In addition to that I wonder if test files
Posted By: just another MT on 2007-07-30
In Reply to: I have an idea..we should all start a list of MT companies that are no payers, bad payers, and late - Escriptionist2
are not a way to get some transcription done. Some of the testing is so long. I've had where the company will send practically a whole day's worth of work for testing purposes. 
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Usually a spelling test, a punctuation test, and maybe 3-6 test files to do. Sometimes done using
s
I downloaded two test files from sm
CTS and they were they worst dictator! So fast and I couldn't get the speed right (too fast or too slow). I figured they must have sent the two worst files they had. I asked 2 or 3 questions and each time I would ask a question, the person would tell me they didn't know. Simple questions they should know and if they don't, I sure as heck dont. I decided not to even finish the files and send them back.....the poster about not getting paid was the clincher for me though!
They expect you to transcribe 10 files for a test and
the test. Then, she contacted me and said I failed, but I'd say probably 8/10 of the files were ESL. Very unprofessional e-mail contact. The recruiter was not the actual owner, but the co-owner, and boy did it show. She made me retake the test stating Okay, now let's try this again, but with no explanation. I had to wait days in between communications, so I told her she was unprofessional, and she got real snippy and high on her horse. If I was looking for a change, I certainly would not consider TSSC, as I found them to be very unprofessional. 
Did you see that they want 9 test files done??!! And they advertise as a Global
s
I received the test files Sunday
The dictator is extremely fast and mumbles. Not worth it in my opinion. I emailed her back and politely declined after listening to the files.
Yes, I second the motion on everything the other poster. Bad test files and reputation
for no pay. I know there was a controversy on here way back about her not paying or something. I cant remember it all but it did not sound good.
If you fax a resume and/or test files do you follow with an email the next day?
Just curious what others do.
Is the sound clarity as bad as it is in the test files? Lots of static
s
on NewMT board, recent discussion about 17 test files for
nm
Test dictations are often bogus and not true voice files from the company. Need to ask. nm
s
Yippee - I finally got a call back and did the test files last night
I hate sent another email and even called, but she was out of office. When recruiter sent the test files, she apologized for being out of touch and even thanked me for my persistence.
By the way, I was not talking about Medscribe at all. It is a totally different company.
Wish me luck!
15 minutes after sending my test files I was told she had already selected another applicant.nm
nm
In addition (sm)
TRS is one of the worst companies for scheduling -- they expect you in your seat, emailing if you leave it for 15 minutes (and the emails go to all your coworkers, not just your supv). Supposedly there is a 12-hour window in which to do one's 8 hours, but this varies by account: my friend's account required a very strict 8-hour shift with no variations, but there was never enough work, so she ended up working 12 hours to make her line counts. Frequent platform crashes also impacted her work flow.
But don't you think in addition to
the fines the employer pays, the IC will have to go back and re-file all past tax returns? There are going to be implications for taxes on both parties. You have to file a form SS-8 with the IRS about why YOU think YOU are an employee and not an IC. It is done on a case-by-case basis and you have to sign the form. The MTSO will then have to respond to the inquiry and the IRS may or MAY NOT think the IC is an employee. Either way, you are without a job.
In addition, they want to do an 'FBI'
I think this is ludicrous. All of that paperwork so they can check into every little detail of your past so you can work in your house. I said forget it.
Addition to resume
Hi Mari,
Well said! I'm going to include your first paragraph on mine and see what they think!
Wow, in addition to your check?
That sounds like a sweet deal.
I have a question in addition to the OP's
I'm thinking about purchasing Stedman's spellchecker. Does anyone else use their personal spellchecker with Bayscribe. If so, does it work well with it and which one do you use?
I'm also thinking about purchasing my own personal Expander at the same time. I'm looking at InstaText. Any comments on it?
To the OP: All transitions are uncomfortable at first, but don't give up. I've only been with them a couple of months, but I like it. As for getting my line counts, I'm up to 1000 lines a day. It takes me a little longer than it did at my other job - but my other job used voice recognition, which helped a lot but paid less. I'm also doublechecking my reports before I send them in because I was told the account I'm on is scrutinized very closely. As I said above, I'm looking into my own expander and spellcheck software. I've had a few spelling errors that the spellcheck didn't catch. But at least you can add those in the expander to spell correctly. The people at the company are great and QA staff is wonderful. They treat like humans, not machines or numbers. Good luck. Feel free to email me if you want.
Wonderful addition -sm
Thank you for adding it to the list. The two of you need to represent all of us. How about forming a union? I'll join. Just tell me when and where to sign up. Thanks again!! 
Agree 200%!! In addition,---sm
Exploitation is nothing new in the home MT business, but I think that since our economy has taken such a nosedive recently, a lot of companies are using this to their advantage and pushing it to the limit. Their attitude is, LUCKY YOU HAVE A JOB, SO LIKE IT OR LUMP IT. My response to them would be, AND YOU'RE JUST AS LUCKY TO HAVE A JOB (TO THE MTSOs) AS WE ARE. Would the companies have been able to push this VR fiasco on us before, before the market took a nosedive? I doubt it, but they thrive on the desperation of many MTs who have no other options at this point.
Any relationship, busines or personal, thrives on old-fashioned give-and-take. MTSOs need to realize they can't just TAKE and TAKE and TAKE and TAKE indefinitely. 
In addition you forgot to mention...sm
that the sky is falling and we'll all lose our jobs fears were prevalent back when PCs were introduced, and we're all still working. With the government requiring more and more documentation to be made electronically there's still a ton of work to be done and no VR system is going to have it perfect, ever.
In addition, all kinds of innuendos .sm
by them (i.e., sexual; suicide, etc) before any sort of investigation, autopsy, or in short, before they know the facts.
Hats off to his brother, Keith, for demanding an FBI investigation.
Do you mean in addition to your reg Friday work? When do they give it to you?
nm
one of MANY reasons, in addition to living expense,
NM
TransTech does - Hourly in addition to line rate
/
That would be an extra 50 to 100 dollars in addition to lines and a half. nm
nm
I currently do this kind of work in addition to my medical accounts...sm
The rate seems pretty low, at least compared to what I make, and I can tell you from my experience with this type of work, it is very tedious. Expanders aren't nearly as helpful as in medical transcription, so it's pretty much straight typing. On the other hand it is a nice change of pace from the medical aspect, but for what they want to pay, probably best suited to a newbie.
yeah, but wouldn't you really like your holidays paid in addition to PTO? sheeeesh
xx
TransHealth has 6 paid holidays in addition to PTO and sick pay for fulltimers. nm
in addition, while the office staff are partying, visiting with each, breaking whenever they want to
with pay, we are struggling to pound those cold keys with our cold fingers with our break drinks, meals at our desk . . . no time to take off due to no pay for any time taking off for a break or lunch. We are grabbing all the work we can get now before another MT gets it, as our paychecks continue to dwindle due to VR/ASR and leads and others taking the easier dictators from us (those who have ever transcribed a word in their life) and passing all the other down to the piecemeal worker, the MT.
I took a test for a company and my foot pedal would work with the test and I had keep going back
over the dictation time and again to get all the words because I couldnt stop and start it by the foot pedal. What can I do about this.
Just took the test myself. No actual dictation to transcribe. Just a written test.
For 13 cpl, I might do it if the dictators aren't a total horror.
I just took the test today - thought it was a great test of MT skills.
x
There is no written test. Must have been a different company. I took their ortho test sm
and it was easy. You had to know your terminology but it was easy to understand AND I used my foot pedal.
Is the test through mttest.com a timed test? Thanks. nm
Need help with DSS files ?
I am busily updating my resume while my new (NO) Rewards package from MQ sits next to the trash. Looking over ads in the job board, several I am interested said "need software for DSS files." I feel really stupid here and am not sure what is DSS files or the software needed. I am ashamed to ask. I am a good MT but after so long with MQ I have not had to look for a job in many, many years so feel out of the loop so to speak.
Please explain DSS files and what I would need to purchase. Thanks so much.
DSS files
DSS = Digital Speech Standard. Simply the format the voice file is in. Some recorders use memory sticks, memory cards, flash cards, etc. Just depends on what make of hand-held they are using as to what format the voice file is in. As BayGirl said, most software plays them without problem. I use WavPlayer and have not had one I could not play yet, or could not get a free plug-in download to play them.
files
i have about 50 or so left to do, plan on finishing up in the day or two. Did you finish yours?
DCT files
Write to them and tell them that, because I was able to open it, but it had just static no words at all. I wrote to them and they are going to send me the file in a different way or format. So you should write to them as well.
.DCT files
Thanks! Yes, I did e-mail them and technical is suppose to send them a different file. My wave player will not open up .DCT files and the Real Player or Windows Media Player will not play those types of files on my computer. I have tried every way to play it, but no luck. I guess I will just have to be patient.
files
Hi,
Do you have a MQ computer or your own with the DocQScribe expander?
No files
Just to clear this up - no patient files were sent thru the IM, only the setup files, the account instructions, etc. I do think this would be a great company to work for, I just felt like the trainer and I were on different levels and had a little bit of conflict, partly because I don't think I was as computer savvy as she wanted me to be.
Wav files
Has anyone every received a wav file, but was unable to get it to play? I have a wav player, but when I was sent two files to test with I was unable to get the files to play. Any suggestions?
files.......
Make sure the file type (.dss, .wma) is checked on whatever player you use. Sometimes I have gotten these too and for some reason when I went back in my player, the box was unchecked for that file type.
About WAV files.
Same here. I just recently put in application with DTS Medical Transcription. We they had Zip files. Not sure if these are wav files or not. But turned out my computer warned me not to upload them into my system. They were corrupted. Anyway, this is not the first time I have not been able to test for a company because they use wav files. I don't know either what the answer is. I just don't test when companies use these files for testing. Maybe someone else here knows how to handle this.
how many files?
Just curious: How many files do you have to transcribe? And how many minutes of dictation did the entire test end up to be?
What did they want you to do with the files?
Are you testing or is it actual work? Please elaborate!!!
Thanks!
Where did you get the files?
I sent my resume this morning. I guess they get in touch with you via *rude* (lol) e-mail? I made sure to follow the directions!
compressed files
They are much smaller than regular voice files. DocShuttle's wav player will play them.
do they have a particular platform or FTP files?
thanks
Six different files is a lot... see message
In my personal opinion, if your resume is packed with experience, six files is a bit much. I think a test should take approximately an hour at the most, not four hours! I think that is totally unfair. I also received an e-mail that was so condescending from a job offer on this board stating I guess there are MTs out there that don't know an easy dictator when they hear one, or something of that nature, along with like eight files to transcribe for testing and a format doc, etc. stating this is the easy doc. Give me a break! Are these people trying to make you do their work for a day? That's awful. JMO! My current IC position tested me on like three files, and it was the actual dictators that I would be transcribing, one easy, too a little more difficult, but that was it!
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