking for. - FrustratedinPA

[ In Reply To ..]
First of all....I do love the MT work...what I don't like is that nobody wants to give a newbie a chance. I am a darn good transcriptionist and my past employers would also agree. Sometime people just don't show their ability on some stupid test...and just don't test well.

And just so you know...I didn't quit any of my MT jobs but lost them b/c the owners lost their work to EMR which is happening alot.

Maybe you should get the right facts before you go bashing someone....think before you speak...thank you.

OP wasn't bashing. Don't be so sensitive. - You asked for the advice. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Came here for advice.... - FrustratedinPA

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't tell me to not be sensitive...I came here looking for advice and all that she had to say was to bash me and she didn't even get all the details right. I just wanted to say that before you offer what she calls "advice" she better get the details right.

Younger MT's need the support of seasoned MT's and that is all I was looking for.

I thought the advice she gave you was excellent! - Seasoned and Successful CMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Many times people just want others to agree with them or maybe just sympathize with them. You got better than that. You got good information. It may not have been what you wanted though, so you may have to be more specific next time. "I want sympathy" or "I want to hear from those of you who agree with me" or "Has anyone gone through what I went through?" You really didn't want advice but you got it because your message didn't say that. Be really clear next time so you'll avoid getting advice you don't want.

You said you had spent a year working as an MT, it isn't working for you, and you are considering quitting.

The conclusion I would get from it is that you may not have the level of skills to work independently from home, from what you said, or maybe you have too many distractions to be able to work from home. One option is to work on-site until you do have the skills and/or environment that will allow you to do well working at home. The other poster suggested the same and also recommended that you not give up one job before you have another one, unless you don't need to work. That's good advice.

Your reaction indicates that you don't want to hear advice that differs from what you've already decided, so be more clear about that next time and you won't get advice you don't want.

You were given advice. You obviously don't want to hear it. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
As for your "younger MTs" statement, perhaps a little maturity is needed on your part.

Seasoned MTs are the ones giving you tips on what to do to improve your chances of working at home. It's not a guarantee, as the OP noted.

It's a toss up - mt

[ In Reply To ..]
It's incredibly difficult to get hired in today's environment. So you can make no money and be home, or go back to the office environment and make a little. In-house MT jobs pay $10-18/hr usually depending on where you live.

Trying to meet the experience requirements now is incredibly difficult and highly competitive with only the real top-notch MTs usually snagging the gigs.

So you could look at the plus- you're home and saving on babysitting and making no money-- sounds like a wash to me, right?

To frustrated in PA - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I saw a website for a company called SOAP Transcription. From what I have read, they prefer to hire new MTs and give them on the job experience working from home. I don't know how well they pay or anything but it might be a way to get some experience and then move on to something else. I know it's difficult, it is even for those of us with years of experience, good luck.

1-year experience - nycmt

[ In Reply To ..]
have you tried to apply to all of the MTSOs anyway? even if they say "2-years experience required"? i would try anyway...it can't hurt to at least take their test and find out where you stand?

Frustrated...... - Older MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I understand your frustration. Believe me, if I had not been doing this for over 25 years and nearing retirement I would get out of it too.

What you should do depends a lot on your personal situation. Do you have the time and patience to put into this? Financially speaking, you are not going to be very well off in this business until you put in years and have gained experience in many different specialities. You took offense to some very good advice. It was not bashing, it was reality.

I started in this business making $8.00 an hour in-house very many years ago. Did that for a couple of years and made a move to a large practice at $10.00 an hour. After 7 years that was $15.00 an hour. A couple more years it was $17.00 an hour. Now, I make an average of $22 to $24 an hour at 9 cpl. Personally, I would have taken the job at 8 cpl because I know I can turn that into $40,000 a year. This takes years and years. As you learn the skills and become more experienced in different specialties, your speed then picks up, and your income goes up even if the rate per line is not that attractive. You only have 1 year under your belt so you have many dues to pay before this becomes very profitable for you. Only you can decide if you have what it takes, time and financial situation, to hang in there.

This is a tough time for MT jobs. Unfortunately, you have MTs with 10-15-20 years looking for better or new jobs. They are the ones the companies are looking for most of the time. More often that not, you will not stand a chance competing with them. That does not mean you have to give up if you think you want to stick with it. It just means you will have to take the jobs that most experienced MTs do not want. One thing you might consider very strongly is taking jobs that request you to work on a p.r.n. basis, or even take 2 part time jobs. You will gain so much experience and it will look impressive on your resume. If you are a good MT it should not take long for you to become comfortable with a job and the income that you can produce (still years though).

Again, personally, I would tell you to get out if you currently need to make a substantial income. I have been trying to get out for a couple of years now, but the job market is such that for every 1 job where I live, about 25 people apply, and I am not as young, and have only done MTing for the last 25 years.

Remember, do not ask for advice that you do not want. Do not instantly think someone is bashing you. Be wise and consider what they are saying, and why, even if you do not agree with it.

Good luck to you.

Never said I wanted to work f/t - frustratedinPA

[ In Reply To ..]
Not sure where you got that I am looking at this as substantial income. I am looking to make some extra money for my family to just make things not so tight. I don't really want to work f/t right now anyways. I really am only wanting a p/t job for now and then maybe in a few years find a f/t job.

I would take a job with a cheaper cpl rate but what I am saying is that no one wants to give a newbie a chance anymore. I just came here for any ideas on what place may hire newer transcriptionist and was wondering if this field is getting to be that bad if I should look into something else or not. That's it. I didn't come here to be yelled and told I need to work in-house. That is just not possible in my situation to go out and work in-house and I understand some people may be able to do that but in my situation I can't do that. If I wanted to work outside the home I would have kept my good paying office job.

Thanks!

One problem - ZonedOut

[ In Reply To ..]
that you may have besides being a newbie is the fact that you are looking for part-time work. I could be totally wrong, but it is my understanding that part-time work is harder to come by as more and more MTSOs only want to hire full-time MTs; therefore, all the MTs who only want part-time all apply for the same jobs, increasing the competition for those jobs. IMO. You may just need to be patient and keep applying and reapplying to everything you see. Maybe you will get lucky.

thank you - frustratedinPA

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, I know P/T work is harder to come by so I am trying to be patient. Thank you for your kind words.

Think about it from the other side of the coin - x-MTSO

[ In Reply To ..]
You're new. To hire you, someone has to know up front they are TRAINING you. There are very few people that get out of school and hit the ground running without the need for actual real-life training.

Training you costs time and money.

But you don't want full time. So as a service owner, I have someone who is not fully invested in themselves (as I see it due to needing the experience but only wanting supplemental income work) and yet expects me to spend time and money to get you up to speed (i.e. give you experience).

Seriously, you'd be better off going back to your old position or finding something else to do. For the time it would take to train you, cost to the service to do so, the return on the investment in what you would produce just isn't worth it.

I'm not bashing you. I'm not being mean. I'm giving you the dollars and sense view from the other side of the coin.

If I train someone, invest time and money in them, I want to know I'm going to get the highest return on my investment, which is full time. This is why a lot of services won't hire part time anymore. People just view as something to do once in a while to make a few extra bucks rather than as a serious job that requires (most times) a significant time commitment.

I hope you find something that works for you.

working at home w/children - mt35

[ In Reply To ..]
I was never able to work efficiently with kids in the house. Mine are grown now, but WAY back in the day, even without the contraits of strict schedules, online tracking, etc., it was really nonproductive. This was the day of the Selectric and tapes, when MT would work whenever, and I found myself frazzled and sleep-deprived, trying to give my kids quality time and provide my employer with quality work. Not to mention I had to produce to make money.

I did end up putting them in day care and going back in-house to work. I was a much better mom and MT. I only went back home to work after they were in school.

With 2 young children, unless you have a good plan in place to give both work and children undivided attention, I might rethink trying to work at home, especially as a relatively new MT.

Heck, I only have a dog and 1 college kid at home and I still have trouble dealing with at-home distractions. And I've been at this for over 35 years.

I do wish you the best of luck!! :-)

Thank you for the advice - frustratedinPA

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for you kind words. I know you don't know my situation but my husband works shift work and is here a good majority of the time that I do my work...therefore my kids leave me alone enough to get my work done. I would never take on a f/t job with the kids here and I am truly only looking for p/t work. I would take on f/t work once the kids are in school all the time.

Thanks again for your kind words of advice.

Have You Contacted SOAP in MI?? - smeeps

[ In Reply To ..]
Check their site out. I just got hired by them and start my training this coming Tuesday and Wednesday.

Reality Check - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Let me see if I've got this right: You need to make some extra money for your family and you don't want to work outside the home because you want to be with your kids and you only want to work part-time and you thought that medical transcription would be an easy way to do this. So actually your objective was not to become a medical transcriptionist, but to become work-at-home mom and medical transcription was just the means to an end. However, now you're disillusioned with the profession because no one wants to hire you and you're thinking of quitting, and even though other seasoned MTs have told you your best course of action would be to work in-house to get the experience you need and to hone your skills, you're not willing to do that because that just doesn't fit into your master plan of working from home. The way I see it, your decision making process went something like this: "I want to work at home so I think I'll become a medical transcriptionist", when it should have been "I want to be a medical transcriptionist because I think it would a very challenging and interesting career to pursue". Do you see the difference?

Here are some of the statements you posted: "I am looking to make some extra money for my family to just make things not so tight", "It doesn't make sense to me to go work in house and not make any money...that isn't why I got into this field"; "Sometimes people just don't show their ability on some stupid test...and just don't test well", "I didn't come here to be yelled and told I need to work in-house", "If I wanted to work outside the home I would have kept my good paying office job". Not really the attitude or mind-set of someone who went into medical transcription because they wanted a challenging, stimulating career is it?

It's very clear to me and probably to others reading this what the problem is, and it can be summed up in one word: COMMITMENT. Your disillusionment, anger and frustration stems from a totally unrealistic expectation. Medical transcription is not the career one chooses with the ultimate goal being to work from home. If medical transcription was truly your primary consideration you would do anything to secure the skills so that at some point in your career you might be able to work from home. I don't know of even one seasoned MT who did not start out working in-house at a hospital, multispecialty clinic, or doctor's office. Your unwillingness to even consider an in-house position is proof of your lack of commitment to the profession. You got into this situation because being an MT was your secondary goal, so don't blame the profession or the employers who won't hire you and those "stupid tests" you referred to, I find it puzzling that you don't do well when you're allowed to use any reference materials and even the internet to pass them, so sorry, but maybe you're not as good a transcriptionist as you think you are.

I have been an MT since 1971 and I chose this career because I wanted to be an MT and not because I had some other goal in mind. I went to a brick and mortar school for 12 months and was taught by Mrs. Genevieve Boyd, a retired Colonel in US Army Nurse Corps and she ran her classroom as if we were all in the Army. You, young lady, would not have lasted any time at all. I remember the first day of school, she scared the Hell out of all of us. There were 32 of us on day one and by the end of the 12 month course, only 11 of us graduated. I am extremely proud to say I got straight A's. You had to be completely totally committed and extremely disciplined or you were gone. A 97 on a test was a failing grade, it went like this: 100=A, 99=B, 98=C (there was no D), 97=F. One week after graduation, the phone rang at 6:00 a.m. I was still in bed and my mother came in to my room to tell me Mrs. Boyd was on the phone. I bolted up out of bed as if reveille has been sounded, grabbed the phone from my mother and Mrs. Boyd told me to "get my ass out of bed" and go to the Naval Hospital about 20 miles from my home because she had arranged an interview for me there. After I interviewed and tested, I was hired on the spot. I worked there for 10 years and it was the best training ground an MT could ever have. I am forever grateful to Mrs. Boyd for instilling in me an excellent work ethic and a sincere and long lasting COMMITMENT to this profession. Currently I work in-house for a national imaging corporation transcribing strictly radiology. I make $27 an hour.

You need to get your priorities straight. If what you actually want is work from home and what you do is only secondary to that, and if, as you said, you were not looking at medical transcription to make "substantial income", then any money at all is gravy, so find something that's easier and less frustrating and something you don't have to make a substantial commitment to. But stop believing that it's the profession or the employers who are stopping you from succeeding. Take a look in a mirror and you'll discover the principal obstacle to your success.

Reality Check - Anon - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I really like and agree with your message. I have grown so weary of the mommies in jammies crowd who really want to give nothing to our profession (and it IS a profession) and only see it as a giant babysitter. People wonder why MT is so messed up these days. The kind of attitude that "MT is just a giant babysitter" is responsible for a large part of it. Your message was very articulate and, IMHO, spot-on. You sound like someone I would like to have on my team.

Well - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I am currently working from home because childcare cost is so outrageous. I've been at it almost 17 years now. I started out at a hospital in-house, then to outpatient diagnostic clinics, home, back to another hospital, all over the place basically. I am grateful that I happen to do the kind of work that can be done from home so that I don't have to fork over nearly half my check on childcare or a babysitter. I see nothing wrong with that. That being said, I agree, this isn't something to be started for the sole reason of staying home. It is a profession and a craft and should be treated as such, by MT's and companies alike.

Clarfication from Reality Check - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
You are not a newbie and my post was not directed at the many MTs who do consider medical transcription a profession, who have worked in-house and have the knowledge, experience and qualifications to work from home. I have supervised many MTs working from home and their dedication and work ethic suffers not in the least because of it, and, in fact, sometimes was superior to the MTs in the office who occupied themselves with office "drama". I was always more than willing to accommodate any MT who wanted to work from home if daycare became an issue for them. In point of fact, I am now trying to convince my employer to allow me and a fellow MT to work from home as the environment we are working in just isn't conducive to our productivity. Medical Transcription is the poster child for working from home under the right conditions. I hope that "frustrated in PA" realizes that although devoting some time to an in-house situation may be inconvenient for her now, it will pay off in the long run, as it has for you.

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