Maybe QA made the decision, not the company, and the company managers are not aware of it. sm
Posted By: QA Pro on 2008-09-11
In Reply to: Sure it makes sense, but why do they lie about it first? - sm
I started with a company that did the same thing. When I went to the manager outside of QA, she fixed it right away. Turns out that the QA manager had made a decision to do that and had not told anyone else.
It does make sense to do that though. Find out if it is a few days or longer and base your decision on that.
Can we ask which company or at least which state they're out of?
Unfortunately, I am going to be looking AGAIN due to offshore.
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FOLLOW-UP - Made a decision about best company
Thanks for everyone's answers. I have chosen Company 4 in the QA or Editing area, as the problem nitpickers are being weeded out. I don't want a lot of baggage or to work with a company that frequently runs out of work. Here's my original post, and I hope it is helpful to others. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
I have 15 years inhouse, but we are being outsourced. Several coworkers have gone to work for different nationals, and I am weighing working as an MT vs. QA or editor. I would like advice on what would be best to do or to expect. I have learned the following about several companies, none of which is consistent:
Company 1: QA manager has a BA in Political Science. She runs the department as a manager only. The QA people who are chosen have at least 10 years of experience and appear to be very knowledgeable. Most of them are very helpful and are available around the clock. Most accounts have plenty of work, but a lot of ESL.
Company 2: QA manager has many years in the field and supervises QA people with also many years of experience. They have a separate Document Completion department that does nothing but fill in blanks, but it is managed by a nurse with a Bachelor's degree. They have virtual round-the-clock coverage, and you can call them for an answer or to listen to the job you are working on. They are very helpful and friendly. I hear that MTs frequently run out of work.
Company 3: Not impressed because of favoritism here. A highly qualified QA manager with years of experience, including teaching, was moved to a lateral position after a few days by a power seeker with only 2 years' experience as an MT. After that, most of the QA department either quit or was fired. The new QA director does actual QA herself but does not get along well with everyone. Some of the QA department is helpful and some are not. They also promote some after only a few months with the company regardless of experience, which creates hard feelings among those with more longevity and experience. Very poor coverage at night and on the weekend. Plenty of work on most accounts.
Company 4: Editing and QA is separate. They require 10 years' experience as an Editor and 15 years' experience in QA. The QA and editing managers distribute the work and work as managers only but they are very approachable. The QA people are knowledgeable but most of them feel superior to the MTs. Most of the editors are fine but get frustrated if easy blanks are left and also seem to be too glad to report it, almost like tattling beyond necessity. Plenty of work.
As you can see, these are all very different, and I wonder if I would be better off to just remain an MT. However, I don't want my work screened by someone who is "just starting out" as an MT. I cannot figure out why the standards are so different. If you work for these companies, you know who they are. I just don't know where to turn. Help!
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Agreed.. I think the managers are getting aware of that now...
I got a memo that said unless you are scheduled, DO NOT WORK. This business is kind of crazy; I have found it is the people that hog all the work on holidays that don't work regular shifts.
K-Force is the only company that I am aware of
that advertises for traveling transcriptionists. From what I have read about them it isn't something I recommend, you have to front expenses, takes a while to get reimbursed, pay isn't anything special, etc.
With the internet it has pretty much eliminated the need to bring in transcriptionists.
Have any of your company managers or owners (sm)
Have any of your company owners or the managers sent out politically-charged emails company-wide? I was just curious as to whether this is a common thing, since my company owner has sent several out. It's bothersome, to say the least. Work is the one place where I feel I should be completely safe from the political circus.
in case you were not aware, some people will not work for a company who
outsources overseas. precyse does this quite heavily.
even though this board has 'flip-flopped' and now agrees with this practice, it is still driving our rates way down and has damaged our trust.
I have done two reports on individuals working with homeland security just this past week...hmmm, I wonder if they realize how vulnerable they would be having their 'vital information' shipped overseas for ANYONE to see. bet if they have a choice, their work is done here, and WHY WOULD THAT BE? Why would these people be more important than we are?
i worked for a company that used ExText, and they were aware of a problem
with the line counting, so they actually provided a web site, separate from Extext, that provided your daily count.
Decision made on who to pick!
After reading all the feedback, I decided to go with Keystrokes. MQ just seems to iffy with work compared to Keystrokes, who certainly has some good feedback from fellow MTs. 
You made a good decision to go with KS
I find them to be a very honest company, and hard to find one of those these days. And... by the way I am not a recruiter, or manager or company official, just an MT.
Made decision; Friday last day
Whew! Glad that's over! :)
Thanks folks.
I just started with them also...trying to make sure I made the right decision...nm
nm
I checked archives. Thanks. I almost made a bad decision.
No way will I work for them.
THANK YOU!! good to know so we can all be made aware to stay away! nm
;
That was a really bad decision! Did you not see that a hedge fund has made an offer to
purchase many of their outstanding shares. Hedge funds are notorious for slashing costs through whatever means necessary (i.e., sending your job to Sanjiv in Bangalore). Good luck with that.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070813/20070813006137.html?.v=1
They have not had ICs in 5 years but the decision was just recently made to have PT employees. sm
There are pretty strict guidelines they are adhering to with regard to part-timers. They must have a set schedule of 8 hours one weekend day or 8 hours both weekend days and 4 hours at least 3 evenings per week. The days have to be the same every week.
So if you are looking for say MWF 6-10p and all day Saturday, it would work well for you. If you are looking to work whenever you want, it would not.
TransTech is not being loyal to their MT's, so you have made a great decision
The pay is always on time, but the paycheck continues to dwindle, so makes it easier for TT to pay their MT's, for sure.
It is so depressing that TT mgmt/lead/sups/tech/in-house clerks, etc. have absolutely no LOW PAYCHECKS.
They have VERY MUCH OVERHIRED; however, they are losing MT's at about the same rate, but they don't care, because there are newbies that will work for practically nothing to get a start, and all they have to do is make a phone call to TT and they are hired !@!
Not anymore. I was talking to my lead yesterday and she has made a decision to not come here. sm
I for one would not want to be an MTSO. I know that they have to be thick-skinned, but it has to be horrible to be called out by name and have horrible things said about you.
I think that there are too many small companies out there with many more problems than Keystrokes has ever had except maybe in the beginning but as they are not known, you do not hear about them.
I know that she wants Keystrokes to be a personal service and her transcriptionists and clients appreciate this, but it is a fine line to walk. In the 4 years that I have worked for the company, I have had a lot of personal contact with her because I call her. We all have her phone number and she makes time if you need her. When you talk to her, she makes time and does not rush you and really listens to suggestions.
I am afraid that with all the negative all the time, that Keystrokes will become like the other services, and that is not what I want to see. Lee is a wonderful person to work for, and unless you have walked in her shoes, you should not criticize. She is obviously doing something right with the growth and the happy employees but it is impossible to please everyone all of the time.
The biggest criticism that I can make about Keystrokes is that she hangs on to people too long, always listening to the sob story and feeling sorry for everyone that comes to her with a problem. There are plenty of employees that stayed past their usefulness, including both of the last two HR managers and a few cherry-pickers on my account.
I, for one, would rather work for someone that is caring and involved, than be a number somewhere. If there are growing pains and changes, I just ride them out. As long as any company continues to grow, they will have changes, otherwise they would not grow and improve. I really think the major bumps in the road are behind Keystrokes, and having talked to Lee in the past, I am in for the long haul.
thank you. I already knew but this validates that I made a wise decision last year.
I was being paid 3.5 cpl, and I always did 100% proof to voice because if MY name is on the report, then it WILL be without errors, and quite honestly we did not have even one MT that I trusted enough to not do a complete proof to voice, which is actually very sad. I provided feedback on errors, for which I was not compensated since I was on straight production. We had tons of new MTs constantly, many of them abysmally bad.
My supervisor loved my work. She said I was the best QA Editor they had, and boy howdy I was because I also worked QC for a bit and got to witness the handiwork of my fellow editors. Nice that they paid their best 3.5 cpl, huh? I stuck it out for as long as I could because I genuinely loved my job, but there comes a time when you just have enough of being taken advantage of. They had wanted to promote me to something that was akin to a QA lead that would also involve training new MTs as well as continuing QA and QC. I would be paid salary, so that's good, but they arrived at the number by basing it on what I had made the previous year (at the lowly 3.5 cpl, mind you), so basically I would have been doing MORE work for the same money. Right. They obviously think we can't do math...lol.
I have gone back to MT. It's harder on my body, but at least I'm not being screwed.
I worked for a company that sent us something made
in China with their logo on it every year, most of which I've Freecycled or tossed. I'd rather not get something at all than get something like that.
KS pays me very well and while they aren't perfect, they are a very good company and have lots and lots and lots of work. That is worth a lot more than a $25 GC at Christmas. I wouldn't send it back if I were to get one, but a decent pay for the other 11 months is a much better gift.
How does a company know if you are using a template you made yourself?
I don't think they can, can they? If the doc dictates an appendectomy and I have the procedure in my Expander and pop it in, how does the company know that?
WMX is a great company to work for. Made
nm
hateful owner, hateful managers, awful company. You'll hate it. period
xx
I left them to go with another company using the same platform and I made tons more..
It has to be in their line counting and they must not pay for spaces, headers, or footers even though they claim to. I did not know the difference until I switched company. I was shocked that I made in 2-3 hours what I struggled to make in 8-10 at Focus.. As far as I am concerned, they are a huge rip-off and on top of that, they have their Indian QA people checking your work, and if it does not meet their standards, you pay is docked. It was quite disturbing to say the least.
Just be aware that not all Escription accounts pay the same. I worked for one company on Escription
struggling to maybe make $50 in 8-10 hours. I didnt know the difference as that was my first job on that platform and I just thought it was not a money maker. Then, I switched companies. I average $20-30 an hour and once I made $50 in an hour. I tried yet another company and I was lucky to make $9 an hour. The bottom line is that not all companies are alike, even though they use the Escription platform. What I have found is that goes according to how they set it up i.e. paying for footers, headers, spaces etc. Just dont be shocked if you dont make what you think you will. The companies know how to set it to where it benefits them and not you. As is the norm, not all companies are created equal out there regardless if they all use the same platform. That is what I am getting out.. Good luck.
Some not too flattering comments made about this company recently if you search. nm
s
Plus my company is out work and I haven't made my rent yet, so am grouchy!
nm
Yes, the pool to be contacted, should have made that clearer, and yes, MXSecure is the company I'
nm
Isn't Wal-Mart the company that lied/replaced labels several years back with Made in USA? nm
,,
I've been with the company almost 10 years. I know the truth. Hawaii was a company-paid vacation.
.
They do not offshore. The owner's original company was bought by MQ; started a new company, whic
That's about all I know. I would give them a try. They sounded good!
Great company. I've been recommending this company for a long time.
x
Must be a small company. I have never talked to the owner of the company I work for. sm
He wouldn't have time. Why would someone talk directly to the MTSO? Most do not know (or care) about the details just the big picture.
I hope my company flies under the radar. This is horrible what happens to one company sm
after another on this board. The owners must have very thick skin. First TT, then Amphion, now Keystrokes. No one is safe. I hope everyone takes all they read with a grain of salt. I have met a few of the owners of the some of the bigger services, and they are all very nice, including those that own Webmedx, Keystrokes, Execuscribe, Medware, MDI and Transcend. I hate to think how they feel when they read things on here, even though they all say they don't read the posts here and advise against it. I don't know how they don't read them; I look just to make sure that no one mentions mine.
or maybe it's really a good company. Give me a break. If a company isn't talked about sm
on here, good or bad, it's probably too small to matter and does not offer benefits or anything at all.
Ask insider if her company is in position to take on MTs from other company who are familiar
:+
Loyalty has nothing to do with it until you find the company for you. Be loyal to THAT company.
:p
Let me know if you pursue this company. I would like to work for a MN company as an employee?
Let me know! Thanks!
Chasing work from company to company - Have any of you ever watched (sm)
5 year olds learning to play soccer? The ball is in play and no matter what the coahes say ALL the kids go running for the ball. Maybe we are like that, masses of us going from company to company in search of work. This company has a new account BOOM here we go. Now it is out. Let's go here.
Yep, I think it is a big game someone is playing with us. Not a particularly funny one either.
Why would you want to work for a company with no QA? Anyways the only company that comes to mind is
I worked for in the past which is Medquist NJ Radiology.
Love this company - want to retire with this company...sm
Been with them for nearly 2 years now and absolutely love them. I make my living with them - I don't do this for fun money. I think the dictators are pretty decent - you will always have your good and bad ones. You just have to get used to them. I love the account I am on - been with the same one since I started. They are a VERY fair company to work for.
They are not a Fortune 500 company. They are a past INC 500 company. There is a
HUGE difference.
Just FYI ... the article was in the Rochester Business News. It notes that the person charged with everything was the owner's husband, not Linda herself. It was something that was done at the company that he worked for, not Execuscribe. If their biggest client is going to fill-in reports, I am sure they will bounce back and get something else. I doubt they do not know that it is happening. Any MTSO worth her/his salt keeps an ear to the ground AND has enough contact with their accounts to be up-to-date on changes about to happen, good and bad.
Perhaps you should not be so smug and instead focus your energies on figuring out WHY your customers were able to be taken from you. I hardly doubt that a good business person could be an ex-MTSO because of another service. There is too much work out there.
You can' ask a question directly TO a company. About them, yes. The company isn't going to ans
xxxxxxxxxx
company going to service company or India?
That is a hard thing to be cut back after you are used to that position. We have a couple of hospitals near here who have turned over all of their work to a Service Company, and one eliminated their department and turned over to India. I am afraid that the service company may be taking over our work also. Understand the others kept same pay, but lost most benefits. Anyone else have this happen to them?
It matters more on the company than the method. Go with a company that does a lot of sm
radiology or it won't matter because you won't have a big check no matter what. Ask them how many radiology accounts they have, if they are overflow or complete department, how long they have had them and do you get a back-up account.
There are very few out there that have good radiology accounts. Stick with the ones that do. I am with Keystrokes for that reason after going with 4 others that kept running out of work.
Small company GREAT COMPANY
Axolotl is a WONDERFUL company with great benefits and competitive pay. We have maybe 100 MTs but are growing rapidly.
Exactly..company recruiters and/or company owners (sm)
.
Meant every company for every MT, not every company for every company. nm
nm
Started small; great company. Rapid growth; not so great company
First year I was there was like heaven. Then the big growth spurt when they hired managers from another company (that I had run away from before because of their bad management) and let them kind of take over. Although I have no proof it was as though I got 'bumped' by these new people when they came in and I lost a good account, good manager, etc. My paycheck went down every month lower and lower, and it became harder and harder to make my minimal lines. Having any kind of advocate was nonexistent.
It depends on you and what kind of MT you are. Seems to me there are pretty much 2 types...
Sports like basketball where you have the pros who play with finesse, and then you have street players who think it is all about physical strength, period. More and more the physical strength is winning but the art of the game gets lost more and more...
As in this country where there are almost 2 sides now, those with intellect and thoughtfulness, and those who think the only way to be strong and be a leader is to beat up everyone who does not agree with you...and force your will on others.
Suffice it to say in my opinion WMX changed its philosophy of the way it treated employees and lost its heart when it grew, and it was literally almost overnight...
If you are a mass producer who has no care of what it takes to make money, if you are a 'street fighter' then it would probably be for you because you WILL have to fight for everything. Fight for the right account, fight for lines, fight to be treated fairly, etc. If you appreciate MTing for the art of MTing or have any kind of joy for the profession, my guess is you will not make it there very long...
This is happening all throughout the what used to be called profession. Seems to happening all through everything these days. Humanity and heart are being pushed down to the bottom...
how do we work it? Easy answer - work for another company. That happened with the company
I was working for. I would wake up at 4 a.m. AND ON THE WEEKENDS TOO because they needed "coverage" supposedly and I would sit until 9:30 or noon without any work. Sorry, but my rent of $1450/month could not be paid with only $57/day. So I got another job and when I got the equipment and everything, then I quit for the other employer.
AllHealth in GA - Good company, good equipment, any info about this company? (sm)
What type of work do they have? Any op reports? Appreciate any info.
Why not? It is either this company, MQ (most of the time) or another company.
If you don't like it, don't read. That simple.
But they own the other company and it's a big company. Why would they then start
a competing company in the same state? What do you think they are up to?
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