3rd shift radiology can be like that. Feast or famine. Same with 3rd shift sm

• KS - LuvOnc
  • I know that two are starting next week. I work on one of them right now and they called and sm - KS MT
  • ONCOLOGY - s
    • reply - LuvOnc
      • sure - s
        • 3rd shift radiology can be like that. Feast or famine. Same with 3rd shift sm - RadMT
        • Thanks for your reply - LuvOnc

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The nature of the transcription business, from personal experience, is feast or famine, with usually not much in between.

In other words, learn to get while the getting is good so you're prepared for the leaner days and can carve out a decent average for yourself in accordance with your budget and paycheck you have to make to pay your bills. You DO have a personal budget and know the income you need to pull in on a consistent basis, right?

Having said that, if you're with a company for several weeks, and there is little to no work at all, that's when you begin sending out resumes and executing Plan B (you DO have Plan B, right? And C and D if necessary, right?). Cycles are expected. A consistent bare trickle that never picks up, is not. That means the company has really bad personnel management skills or is losing accounts and unable to pull any new accounts in, and so it's time for you to consider your options because things are not going to change.

If this is really your situation, then you should a) notify your current employer that you're scaling back to part time or per diem (and provide them with the times you will be available) and b) get another job ASAP to make up for it. I know a few MTs that work for more than one company, part time, and between the two pull in a nice paycheck. It's smart, especially if neither of them have guaranteed work for you to fill a full-time schedule and make a full-time paycheck.

Remember, you're working for YOU, not your employer. And you should have high expectations from yourself to meet your own needs instead of relying so heavily on other people, whether they send you a paycheck or not. :)

The nature of the transcription business, from personal experience, is feast or famine, with usually not much in between.

In other words, learn to get while the getting is good so you're prepared for the leaner days and can carve out a decent average for yourself in accordance with your budget and paycheck you have to make to pay your bills. You DO have a personal budget and know the income you need to pull in on a consistent basis, right?

Having said that, if you're with a company for several weeks, and there is little to no work at all, that's when you begin sending out resumes and executing Plan B (you DO have Plan B, right? And C and D if necessary, right?). Cycles are expected. A consistent bare trickle that never picks up, is not. That means the company has really bad personnel management skills or is losing accounts and unable to pull any new accounts in, and so it's time for you to consider your options because things are not going to change.

If this is really your situation, then you should a) notify your current employer that you're scaling back to part time or per diem (and provide them with the times you will be available) and b) get another job ASAP to make up for it. I know a few MTs that work for more than one company, part time, and between the two pull in a nice paycheck. It's smart, especially if neither of them have guaranteed work for you to fill a full-time schedule and make a full-time paycheck.

Remember, you're working for YOU, not your employer. And you should have high expectations from yourself to meet your own needs instead of relying so heavily on other people, whether they send you a paycheck or not. :)

After working for a hospital medical records department for over 15 years, which I know realize was a cushy job and not the norm, and now working for 2 services and still not making enough money, I'm curious to know if anyone else is struggling financially because of the constant feast or famine syndrome.  I realize that on my FT job, they basically want transcriptionists available 24/7 even though you clearly have set schedule, and being available 24/7 is probably the only way to make your quota with the ups and downs in the work.  Unfortunately, I have 2 jobs, 2 children, a dog and a significant other and really can't be strapped to this computer day and night...not to mention I need to eat, shower and sleep....

How is one to survive?  Should I be working 3 jobs? I need help.

it is still MY time, expected by the company, and I am not getting paid for it regardless.  I don't answer my phone while I am working, never did, never will.  What other profession, while probably punching a clock, do folks work for free?  If I worked in an office doing this, that time would be paid - say 15 minutes a day x 5 days a week at even $10/hour =   $50 a month - and it is more time spent than that to deal with the email thing and the reminders and the changes in specifics and logging in and out of 3 different accounts when primary is out of work.  GRRR. 

I don't change jobs easily either, glad you are happy where you are - but producing 1400 lines of ACCURATE text will end my career soon (and probably yours also) and then what are we all to do?  My goal is not to work more, work harder and longer hours to produce a salary I can live on. 

I know that is tough to get used to, but even when you have your own accounts, the workload can wax and wane. It can also change overnight.  I have my own accounts that wax and wane.  You can never really count on anything being absolute in this field.  These companies can only offer you what they have because it depends on the dictator and how much work there is at any given time.  Almost any company will tell you this if you haven't already experienced the same.  It is unfortunate, however, this field does require some flexibility.  I guess that may come with more years of experience and being in the know upfront that nothing is forever.  A lot of time these larger companies only can sign 3-5 year contracts.  I am an IC (not for Transcend), and when there is a need, boy the e-mails come sailing through asking can I help, but when the work is low, my e-mail is dry.  Adapting and adjusting is all part of this field for sure.    

P/S:  I was a employee at one time for Transcend, but I do believe they are offering contracts at this point to IC as I did see a recent post. 

I work part-time with a daily number of lines to complete, no set schedule.  My work is usually pretty steady, but over the holiadys when things slowed down, I decided to get another part-time job.  I ended up in direct home sales.  I make more money at it than I do MTing and I get to set my own schedule.  I usually do 2 shows a week, averaging about $150 to $200 per show.  The shows take about 3 hours in total and the computer work is about an hour or less. 

It also gets me out of the house and gives me a break from my kids.  I will say that I'm pretty fortunate that my husband has a M-F 8-4 job, so he's able to be home with the kids on the evenings I do these. 

I keep a separate checking account for my business and it's really neat to watch it grow.  I'm saving the money for a rainy day (or famine) and when I get to a certain amount, we're putting in a pool.  I'm halfway there already.

No way would I stay attached to my computer.  If things are slow, I put that time into my new business and work on getting new shows booked or party games or invitations.  There's always something productive to do. 

I will be on 2nd shift 4-12.  That is my regular schedule I enjoy, and I am working Tuesday-Saturday, Sun/Mon off.  So, that should work GOOD for me.  I did read on some posts a while back that it was hard to get production .... I have 10 years experience and I applied for millions of companies.  They seemed to have the most to offer ...  Do you know how easy it is to move up to QA Editor ?  That is what I'm currently doing at Spheris.  I hate having to go back to transcription, but I only have 1 year QA experience. . .

Thanks for your info ! ! !

MTs were required to transcribe during our shift, and the shift lead part will now be handled by the team leader.  I have a good line rate and am happy to be typing, no problems here.  They are still a good company to work for.

From my point of view, day shift is the worst shift, third shift is the best, and second shift is just plain annoying.  When I worked in a hospital, I requested third shift; I was NOT working on third because I was new to the game and needed to earn my place on first shift. It was so much quieter, with less commotion, chaos, and crowds.  Now, I work at home and still prefer the third shift.  I don't want to have to ask someone's permission to take off for a day appointment or attend an occasional event or run an errand that can only be accomplished between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.  Also, my town is much more quiet at night; people aren't out there mowing their lawns or using those noisy weedeater contraptions, or even slamming car doors.  I hear very few screams in the night...

My point is that everyone has his/her own preferences.  There is no BEST shift or BEST anything; it is all a matter of opinion.

It would really mess up the whole job-seeking/recruitment game if we all proclaimed that we preferred third shift, or treated an offer of first shift as a punitive measure rather than that of a favorable move. 

Who was it that decided that day shift is best, or that doctors are Gods?  I think it is all part of the major brainwashing scheme.  Some accepted opinions in this world are not what we think they are. 

As an example, prior to the 1920s, the COLOR for BOYS was PINK?   Some one person must have started it, and the whole world accepted it, and now PINK is the color that we think of as being for GIRLS.

Let one person start an MT trend.  Then, word of mouth and the follow-me process will cause it to become an acceptable method/thought/science, whatever.

Come to think of it, isn't this the way that AAMT (or whatever the name now) and Stedman's books became the law?

Excuse me for getting off on a tangent;I realize this is not meant to be a blog.  Maybe I'll go find out how to start a blog, or maybe I'll just go back to knitting and looping.

BTW, I only can express my own opinions or facts, if I know them.  Otherwise, I am no God or Goddess, and do not want to be one.  For this reason, you will not hurt my feelings or change my mind, no matter what insults you may send my way.  For, I realize that you also must be a human, and you also must have some limitations.  So, even though hot debate may be healthy and fun, there aren't too many winners that result from it.