Can you make a living at home?
Posted By: Gina Markham on 2008-03-24
In Reply to:
I have been an on-site MT for 15 years and have clinic-only experience in several specialties. I am considering a change to working from home. I am wondering if it is possible to work from home and still make good money. Do you folks feel that you do just as well as you would working on-site?
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
MTSO gift to their at-home MT's who make their living for them and all the office staffs' livi
Why is it so hard to share their profits with the at-home MT's? ? ? Give me MONEY for Christmas because so much has been taken throughout the year -- I won't it back -- or at least some of it ! I will buy my own gift or pay my light bill or buy my children/grandchildren a gift with it.
In general, the top echelon is getting so greedy at most MTSO's! They would have nothing w/o the MT's constantly tapping those keyboards . . . and I mean it gets more and more difficult for us MT's as with each passing year to make a decent living . . . I dare say a living of any sort. Only those MT's who have husbands to support them are happy with whatever few cents they are offered, because it is only play money for them anyway. Hubby pays all the bills. I guarantee you that if a poll were taken of the Happy MT's with their at-home job, it would either be hubby making living for them OR mommy not having to pay a babysitter to work outside the home. Those in HR/management, with a little research, can easily see how our paychecks are dwindling month by month due to lower wages because ASR/VR is taking away the decent dictators and leaving only the horrible dictators (who take lots of time to transcribe a quality report), lack of cost-of-living raises, rising electricity bills at home that the MT has to pay, high-speed internet/phone bills higher and higher and loaded with taxes, rent/mortages/taxes/insurance continuously rising.
The office staff don't have to think about those at-home costs, as theirs are paid by the MTSO during their working hours/shift, nor do they have to worry about the lack of raises, etc, because in-house employees get raises automatically with tenure or with a 6-month or annual review or at the discretion of management at any time.
Personally, my line count continues to decrease; I don't know what the reason is because in the past many years, I could transcribe 200-400 lines per hour, and I do good to transcribe 100 or 150 an hour with the horrible dictators sifted out by the VR machine Dictaphone ExText.
Please don't yell at me -- because I am thankful for a paycheck -- but why is the burden put on my fingers to WORK HARDER AND HARDER to earn that paycheck. Don't say try ASR/VR because it will double your income, because I have tried that and know better and have proven that theory to be wrong -- at least on Dictatphone ExSpeech you can't !
The other thief of a good line count/wage for the U.S. MT's is the majority of our work going offshore because it can get done CHEAPER ! Who is all that extra money saved by offshoring our work going to ?? Not the at-home MT. That is exactly why I request MONEY for my Christmas gift from my employer, rather than some promo gift that is handed out to any and everyone.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL US MT's in the good 'ole USA ! ! !
How do they make a living if they don't get paid for their
services. I don't know that they get a percentage of the line rate, doesn't make sense that it would be like that, but I'm sure they get a flat fee. The MT doesn't pay, the company does. I didn't ask them about getting paid because that was none of my business. Maybe they don't get paid unless the MT accepts a position. A lot of companies offer referral bonuses, could be the same thing with TM.
We have to make a freakin' living
..
Terrible....can't make a living on that.
`
and when you can't make a living anymore--sm
due to schloping American jobs to third world countries..it will be too late for ANY solution.
Does anyone really make a good living doing VR??? sm
I currently work for one of the larger MT companies that is mostly VR, platform isn't bad, but just not able to get my line count up. I was curious if it just me or if there were MTs out there who were doing good on VR and glad they have made the switch. Thanks. 
Oh, but its OK that the MTs barely make living wages?
Shall we feel sorry for the poor MTSOs now? Please...buying meat past the expiration - most of this winter I had to hit the FOOD BANKS, and while working full time.
Sounds like you can make a good living, just can't
There's quite a difference.
Yes, but can we make a living with 3c/l doing the editing??? That's what I'm afraid of. nm
nm
I guarantee you, you are not the norm. Why lead someone that needs to make a living into a
situation that is getting worse all the time with lost accounts and over hiring and not knowing yet what the pay scale will be.
i am not in this for competition, just to make a living and feed my family you
insensitive b*****
You are being hypothetical while we are trying to find a co. where we can make a decent living,,,,nm
:+
Move on, girl - gotta make a living
.
I have an easy account and make a decent living.
And while you are at it, TT Management,
BITE ME!!! You were fools to file this lawsuit. $294.50 to lose all credibility in the MT World. Sad, truly sad...
And many thought you were one of the good guys.
Can an MT make a decent living earning 7 cents per line
Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth. It would be great to be paid 10-11-12-13 cents per line (as an employee not IC), but that is not a reality in this job market. Yes, MTs will take jobs that pay 7 cents per line, but that MTSO is not necessarily underpaying or demeaning the MTs that work for them.
Bottom line is that you have to do your homework because, yes, there are people who can make a living on 7 cents a line and will take those jobs. It really depends on your skills and how dedicated you are to making your maximum possible lines per hour. The MTSO that is offering only 7 cents a line but has easy dictators can actually pay you more per check if you type more lines per hour than an MTSO that is offering 10 cents a line but has horrible quality, ESL dictators, nasty QA, etc and you can barely type 100 lines an hour because of it.
MY TIP: When you interview, ask what the approximate minimum and maximum lines per hour that the other MTs that are doing EXACTLY the same accounts that you are going to be doing are achieving per hour/day/pay period. If the recruiter/MTSO will not tell you that information, you probably don’t want to work there anyway so just terminate the interview before wasting any more of your time. The slowest MTs are probably new and the ones achieving 200-250-300 lines per hour have been there a long time and know the account(s) forwards and backwards. If you plan to make that MTSO a long-term employer, you will have a pretty good idea of what you can potentially achieve if you stay there long enough. Don’t let them tell you the “average” of all the MTs that work for the company or what their perfect employee Suzie Q types. We all know every account is different, so Suzie Q who just started last week and is already doing 150 lines per hour may have easier accounts than the one you are going to be working on, so that is not very representative of what your account(s) is really going to be like. Ask specifically about the accounts you will be assigned to and don’t let them distract you. Again, if they don’t want to tell you, terminate the interview.
According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, in 2004 !!!, the MEDIAN hourly earnings for a Medical Transcriptionist (probably mostly hospital and office based) in May of 2004, was $13.64 an hour.
Just for reference, it seems like most MTSOs have a 6000 lines per week minimum production standard which is about 150 line per hour (40 hour week) on average for full-time MTs.
· If you are being paid 7 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.07) = $10.50 per hour.
· If you are being paid 8 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.08) = $12.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 9 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.09) = $13.50 per hour.
· If you are being paid 10 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (150 x 0.10) = $15.00 per hour.
If you are one of the highly trained experienced MT and type 200 lines per hour on average, you are even better off.
· If you are being paid 7 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.07) = $14.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 8 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.08) = $16.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 9 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.09) = $18.00 per hour.
· If you are being paid 10 cents per line, you are making a minimum of (200 x 0.10) = $20.00 per hour.
The median hourly earnings in 2004 was $13.64 per hour. That was almost 4 years ago. With a minimal 2% per year cost of living/inflation increase, by 2008 the median hourly earning should be about $14.76 per hour.
2004 --------- $13.64
2005 x 2% = $13.91
2006 x 2% = $14.19
2007 x 2% = $14.47
2008 x 2% = $14.76
So, in my humble opinion, if you are an experienced MT with 5 or more years of experience, when you call that MTSO offering 7 cents per line the accounts you will be assigned to should be easy enough so that you can make an average of 210 lines per hour within a relatively short period of time. If they say their experienced MTs are only doing 175 to 200 lines per hour on average, that MTSO is drastically underpaying their experienced MTs and it is time for you to move on. If they say their MTs are averaging 250 to 300 lines per hour, then that MTSO may be worth looking into further, even if their starting wage is lower than what you originally thought you should be getting paid.
I think if WE ALL start doing this, the MTSOs will start to figure out that we are not going to work for companies that underpay our skills and experience. If enough experienced MTs hang up on these companies, eventually they will figure out that the recruiters/supervisors need to be more honest with us regarding their pay structure and the difficulty of their accounts.
Some food for thought !!
More information from the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook:
Medical transcriptionists had median hourly earnings of $13.64 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $11.50 and $16.32. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.67, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $19.11. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of medical transcriptionists in May 2004 were:
General medical and surgical hospitals |
$13.83 |
Offices of physicians |
13.40 |
Business support services |
13.40 |
If you want more information, check out the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics web page for Medical Transcriptionist.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm
Looking for more opinions on Voice SYstems in Georgia. Anyone know about ability to make a living
here etc. Have already been told disorganized but would like more info.
I make $15/hr doing VR at home w/some benefits
nm
You can make a lot more money than that at home
NO MSG
i make more money at home but
you must be disciplined to sit and not get distracted. There are a lot of distractions at home.. I do know I save a lot of money not using my car.
I make more working at home that I ever did on site
the most I made as an MT on site was 8 bucks an hour.
Yeah, take home 70% for IC and make aprox $10.50/hour or .04cpl
x
In the early days, MedQuist said working at home was a benefit, therefore at-home sm
employees did not receive as many benefits as those working in-house. As I believe, it was something like at-home employees got 3 days off a year versus 10 days for the in-office employees -- WHAT?!!! I told them it made no sense to me, since by working at home I was saving them money -- no need to provide office space, equipment, references, utilities, etc. -- yet I get shafted. I was only part-time when they took over the previous company with their great policies, and I told them to kiss where I can't.
Isn't that what we do for a living?
That's why keyboards were invented.
They will not hire MTs living in CA or CT.
nm
How can she pay living expenses on that? nm
X
making a living
Is there anyone out there supporting themselves and able to make living with a transcription company? i I have been wanting to make a switch but need a push. thanks so much
making a living
I have been an independent contractor for over 20 years (MT for 30) and have 5 kids which I have raised alone with no support from their dad. I have bought my own house, have a decent car, pay all my bills and my kids have many excurricular activities (which runs into moocha dollars). Hope this answers your question.
making a living
I would definitely recommend Transtech for you, and if you are full-time, they offer you benefits, and can provide you with a computer if needed.
Decent living..
In short....the answer about Is it possible to make a decent living with them, without having to work 40 or 50 hours per week?.... NO 
This is where living in a certain state...
makes a HUGE difference in such things. I currently pay for the insurance for my husband and I (no kids but still need family plan) through DeVenture and it costs me a brutal $136 per WEEK, and the copays for office visits and drugs are still hefty. This is one of the main reasons so many people in this state (Maine) are uninsured...it's just too frickin' expensive 
MQ looking to earn a living
With ASR making money is getting tougher and tougher. Years of transcription experience counts for nothing here.
You either need a job to fit your cost of living or a cost of living to fit your job. sm
While I agree that you cannot live in California on $35,000 a year, no one is forcing you to live in California. Suze Orman says either find a way to lower your expenses or find a way to earn more money. It's common sense :)
There was a post a few weeks ago about not everyone being cut out to be an MT. I agree.
The original poster needs to stop whining and either get a job that pays more or get a new career. She can make $15,000 on minimum wage at a mall or Walmart.
BTW, it was insulting of her to say that MOST woman don't need to work. How dare she? In this day and age, most adults need to work. This is not 1958, this is 2008. I am not a bra burner, but my husband and I both make similar money, clean the house, cook, raise our 3 children. I am just lucky to have a job where I can work from home. I hated commuting anywhere, hate traffic, no patience.
But that doesn't mean that I work less. I treat my job like a job. I work in my home office but I work all day. I do not do laundry, chat with friends, cook. I go to work each day by getting ready as if I were leaving for an office, pour my coffee, make sure I have everything I need and start. I take bathroom breaks and a lunch break and take the full hour that I would somewhere else. I work 8 full hours as I do not include my lunch hour, so my day is 8 to 5. When I am done for the day, I turn everything off, leave the room and close the door, as if I were in an outside office.
My husband has a salary of $71,000 and I make near the same as him each year. I do not work overtime except very rarely, an occasional Saturday here and there, just like if I were on salary in another profession.
I am not perfect, but I love my job and do it well. I also know that MT'ing is not for everyone, although it seems as if a lot of MT's who are not very good at their jobs have a sense of entitlement.
Try living in Delaware where the just
1,100 workers worked their last day on Friday. What do they tell their kids. You are worrying about a measly Christmas bonus and jealous of CEOs? What about these auto workers?
Have some dignity and stop with the 2-year-old me, me, me. Be lucky you have an income and are not being told sorry this is your last day a week before the holiday season.
No one is ever just happy they wake up in the morning these days. It's always want, want, want...
Not sure what us living in the same state has to do with anything. sm
Everyone's experience with a company is different. I think it just all depends on what your specific needs are. It's disheartening when I hear that other people have had a bad experience with a company that I think highly of.
It's because they are living in a falsehood.
If the person just does a one liner to sound like they are bragging, they are just trying to ruffle feathers. Don't believe everything you read on this board. Its anon and it is open to the public.
Living Wage
I don't know exactly what I would call a living wage for a weekly amount. I can tell you that for my family of 5, the GOVERNMENT says that if I make less than approximately $40,000, that I qualify for various forms of government aid due to low-income status.
$40K divided by 52 weeks per year works out to about 1700 lines per day at 9 cpl.
If you're only making 5 cpl (case in point: That recent ad on the Jobs Bank!), then you would need to type 3076 lines per day in order to keep a family of five above the cut-off for food stamps and free lunches!
I think a living wage is
1 thousand dollars a week.
I guess I'm living proof
that past behavior is a good predictor of future behavior. Did you ever have your days in the beginning when you could have been one of their cheerleaders? I know I did. Yet, I still saw those unhappy posts and, rather than automatically think they were lying, instead I wondered how they got so unhappy. I think I found the answer.
Variables in cost of living
Some states sound good, but then check out the taxes - real estate tax, personal property tax, sales tax, cost of heating/cooling, transportation, license plates, insurance, etc. A lot of it balances out in the end. Some states have outrageous license plate fees, (I paid over $600 for my car last year). I also get a personal property tax bill each year for everything including my dishes and silverware. State income tax is out of sight. Cost of heating in winter is unbelievable. I have to have 2 sets of tires for the car, 1 for winter, 1 for summer. I have to have 3 complete wardrobes for the weather changes.
living "in the sticks"
I too live where there is no DSL or cable option. I use wild blue satellite. It is fairly affordable, though more expensive than DSL, but it works great - I started out downloading with dial up, and the difference is wonderful. You can Google search wild blue to check out the service closest to you.
does anyone know the cost of living in Bangalore? I need a job... lol nm
x
Cost of Living Increases
I work for a large MTSO and after four years have not received a cost of living increase. Is this standard operating procedure? Things cost more than they did four years ago. Do you think CEO is getting the same pay as four years ago? Any thoughts?
barely making a living
Used to make a decent living but lately (past 2 years) have not. Major pay cuts in all 3 jobs (per diem to hourly and page count to line count) and big expense of benefits for single mom and 2 kids.
I sort of lost all my incentive and feel very used. Thought my salary would increase over the years (or at least stay the same), not decrease. Keep trying to get motivated but can't seem to get there.
I am currently employed by a national, benefits are $550 a month and I have no control over how my lines are being calculated, plus it is on a 74 character line, not even 65 so my lines in my pay are way lower that what the company is calculating already.
Recently tested and interviewed with another national but they pay per page (which was way less than my page rate 10 years ago) and beneftis were more than $600 a month.
Any suggestions and ways to get motivated again would be appreciated.
Yes, you are living in a dream world, but you might get 11 cpl
nm
See the TransRAD ad for 7 cpl? No one can earn a living on that! If you see this
How many foster children are living with you?
The two comments made after my initial post left me so frustrated that I debated on responding. In the real world, most consider me to be kind hearted and easy going. For that reason, I usually avoid controversial issues for the sake of arguing.
This particular subject matter just hits very close to home and I have zero tolerance when misinformed people offer unwarranted advice. I feel it's very inconsiderate. The OP just asked about companies with insurance plans that covered IVF. She didn't come here asking for opinions or the blessing of MT Stars. What she is going through is difficult enough without complete strangers (probably sitting home with their 2-3 kids)telling her that wanting to start a family with her husband is completely unnecessary. I'm still amazed at how cold people can actually be.
Now to respond to your post.
First of all, if you did any research at all on the foster care and adoption systems in this country, you would not only be saddened, but you would not have posted. I'm not trying to be mean at all, but you are truly so misinformed that I don't know where to start.
My husband and I actually looked into foster parenting and even took the classes. We have a couple of friends as well as my in-laws who are foster parents. First of all, becoming a foster parent IS NOT a permanent situation. The small percentage of adoption that does result from being a foster parent can take up to 5 or 6 years! Plus, a very high number of foster children have special needs, severe behavioral problems, or mental issues caused from abuse. I do have one daughter who was 4 at the time we were taking classes. After spending years being protective parents, researching, and taking classes,we were afraid of exposing our small child to the abuse (physical, mental, sexual, drugs), that put these unfortunate children in foster care to begin with.
Yes you are right about so many beautiful children that need homes. There are literaly 1,000s of childless couples in this country that would love nothing more than to get serious about caring for them. Have you tried to adopt in this country? Good luck if you decide to take your own advice. You are looking at a long waiting list, tons of red tape and buracracy, not to mention a few grand. Oh and there is that chance after you have brought that sweet child home and bonded with him/her, that the crack-head bio-mom will decide she wants to play house and ger her an attorney (that you are paying for with your tax dollars.) After the court hearings are finally over (1-2 years later) you can kiss that little one good-bye. I've seen it happen to people very close to me...not on Lifetime. It does happens.
Seriously, why do you think so many Americans pay obscene amounts of money for international adoptions? Think about it.
Out of curiosity, do you have children?
Has anyone made a substantial living off of an MLM?
I am talking about those companies where you sell and recruit...mainly recruit. My cousin has been a real PITA. She just signed up on one and has been on me to have a party or grab this golden opportunity and make lots of money. I really hate her speeches because she tells me like I have never heard it before but it is the same verse I have heard by many different at-home sales opportunities. They all say that you can make tons of money working part-time from home. They show people with fancy cars and fancy homes with swimming pools all thanks to this particular MLM. I have seen so many people join up with these things but never have seen anyone succeed. Has anyone else? Anyone else would have gotten a door in their face or a click and a dial tone if this was done by call but I cannot seem to do this to family. I have bought toys from her but I cannot buy every time. Boy does she make a person feel like a but-looser for it too as in No I don't want to spend anymore time with my kids.. No I don't want to buy educational toys for my kids. No I don't want to make 10k working part-time from my home. UGG
Can you do both and making a living there? In a word, NO nm
nm
Do I paint gourds for a living s/m
I do and love every minute of it.
Then I guess I have been living in a cave...sm
too huh? What the h** is up with you? Let me guess, you are of Oriental descent? I have still not figured out what is wrong with the word Oriental.
you are living in the real world. sm
When some of these people get to that point they have to then they will be screaming for work and will type whenever they can.
|
