Has anyone worked for the Word Pros on an as-needed basis? Thanks. NM

• Has anyone worked for the Word Pros on an as-needed basis? Thanks. NM - just checking

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The people are absolutely GREAT, and the account I had was not difficult.  I thought their platform was a bit cumbersome and I could not import my abbreviations into their expander, so my line count took a hit.   They paid better than some, though, at 9-1/2 cpl.

Good luck.

Any information (good or bad) would be appreciated.  

ICs work best from pools, and then of course a TAT would be attached to that.  There are companies out there that do this and do not abuse IC status.  Abuse of IC status are set schedules, set lines, etc.  No IC should have to be available just in case.  If so, that IC then becomes an employee.  An IC can lose money having to be available by not taking on other jobs.  I am defining a job as 1 file of transcription, not a shift, which would be for an employee.  Shiftwork is for employees not ICs.  An IC is their own boss and run their own ship.  An IC has a right on any given time or day not to accept a job.  These companies requiring set shifts so to speak and set lines are not following IRS guidelines.  Even though a company has clients that need their transcription back that does not give the company the right to treat an IC as an employee.  As far as I'm concerned, that company that am contracted with as an IC is my client.  Actually, if you contract work (IC) for a company's client, then you are actually a subcontractor.  If you had the client yourself, you are then the contractor. 

As far as pay, these companies do not want to pay any more than they have to, so they put the rate out there.  I have not accepted clients or MTSO subcontracted work because I am not willing to work for that amount of money.  I have also accepted work or jobs to transcribe on a job by job basis (typing from a pool).  However, if you are assigned a dictator, you still have the right as an IC to say at any time I cannot transcribe that file today.  It is the companies responsibility to find another IC to transcribe that job.  An employee cannot refuse work that is assigned. 

What is the % of ESL dictation you do on weekly basis?

Why do people hate ESL dictation so much? 

I learned a long time ago that it is better to put the time into learning each ESL dictator, then when they come around it isn't as painful and some of them are actually pretty good and give good line counts.

It seems, no matter where I have worked, that when reports fell way out of TAT it was because there are a lot of ESL dictations that people didn't want to do so they just sit there.

I worked for them for a little over a week and we were being paid per report.  Must be a different account they were recenting hiring for or either they changed the pay structure.

At any rate, my experience was less than grand as well.

Pros: Good platform. Don't run out of work. I only know one manager, and she is nice. They don't bombard you with nasty emails. 

Cons: QA team is snooty-snooty-snooty and makes a lot of mistakes themselves. Not sure but I think there is a lot of cherry picking going on because all I get is junk and my account is easy. I feel bad about sending QA blanks because they have a bad attitude about it. Training pay is only $8 an hour. I heard that you can get paid more than that at some other companies.

I guess it could change for the worst as I get used to them. More pros than cons.

Having done both since the beginning of time I have formed this chart:

Pros:

The thermostat for heat and air conditioning is yours and yours alone!

You can work around your favorite soap opera! 

You can buy an espresso machine and make your own lattes and save a bundle on that alone! 

You can eat when you want, where you want or if you want, and choose your own food from your own refrigerator for lunch and start dinner on your breaks!

You can wear sweat or jammies and save all your best clothes.  You can throw all your pantyhose in the trash (maybe your bra too if you are daring enough). 

When you get up to stretch you can throw in a load of clothes. 

You can work as much or little as you choose and at the times you want to! 

You can type barefooted or outside in your patio. 

You can choose your own equipment and software much of the time!

Cons:

You have to do your own taxes and/or quarterlies. 

You have to pay for your own equipment and get it repaired. 

Sometimes the doorbell or phone rings and no one else will get up to answer it and it breaks your rhythm. 

Sometimes when you are wearing your sweats even though you are most comfortable you wonder if you are turning into a bag lady. 

If some of your accounts are contracted by you personally then you need to deal with the office or hospital medical records politics yourself and may need to drive over there to pick up and deliver, attend a meeting, renegotiation.  You may wish to have a service pick up and deliver work if they use tapes and you usually pay for this yourself unless you are fortunate and the docs pay for it.  . 

For me the pros won out every time I reconsidered and I am still here, still working, still getting paid and wearing what I want with a smile on my face most of the time.  My sisters who stayed at the hospital still have not gotten a raise in 10 years and are wearing pantyhose.  So, who is lucky?   

Thank you for the information, and I agree that no company is 100%.  As long as they do a fair line count, have sufficient work, and pay on time, I am happy. 

I am currently employed by them.  The way I see it, there are going to be negative things and positive things about anyone you work for.  Spheris is no exception.  IMO, one of the positives is that I always have work.  The only time there has been a shortage of work is over the holidays in December/January.  Other than that, I have always had consistent work.  They do offer primary and secondary accounts, so you should always have somewhere to be that has work.  Another positive thing is that I have had awesome supervisors with Spheris.  They have been very flexible with me when I need to take care of my kids and change my priorities around.  I don't think every supervisor is like that, but mine have been and I have been very lucky.  Also, the QA staff is awesome and very helpful.  I will definitely say that they are the best QA people i have ever worked with.

The negative things that I see are that, first, I kind of feel like just a number.  They have so many transcriptionists, it seems like they don't have time to take care of them.  There's a reason they're always hiring.  I think that a lot of people get disgruntled really quickly.  There is no PTO for part-timers (they took that away about 7 months ago, which made me go back to full-time).   They seem to be taking more and more from the employees as time goes on, but again, it seems like they have to do that to be competitive.  Spheris India is also another big issue for many of the MTs working for Spheris, so if you don't want a company that is outsourcing, steer clear from Spheris.  If you want any other information, feel free to e-mail me, and I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my knowledge.

Not a fit for everyone.  Yes, there are lots of ESLs, lots of physicians who do not know how to speak, lots of different work types----comes with every national, I suppose.  You may feel you cannot make money or you may get a really good account that is a great money-maker.  The choice is yours.  I think it is a great company overall despite the cons one encounters with just about any company.  There are pretty good pros too.  Nice differential for shifts, potential bonus, and great benefits especially family insurance.