I work for Kforce - it has its downs more than its
Posted By: travelmt on 2006-10-31
In Reply to: travelling transcriptionists - jody
ups. Quite a few transcriptionists got audited by the IRS for Kforce not taking taxes out of states that they worked in. So they lost a few transcriptionists that way. Others quit after one or two assignments. Insurance lapses if you are not on an assignment after 10 days ... happens A LOT!!
I have been with them for a couple of years. I have been off and on assignments, not knowing whats around the corner. But I like that, it doesn't really bother me. I do hate when Kforce tells me that I can go home every 10 days --- that's a bunch of crap!! I've gotten to the assignment and been told oh, the client doesn't want to pay for your trip home, you'll have to cover your own expenses if you want to go home every 10 days. Sometimes the clients pay.
I've liked the experience that I've gained, but like I said, there are more downs than ups with the job. I'm only doing this another six months or so until my bills are caught up, then I can settle down and work at home. Basically you make the same amount as you would at home, only better tax breaks for working at home.
If you're in a relationship - that's hard. You spend more time away than you do seeing your family or loved ones.
If you want to know more, you can email me.
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I recruit for a company that has had ups and downs on this board and have some insight.
I attended MTIA a few weeks back and spoke with other recruiters and some established MTSOs and some just starting to build their MTSOs. What I learned is that most companies are alike in many ways, and most want to improve. The common factor was often that they want to do more for their employees but get slapped in the face too often by MT's who do not work when they are supposed to, do not produce what they commit to and think that they are better than they actually are but cannot take criticism of any sort. There are a lot of MTSOs who do not offshore, but they are frustrated by MT's who want more and more and give less and less. It's a catch 22 for them too, so maybe it's time for everyone to step back and reevaluate.
As a recruiter, I sometimes get 100 resumes a week. Most do not even get past that first contact and here is why:
When I get a resume that has a typo in it, I do not even acknowledge it. I shred it. I have learned that if someone cannot be accurate on their first impression, they will not be later on. You'd be surprised how many resumes and cover letters are full of obvious typos.
If we have a help wanted ad that specifies 2 years of experience required, half the resumes will be from students or those with no experience. They can be very demanding and rude at times, which is no way to treat a potential employer.
If we have a specific ad for hours and/or days, about 40% of the responses are for something completely different.
We now have auto reply for resumes but will probably get rid of that in the near future. Many applicants take the auto-reply as a sign that they are being considered even if they are not, especially the often very pushy offshore applicants, even though our ads say no offshore applicants will be accepted.
Another thing that I see far too often is that some applicants, right up front, demand certain days and hours and pay, no matter what our ad says.
Finally, here is the biggest turn off for me: Failure to follow instructions. Our ads always say that we do not accept attachments, to paste resumes into email. However, there will be days when every single email I receive has an attachment. I have now set it up to send emails with attachments to spam, which automatically empties each night. Those that go into spam do not get an auto-response. That's the way I set it up and it works well. Why should I respond to each one that blatantly ignores instructions? Again, if someone cannot follow instructions when applying, they most likely will not once employed.
There are a lot of wonderful, experienced, hard-working MT's in the U.S. who follow instructions, keep their word and take pride in producing quality reports. It takes a while for us to get the great employees but we keep sorting through junk to get to them, just as they have to sort through companies to eliminate the bad ones.
I have recruited for 4 different companies over the last 10 years. While they can be very different in many ways, most are pretty decent and want to treat their employees well, but they are getting burned out by being burned over and over again.
MTIA opened my eyes. If we do not start working together, the U.S. companies will start sending everything offshore where the employees want and need the work. The offshore companies were out in force and they are looking for ways to improve, which is scary. They WANT to take over, and we are giving them a lot of opportunity.
Don't let anyone fool you. AHDI and the big-wigs from the big companies are VERY friendly with the offshore companies. Their work is getting better and their prices are better and U.S. only companies might be phased out because of this. We need to take back our industry or offshore companies and VR are going to take it from us.
Polish your skills, make sure that your resume is perfect and be persistant.
I recruit for a company that has had ups and downs on this board and have some insight.
I attended MTIA a few weeks back and spoke with other recruiters and some established MTSOs and some just starting to build their MTSOs. What I learned is that most companies are alike in many ways, and most want to improve. The common factor was often that they want to do more for their employees but get slapped in the face too often by MT's who do not work when they are supposed to, do not produce what they commit to and think that they are better than they actually are but cannot take criticism of any sort. There are a lot of MTSOs who do not offshore, but they are frustrated by MT's who want more and more and give less and less. It's a catch 22 for them too, so maybe it's time for everyone to step back and reevaluate.
As a recruiter, I sometimes get 100 resumes a week. Most do not even get past that first contact and here is why:
When I get a resume that has a typo in it, I do not even acknowledge it. I shred it. I have learned that if someone cannot be accurate on their first impression, they will not be later on. You'd be surprised how many resumes and cover letters are full of obvious typos.
If we have a help wanted ad that specifies 2 years of experience required, half the resumes will be from students or those with no experience. They can be very demanding and rude at times, which is no way to treat a potential employer.
If we have a specific ad for hours and/or days, about 40% of the responses are for something completely different.
We now have auto reply for resumes but will probably get rid of that in the near future. Many applicants take the auto-reply as a sign that they are being considered even if they are not, especially the often very pushy offshore applicants, even though our ads say no offshore applicants will be accepted.
Another thing that I see far too often is that some applicants, right up front, demand certain days and hours and pay, no matter what our ad says.
Finally, here is the biggest turn off for me: Failure to follow instructions. Our ads always say that we do not accept attachments, to paste resumes into email. However, there will be days when every single email I receive has an attachment. I have now set it up to send emails with attachments to spam, which automatically empties each night. Those that go into spam do not get an auto-response. That's the way I set it up and it works well. Why should I respond to each one that blatantly ignores instructions? Again, if someone cannot follow instructions when applying, they most likely will not once employed.
There are a lot of wonderful, experienced, hard-working MT's in the U.S. who follow instructions, keep their word and take pride in producing quality reports. It takes a while for us to get the great employees but we keep sorting through junk to get to them, just as they have to sort through companies to eliminate the bad ones.
I have recruited for 4 different companies over the last 10 years. While they can be very different in many ways, most are pretty decent and want to treat their employees well, but they are getting burned out by being burned over and over again.
MTIA opened my eyes. If we do not start working together, the U.S. companies will start sending everything offshore where the employees want and need the work. The offshore companies were out in force and they are looking for ways to improve, which is scary. They WANT to take over, and we are giving them a lot of opportunity.
Don't let anyone fool you. AHDI and the big-wigs from the big companies are VERY friendly with the offshore companies. Their work is getting better and their prices are better and U.S. only companies might be phased out because of this. We need to take back our industry or offshore companies and VR are going to take it from us.
Polish your skills, make sure that your resume is perfect and be persistant.
don't even get me started on Kforce - it was horrible!! nm
x
K-force. They hire traveling MTs. www.kforce.com I think. nm
x
the drug thing happened with Kforce too
a couple of travelers that I personally knew were transporting drugs through rental cars, i.e. leaving one state and driving back to their home state to pick up drugs. One traveler actually had crystal meth Fed Ex'd directly to the hospital! The dealer got caught and the traveler was fired of course, but get this -- the traveler always managed to pass the drug tests!
As a whole.. nice people to work for, decent benefits but the get off/on the system, work/no work,
is maddening. I couldnt pay my bills or even work the schedule I was assigned. They would ask us not to work until work built up in the evenings and I specifically wanted to work days as I have kids etc. It just didnt work out for me but to each his own. It just seems there has to be a better balance in this business that what is happening.
I did speak with my manager. Work was promised. No work there when I needed to work.
I see the reports everyday too, but when I get work it is of bad quality, then there is no work unless I work diffrent shifts. Thank you.
My liaison always says to work on secondary when primary is low on work/no work. n/m
n/m
That's going to be nuts...I do ASR work too, plus work split shifts. We'll NEED a spread shee
NT
Work is easy, very nice owner, pays weekly, work in Word.
A majority of at-home MT is overflow work with in-house getting the bulk of the work. If they clean
s
Pay is always on time, direct deposit, very nice management to work with, and DQS platform, work
load normally busy, but low now because of the summer slow down on my accounts. Sound an issue on some accounts, but not others. Overall, wonderful company.
That is a BIG problem at TransTech is leads assigning work, rather than letting the work flow
This TT MT just admitted to that fact. It has been very obvious, as so easy to tell how work comes into our que and then gets pulled out as fast as it came in and replaced with YUKKY dictators. VERY frustrating to us other TT MT's who take the JUNK that is NOT assigned to other MT's, such as this poster.
Ever thought of a home health care aide? Usually paid training and start work right away. Can work
m
Absolutely not! I work for the best MTSO. I am have been so blessed to work for the small company I
I will share this about the MTSO I work for. I called her late last Wednesday night after Church and told her I was compelled to help out with Hurricaine Katrina in some way and an opportunity arose for a small group from my Church to go to Louisianna this coming week. Would she be able to cover my work. She told me no problem without any hesitation and even donated money for the trip.
And I am sure there are plenty of good companies out there to work for. To compare us to migrant workers is just not right.
It does work, you do not need to "make" it work.. it works in all word based programs.
x
I did some overflow work for Landmark.. they are wonderful to work for.. very nice people.. pay was
.
They have to be flexibility because of the erratic work flow. No sense in a schedule if no work..
nm
I was told Escription would not work with Vista. Turned out it wouldn't work with my sm
Office Basic Edition 2003 either, but no one could figure out why, it was supposed to.
There is actually a section on the Dell website that offers Windows XP. I haven't checked it out as I'm not in the market, so I don't know if it costs extra. I have a Dell and it's been fine for me. I hate the ESL tech department, but it seems like most of them have that now.
Yes they do send work overseas and do not hide this fact. There is plenty of work and they do pay
well. Overall, I like having work as I have been at places where you had to fight to keep busy so this works for me.
There is NO work at Transtech. Maybe they just choose special people to send work to
df
Are you required to work major holdays at KS. I know nature of biz to work them. Thanks for info. nm
nm
Great people to work for, but I had to leave due to lack of work. Hopefully that has changed. SM
Most of us who do not live in California had to go IC. When I was there, they did not have statutory status, although they told me they did when they hired me. Their pay for VR is VERY low, not a living wage. Many of the folks in the office are ex-YOG and great to work for/with. Good luck.
1200 lines daily is great if you have the work, personally, I never had enough work so
I left and have NEVER been sorry!
Don't know about radiology work load, but we have been scratching in the dirt for work for a numb
of months now. They hire, lose account, hire again before new accounts comes onboard, then have overhired, having to put new MT's on the current low workload.
Medical field is 24/7 work unless you work for a clinic or stand alone operation.
I just look at the other cool people working holidays and weekends in the ICU, ER, paramedics,and am glad to be there. When you work in a hospital for a length of time, it becomes a necessary evil to show up at the worst possible times.
Having a family or a life you'd miss from Friday at 5 PM to Monday at 8 PM must be hard and
I think that there is a place for you where they can meet your requirements (M-F). There are plenty of those jobs.
They require that you work in house until your have clean QA for 3 paydays then you can work
e
All nationals I work for you only work 40 hours unless they approve overtime.
x
I'm part-time and don't have to work all weekend. I work Tues-Sat.
I've never heard that from Chronicle, of course I didn't see the ad.
The bid has nothing to do with consistancy of work. MTSO cannot control how cosistant work is.
:+
I'll love to know who you work for. I also work every weekend with no extra pay.
It'd be nice to get paid for all the nights and weekends I work.
Like I said - it depends who you work for. I work for a hospital at home - not a company. nm
x
I know two people who work 3rd shift for Keystrokes on radiology and have a lot of work. Maybe you
on an account that has enough work. I hate to hear that someone doesn't have enough work or that they have a problem because I know that Keystrokes works to find the right account for every person. They do a lot for us but you have to talk to them until you find the right account or volume or hours for you.
I think that a lot of companies are that way but there is a lot of job-hopping in transcription. Everyone is looking for the perfect job but the grass is not always greener on the other side. There are a few MTSO's really are not good but for the most part, the others don't intentionally drive people away. That would not make sense. They need us to work as much as we need them to have the work there for us.
I work on it. Usual amount of work. Not running out but not backlogged either. They seem to have
about the right staffing on it. Hope that helps.
Maybe is it for a particular account. I work M-F. You are required to work one weekend an month.
a
I used to work for a company who separated the MTs by work type daily. sm
regret ever leaving that company. we had a max of 4 MTs typing a large training hospital with clinics. i was assigned consults and discharges with consults being my priority. another MT had ops and admits, etc. it worked so much better. we were RARELY out of TAT and each of us were trained on other report types for backup in case someone need to take off. not to mention that we were easily able to learn the ESLs because we got them repeatively enough to learn them, set up templates, etc. much, much more productive for us as MTs, for the company as work flow, and i am sure for the dictator because they got someone who knew them and their dictations well enough to be accurate. i don't understand why large MTSOs cannot comprehend how much more beneficial that would be.
I actually left about a year ago and work for another company that's running out of work. Have to
x
I so wholeheartedly agree with you. Don't work for KS but work for SS - another company bashed
Works GREAT for me and I love SS. I never really care what the negatives are as I have found they are usually people that can't make their lines, don't work the hours they commit to or just overall do not care!
don't like ASR/VSR -- all work going that direction -- causing very low work situation for awhile
Just a little message since you asked. Hardly any regular paid transcription work left for TT MT's (transcribing as in the old days, I am speaking of).
I have 4 accounts, doing all work types, and I usually have enough work but this is the slow time of
year so we are scrambling a little for lines. Easy platform, paychecks DD, always on time.
I work for an all-US company and refuse to work for one that offshores. Best of luck to you. nm
nm
NO WORK at Transtech -- did no good to work the holiday for 1.5 lines, did it?
I am sure the office staff will share their PAID HOLIDAY MONIES with us who sit here with no work. This has gotten to be such a frustrating profession. I guess I need to relocate to Houston so that I can work in the office, too, and reap those wonderful paid benefits that us at-home piecemeal workers do not get.
yes, but I was told as an IC that if work was slow ICs get no work since they are nto employees
nm
Steady work? Fairness in doling out the work?
Am so tired of crap work because I can do it, am getting burned out because of just that, crap work all the time. One of the reasons I am looking at other companies.
I work for a small national. I have steady work, usually
extra if I want it. I make 10 cpl as an employee, get vacation, 401K matching, PTO, wonderful QA, lots of ESL dictators but mostly decent ones, direct deposit, no IM, no nasty e-mails, no phone calls asking me to work extra day after day. Saying that MTs are surprised at how much money they make because they have steady work even though the line rate is low sounds like a line a used car salesman would use. A low line rate is a low line and an insult, especially since without the MTs you wouldn't be able to pay your bills.
Just because everyone else sees to be going to India is like the saying you parents would say if everyone else jumped off the bridge .... Many companies sell out, but you don't HAVE to sell out. You choose to get more bang from your buck but I've seen the work that comes back from overseas and I would never put my name to it.
You might can fool some of the people some of the time, but it won't fly with me.
tons of work because no one wants to work for slave wages
think about it
Feast or famine. Always a different work load every day, and you often run out if the work gets
s
I used to work there and know people who still do...they have no work on clinic account but if you
are acute care or have experience in acute care you will be fine...
Work PT for a company and noticed something odd. When I work the day shift I get (sm)
actually fairly good dictators, a couple of toughies, but no more than one would expect. When I do the late afternoon/early evening shift it is like night and day. I get some really crummy dictators and tons of problem/miscoded reports.
They have said that there is no cherry picking able to be done with this program so I just have to wonder if the crappy dictators can't get to the dictate stations until after 4 p.m. or what?
Nuff said, back to work. Thanks for letting me air it out.
I want to know why ICs are still allowed to work when employees aren't getting work!!!
ICs should be the first to get NJA!!!!
Agree. I have said this before --- y'all whine about no work but when there's a ton of work
do you? Just wondering. I find this perceived hostility completely out of character for TT.
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