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

The shoe and the other Foot - Just a qestion

Posted: Dec 03, 2010

I was just wondering, reading the job ads, if it would be considered offensive to the experienced MT for ads for employment to state:

No senior or experienced MT's over 5 years need apply!

Ok, sure it is hypothetically a stupid question but, even though no experienced MT will answer it honestly, still makes a point.

No matter what, if every job you looked at AUTOMATICALLY knocked you out of the water because the company preferred newer, younger, fresher, more trainable, less set in their way employees, you might be writing this same post.

Maybe? Anyone honest here? LOL

Not such a bright "qestion" - mymt

[ In Reply To ..]
Why is it insulting to a newbie to be told we don't hire newbies?

IMO, there are some companies who do, in essence, discourage more experienced MTs to apply. If an ad says, must have 1 year experience or if they are only looking for newbies, then I know this is a company who doesn't want the MTS who know how to stand up for themselves with regard to rates and treatment, so I wouldn't consider applying. I'm not insulted by it. It's their business practice, I just don't have to stop in.

Same goes with companies citing they want 3-5, hell I saw 10, years of experience. While it doesn't necessarily reflect their price point, it does indicate to me that they are expecting someone who can walk in the door and do the job w/o lots of hand-holding.

Did you not look at a single ad for MT BEFORE you decided to go to school? It's sort of like diving out of the plane and then wondering if the parachute you bought from the kid next door will really open and save you.

Your point is not a well taken one, nor is it even sensible.

Thanks, - I guess the word I should have used was

[ In Reply To ..]
discouraged, not offended. Of course I didn't plan on this getting mass responses of accolade, we will see what happens. I am beginning to see that you experienced MT's really have a bad outlook towards "newbieÃ¢??s" seriously. By making the comment that "I know this is a company who doesn't want the MTS who know how to stand up for themselves with regard to rates and treatment" you really think your up on a pedestal don't you. Way back in the good ole days, your telling me that your first MT job was for the greatest money that could be offered? You were so sure of yourself that as a newbie you were turning down job offers left and right because you can "stand up for your self"? If you answer yes, then seal yourself off in a time capsule so all the newbieÃ¢??s can stop by and feast their eyes on a truly magical being. This why the post is entitle The shoe and the other foot, it is hard for someone who has out grown the smaller shoe to try and cram their big head, I mean foot, back into it so they can truly see the whole picture.

Not such a bright questioner - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
We do not have a negative attitude; we have a realistic attitude. Why should I pay a newbie (perhaps from a matchbook?) when there are many, many MTs with a world of experience looking for work who can hit the ground running without handholding--and without the sarcasm that you employ. Sarcasm is most generally used as a defense mechanism for unreasonable causes and points of view. Think about it.

Then please explain what attitude you think it is - And it is not realistic

[ In Reply To ..]
My original question directed no harm or ill will to anyone but you women can always be counted for the same old matchbox response. "Your not negative, just realistic" or "Your sarcasm depicts a defense mechanism because I am also a psychiatrist as well as an MT" blah blah. Any newbie is met with NOTHING but criticism, sarcasm, or everything to make them feel like they have wasted their time and money on this profession. All the job posts state NO NEWBIES, well not all of them. I understand them saying 1 to 2 years experience. To follow it up with NOW NEWBIES is just an outward visualization of a superiority complex. (chew on that one a bit DR.) You are right about it but apparently unaware of your phrasing or context problems. "Sarcasm is most generally used as a defense mechanism for unreasonable causes and points of view" Yes, she had unreasonable causes and points of view, ergo, I defended my VALID points of view with sarcasm. Your smart. YOU think about it. No question here is valid unless it is posted by an all mighty experienced MT. Canâ��t we just learn that and let the nannyâ��s bury this profession further. Maybe then we can start fresh with out all the bitterness.

Stupid question - me

[ In Reply To ..]
It would be both offensive AND ILLEGAL. Age discrimination is AGAINST FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT LAW.

Although I alrady stated that it was a stupid question - Yours

[ In Reply To ..]
Yours is probably the most accurate true response I will get. LOL In todays "sue happy" world though, so could experience descrimination. Could fit right in there with Affirmative action. Just another randome thought.

Age discriminaton? - LK

[ In Reply To ..]
Just because you're new at MT sure doesn't mean you're young! I've only got 5 years under my belt, and I'm not young unless you consider 54 to be young.

I consider - mtmt

[ In Reply To ..]
54 young (cause I'm 53!) but not at all new.

IMO, if you do your homework BEFORE you decide to dump your dollars in education, then you choose a school who works with you to get hired or who has a positive track record of relationships with employers. Otherwise, be prepared for sometimes months on end of fighting for opportunities. To blame the ads or the experienced MTs for the situation does no one any good. Be accountable for your own choices, we didn't make them, you did.

Age discrimination - Lorrie

[ In Reply To ..]
I am half way through my AAS degree and will be 55 in January, I hope I am not too old to start with a new career.

Lorrie - June

[ In Reply To ..]
You are NOT too old to start a new career. I am starting a new career and I am 65! You go, girl!

Unfortunately, it still happens everywhere, - especially in MT. -nm-

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Honest answer - Redwriter

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, I would find it offensive. I would also find it illegal (age descrimination), though with 30+ years, I suspect it occurs and have been known to take evasive resume action to keep working. But I also cringe at the word "newbie," and the pointless mean-spiritedness of it. In a business based on skills and the final product, it boggles my mind why anything counts in choosing employees other than results of the tests.

Thank you RedWriter - Anyone else?

[ In Reply To ..]
That might be the only honest one I get. My point of why it is offensive is mainly what you said. Experience does matter, but it does not exclude a candidate from being given a shot. The person who has ten years experience might be testing in a field that they haven't done a lot of and the "newbie" might have thrived in that field in school. Would you hire the experienced one who did worse on the test just because she has been in the business for 10 years.

Another reply said Ã¢??donÃ¢??t blame the adsÃ¢?? which I am not, but I am letting all the people know posting the ads to not sell their company short by knocking a large pool of fresh talent out of the running before they know what happened. Or maybe is it because companies donÃ¢??t want flooded with 100 new graduates resume? Either way, you may get 95 MTÃ¢??s who are just not right for you, but if you get 5 really good ones I believe going through the 100 was worth it.

Honest answers - headmt

[ In Reply To ..]
So you wanted replies that suited you, not really HONEST replies? OK.

Do you think these companies just fell off the turnip truck yesterday?

Do you think they've not gone through the process of hiring and TRAINING newbies only to find that their massive investment of time and money means the MT either fails or as soon as they get training they move on to another company. I was a person in charge of hiring MTs for decades. I didn't hire according to education or experience per se. I often went with my gut and how this person looked on paper and gave them a chance.

Repeatedly, time after time, year after year, the process was the same. Not 95% but more like 99% of the people hired could not cut it. Think of the time and money involved in going through 99 people to finally get one who can create some sort of profit for the company.

I once sent my boss a poster of Anne Geddes with babies in flower pots and told him that was the only way we were going to stay viable hiring MTs, grow them ourselves from birth.

Perhaps we need to find a way for a service to hire newbies and make a profit on doing it. Wait, I think they call that school now.

If you're the 1 in 100, then you will manage to get someone's attention and get your shot. All you can do is keep trying. But the reality we're ALL in this to make money and companies are finding it's just too difficult to make money training new MTs.

Offensive, nah. Probably a saving grace - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Frankly, it would show such an extreme lack of business sense that the average "elder" (or whatever you want to call the opposite of a newbie) would probably be much happier somewhere else.

A lot of newbies seem to graduate from school thinking they know everything, and the experience helps you to learn what it is you don't know. For instance, and this is not a matter of being grammar police but rather to make the point, you have repeatedly typed your instead of you're. Once or twice could easily be a typo, but seeing it each and every time implies that the writer is unaware. And that is what you get with an experienced MT- we've learned the write word four when spill Czech dozen cache thumb.

Interesting comments - LK

[ In Reply To ..]
You're so right in your comments about a lot of newbies thinking they know more than they do, but when it comes to grammar, it never fails to amaze me how many "seasoned" MTs don't seem to understand the basics of grammar and punctuation. How they have survived in this business is beyond my understanding, but some have. My feeling is that if grammar and punctuation aren't your strong suit, you probably need to be in a different profession. You really should have that stuff down pat before you even begin MT training. It's like somebody who is not proficient at basic math deciding to pursue an accounting degree.

I also noticed the grammatical errors - JAZ

[ In Reply To ..]
in the OP posts. Reading the OP posts, this only justifies the reasoning behind a job post stating "NO NEWBIES" or 2+ years experience only.

There are companies who will hire newbies IF they can pass their test. You have to pass with 98% accuracy and this will be hard for the OP to do with the skills demonstrated in her posts.

I suggest to the OP to brush up on basic English writing skills before taking any test or sending in any resumes. JMO

JAZ - Retired MTSO

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm with you. I would never have hired the poster based on two reasons (1) Lack of facility with the English language and (2) Attitude. Thankfully, both of these deficiencies can be changed, and I wish her all the best. Hopefully she is just hitting a discouraging bad patch right now and will come out the other end in good shape.

I have hired new MTs who - JAZ

[ In Reply To ..]
thought they knew it all and could barely spell their own names. I do agree that sometimes a newbie can be easier to train because stating from scatch with no ingrained bad habits, but must have the basic English skills down to start with, which some schools seem to overlook in their curriculum. Again, some MTSOs will overlook experience based on testing.

I do wish the OP all the best in this field.

My Opinion - original poster is just pulling everyone's chain - Did he/she reply to his/her own post

[ In Reply To ..]

My opinion: He/she is just pulling everyone’s chain. This can be seen when using the example of his/her spelling and grammatical errors (again, I am not being the “grammar or spelling police” but have to use those as examples to make a point).

The original poster made several replies and never uses a moniker, but because his/her spelling and grammar are so distinctive, it is easy to spot him/her. For example, he/she misspelled the word “discrimination” the same way in two different posts, and also is the only one who uses quotes around “newbie.”

The original poster actually replied to his/her own first post and then patted himself/herself on the back for agreeing.

Since we can now edit our posts, I am going to copy 3 posts just in case the original poster tries to go back and correct the “gotcha” misspellings:

ORIGINAL POSTER:

Although I alrady stated that it was a stupid question - Yours
Posted: Dec 3rd, 2010 - 1:51 pm In Reply to: Stupid question - me

Yours is probably the most accurate true response I will get. LOL In todays "sue happy" world though, so could experience descrimination. Could fit right in there with Affirmative action. Just another randome thought.

DIFFERENT POSTER OR ORGINAL POSTER?

Honest answer - Redwriter
Posted: Dec 3rd, 2010 - 3:42 pm In Reply to: The shoe and the other Foot - Just a qestion

Yes, I would find it offensive. I would also find it illegal (age descrimination), though with 30+ years, I suspect it occurs and have been known to take evasive resume action to keep working. But I also cringe at the word "newbie," and the pointless mean-spiritedness of it. In a business based on skills and the final product, it boggles my mind why anything counts in choosing employees other than results of the tests.

ORIGINAL POSTER:

Thank you RedWriter - Anyone else?
Posted: Dec 4th, 2010 - 10:29 am In Reply to: Honest answer - Redwriter

That might be the only honest one I get. My point of why it is offensive is mainly what you said. Experience does matter, but it does not exclude a candidate from being given a shot. The person who has ten years experience might be testing in a field that they haven't done a lot of and the "newbie" might have thrived in that field in school. Would you hire the experienced one who did worse on the test just because she has been in the business for 10 years…

Moral of the story: If you are going to reply to your own posts, at least run it through a spell checker before you post it.

Just my opinion, but wondering if anyone else thinks those posts were all by the same person?

You betcha I think they are all - Nick

[ In Reply To ..]
by the same person--someone who could likely better use their time to learn basic grammar than come to a professional MT forum and troll.

They might as well put that in their ads, because - I experience "longevity" discrimination

[ In Reply To ..]
all the time. It's gotten to where I don't even both to apply to anyplace that has "date of birth", or "date of graduation" from school as a *required* field. I've worked for 6 companies in my lifetime, and I only list the last 1 on my resume. Even then, I still get passed over.

(LOL - maybe I should lie, and tell them I - live in Bangalore!)

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Really? - Longevity an issue

[ In Reply To ..]
I was a working MT, started and ran a service for about 15 years, and now have been a working MT again for the last 7 years and I never have a problem getting a gig. In fact, I pretty much show 35 years of MT experience and it hasn't seemed to have driven away any prospective employers.

I hope you're able to find something that fits soon if you're currently looking. Job hunting stinks!

I've been looking for 2+ years. Only a few worth even - applying for, only 1 interview, no offers. :(

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Those are very poor results for 2+ years - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
It sounds as if you may not enjoy this kind of work or else you were very poorly prepared for it or, and I hope this isn't the case, you don't have the attitude or motivation to work.

If you had been seriously looking and you had the skills the employers are looking for, you would have found something by now.

My best guess is that you really aren't looking very hard. :)

Shoe/foot - to OP - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I was hired for my first MT job in acute care, fresh out of school with no experience at all. IMO, it is not experience that counts, it's talent, knowledge, willingness to learn, willingness to show up for work when you are scheduled, comply with your employer's requests, go the extra mile and be a team player that separates the women from the girls. It's tough for new MTs but it's tough for all of us right now. I have many years of experience but it is not my fault you can't find a job.

Shoe/foot - anonymous - Old Pro/Former MTSO

[ In Reply To ..]
Your comments are so right on. I see so many newbies whose attitude at the interview is "What have you done for me lately?" Sorry, I'll pass, thanks.

You took the words right out of my mouth - I have seen it too

[ In Reply To ..]
The applicant walks in or calls with a long list of demands, but few or very poor skills. What shocks me is the fact that they don't know that they have poor skills. Either nobody has told them or they didn't understand it when they heard it.

What about the ones who brag about their exceptional typing skills of 40 wpm! It isn't worth it to bother to explain that 40 wpm is not exceptionally good. It isn't worth it to bother to explain that the fact that they've learned a bunch of medical terms does not make them a medical transcriptionist. It does absolutely no good to tell them that they attended a school that grades things as correct when they are incorrect and have reports that don't even remotely resemble real dictation.

The applicant walks out of that interview or hangs up the phone thinking they deserved that job and we are mean not to hire them. We should give them a chance, they say, and nobody will give them a chance. They were given a chance and they failed it.

It isn't worth trying to explain any of it to them. They aren't listening.

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