Mind if I ask where the greener pastures are?
Posted By: StevieZMT on 2008-01-15
In Reply to: That is why I am "ex" MDI. sm - ex-mdi
with as much flexibility? i could use a backup plan. thanks.
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greener pastures
I left MQ about 5 months ago for TransTech, couldn't be happier. They are extremely busy right now, hope it lasts!
To Greener Pastures
It sounds like you have been in this business long enough to know what it has become and how fast it can change. Don't expect it to be any different with the next company you wok for. All good things eventually come to an end. I just started with a small U.S. Company who does not offshore. Yes, I hope to make it 10 years there, but I doubt it. I stayed 10 years with the previous company. The last 2-3 years were awful. When it gets to the point that you hate to go to work every day and your life is miserable - it's time to look for greener pastures. They are very hard to find I agree. I would tell you to look at the smaller U.S. companies who do not outsource. They pay better and for the most part the work is steady. They are also a little more flexible with their scheduling if you need that. They can not afford to over-hire and waste an MT's time. If you lose your account, they will still do everything they can to keep you. You may have to go through a couple of companies to find your home and be happy, but save your money for the next change too.
there are NO greener pastures anymore
too many horrid platforms, low pay, so on and so on
not a good company...look for greener pastures
nm
I quit and found greener pastures! Good luck to you. nm
x
greener where?
I was offered a position with FutureNet. I am not sure though. I know the acct that they are going to put me on is ESLs, not fun!! Where did you find the greener grass, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks much!!
Greener
If I might ask, email if you don't feel comfortable posting. Thanks!
Greener Grass
I left Transcend's, never having made $16.00 even once. Now I make a minimum of $20.00 an hour, and on bonus time I get $40.00 an hour.
You must be the CEO of Transcend or something. : )
Grass Isn't Always Greener
I work for a major MTSO. I work all holidays (without extra pay), nights, and weekends. Its not that much better out there. A lot of them will promise you a lot when they are recruiting but when you get your foot in the door, you find out what they said isn't true. Just a word of advice, quitting over the holiday pay change isn't going to reap you any rewards. If its on top of other things, then definitely think about it. But quitting a job for that one reason alone when almost all of the other MTSOs don't pay for holidays anyway, is something to think twice about. There are much worse companies out there than OSI. And for those who are already going to start the mud slinging, no I don't work for OSi and no I'm not management. But my advice would just be to think twice before jumping. Like I said, I've never worked for an MTSO that paid me for not working the holiday. Some have paid me a little extra when I did work it. Others, just don't care about holidays at all. It can always be worse than what you have. Maybe you'll find something better but during the recruiting phase, it is so hard to find out what is true and what isn't. Good luck!
for me the grass is so very greener !!
I had 7 yr in MQ and was able to take my Expander file with me -- so didn't feel like i was losing all the investment of time. I am extremely happy now, making more cpl too, but no bene's other than sweeeeet freedom :) i'd never go back. they asked me at least 4 times...
Grass is much greener!
I am making more $$, have paid holidays, but can work them if I want to. I have 1 account and have can actually create and use normals. I ran out of work once and that was on Labor day for an hour. I was scared to leave MQ as well, but I couldn't stand it anymore. I like my job again, which is great.
The Grass is Greener
I did leave MQ in September after 8 1/2 years and the grass is definitely greener. I took a 1/2 cent per line pay cut and now am making more money anyway. If you find the right company I'm sure you will be much happier.
The grass always looks greener
on the other side.
We are in financial straits. My husband was laid off years ago, which set off a huge ball of stress rolling downhill right at us. We ended up filing bankruptcy 3 years ago and are still paying the price, including a high interest loan on our home. He has been working 2+ jobs for years now. For me, it may always look like the right choice to find a hospital job with benefits but in my case it wasn't. I had been employed at a hospital until last week. The work there was short...and they weren't outsourcing, either. We would actually have to go IN to the hospital and work in Medical Records for our hourly time instead of taking PTO, which was depleted from the sporadic days of no work. I can't afford day care, which is why I WORK FROM HOME. They were pushing the inhouse work at least 2 days a week. That wasn't working for me. I had to quit. They won't be filling my position. I have had an IC job on the side for a local doc and have been lucky enough to find another IC job that has the work. So, hopefully I will make roughly the same...only time will tell...just no benefits. But, I now have a more flexible schedule and can be the mom that I have been missing out on being for the last 3+ years. I know there are people out there that would LOVE to work from home to spend more time with their kids. I love the fact that I can hear if they need something or can stop to cuddle for a minute but it's stressful at the same time when you are pushing to get your work done.
All I'm saying is that there are pros and cons to EVERY job, MTs or otherwise. Not everyone is lucky to find their dream job, but it never hurts to keep your eyes on the lookout.
went to where the grass really WAS greener.
went to where the grass really WAS greener.
Grass aint no greener
From my experience, to hop around, unless you know someone personally, no, two people, maybe even more that work for a particular company you are probably better off where you are, no matter how unhappy you are at the moment. This too will pass...
VERY well said. The grass is NOT always greener. I am happy s/m
to work for Webmedx, even thought things are slow right now. I can recall when I worked for another company sitting for DAYS at a time with NO work --ZERO WORK-- so I am quite happy running out for a few minutes at a time. The world is not perfect.
grass isn't greener, BTDT came back, sm
I have always been frustrated with management. However, they don't pay management enough and that is a huge reason why they don't get quality people in there. One awesome person they had left and now I see she is even back - grass wasn't greener elsewhere for her.
I left awhile back and came back with my tail between my legs. There are far worse companies out there, I tried 3 before I came back.
Why do I like Diskriter -
Pay is average for industry don't expect anything more than average, on time, direct deposit.
QA staff is very good, only 1 person maybe would not be my ideal QA person there because she really doesn't know what she's doing - she's QA because she can't type fast enough (was told that by a management level person who is no longer there).
Their Tech Support people are wonderful and always go out of their way, very personable and more than willing to help no matter time of day or night. Other companies are not that good or personable.
So, I guess I will be a Diskriter MT forever. Many have left and a lot have come back. They aren't for everyone but no one is.
Feel free to email me if you want to know more.
I work there and I love it. The grass is greener.
xxx
Grass wasn't greener - the poo was deeper though
I was in-house for 3 years. We each had to work a major holiday every year, 2 if we were understaffed. And we had to rotate weekends because we could never find part-timers willing to work the weekend, and then we had take an odd day off in the middle of the week so they didn't have to pay us OT. Plus we had to back one another up in case someone called in sick - ruining our weekends off because we were on call and could make any real plans. Our schedules constantly changed and it was impossible to plan anything in advance because we never knew when a last minute change in the schedule would affect us. Often I'd get a call from the boss to come in early because someone called in sick.
I couldn't make any money in house. My hourly paycheck was set in stone, and they whined and griped if they had to pay any overtime, but would rather force me to take unplanned time off to make up for the 12 hour day they required me to work the day before. Then someone else had to come in early to cover MY being forced to take off half a day. It was a circus that never ended and we all felt like clowns.
Now I have some control of how much I make and when I make it - at least a lot more control than I had in-house.
Many MTs do jump around a lot, often thinking the grass is greener. sm
I recruit for a small MTSO (100 MT's) and look at each resume individually. I have a list of which companies do not pay, which companies send work overseas, which companies run out of work (have a lot of complaints about that here). If someone is changing often and has a string of bad luck, that is one thing, but when I see that someone is hopping from one big company to another every 3 months, that's a different story.
Many, if not most, of the resumes I get are from MT's who have either been with one or two companies or hospitals for a long time, or at least have one long-term job on their resume.
I have also found that someone who works full-time for another company or hospital is probably not a good applicant for us, as the full-time job will occasionally need OT, need the MT to fill in for someone else, have meetings, etc. and we are left trying to get coverage. For that reason, I will always choose someone who does not have another job over someone who does, if all other things are equal.
Also, you mention that IC's move around a lot. The MTSO I work for only hires employees, and after being at MTIA last year, he came back and said that most companies are moving to employees only, not ICs, as the IRS and state governments are finding that most IC's are actually employees, and it is not worth the risk of a large fine to have that determination made, even after following all the rules.
There are a lot of great MT's out there right now looking for work. Most of us look for stability, length of experience, flexibility and willing to work and are fortunate enough to have enough applicants to be choosy. When I interview, the MT's who give me their entire life story, complain about everything from their current place of employment to the cost of cat food, list their medical ailments and/or have a chip on their shoulder are put on the bottom of my pile or discarded completely. With so many resumes, there is no reason to hire someone who is negative from the very first contact.
I feel your pain but the grass may not been greener elsewhere!
I am getting a little worried too. If you can, wait until after Labor Day before you make such a major decision just in case it is simply last minute vacations before the kids go back to school. I hope that will take care of some of it. Good luck!
The grass, in my opinion, is definitely not greener. I left QT and a short time later, sm
I came back and was never happier that I did. I should never have left in the first place. I think QT is, by far, one of the most flexible, good-paying, understanding company to work for. I actually enjoy when it is a little slow and volunteer to have a day off. I love to have a day to myself every once and a while.
In regard to the person who waits 30 minutes for work, just call again. Sometimes, the office people get side tracked and then might forget that they didn't get work routed. L told me once, if I didn't have work in 10 minutes, call again. Usually, if this happens to me, the person says something line, Oh, I got busy and totally forgot, I'm sorry, I'll do it right away. Sorry about the long post, I just happen to think that QT is the best company out there! ;)
The grass is always greener over the septic tank. Go find another job if you are unhappy.
MT jobs are easy to find, so very easy to find.
Nobody in their right mind
Would work for MQ ever again. I promise - even if they offer you 12 cpl - they adjust the line count and you DO NOT KNOW IT. It's a program they use. I know this for a fact!
do you mind me asking
how much did you make last year?
don't mind at all
Made 32K last year. If things continue like they are now (if I don't break my arm or something) I will make at least 36K this year.
Thanks - will keep in mind
nm
If you don't mind my asking,
Is it one of those 3rd shift hourly jobs? I have been intrigued by that but haven't applied. I'm just wondering if it consists of all the crap dictation that wasn't done during the day. I have plenty of that where I am now.
If you don't mind, what is the pay
x
One more, if you don't mind? sm
As an IC, they don't offer direct deposit, but you can pay to have your check overnighted. Do you do that or just wait to get it via snail mail? If so, how long do you usually have to wait for it? I love direct deposit, but it's really hard to get EVERYTHING you want in a company and if that's the only thing I don't like, I hate to turn it down!
Keep in mind that not everyone
takes all comments on this board seriously (at least I don't). I don't have any experience with your company in particular, but I did take a job several months ago with a company who is continually bashed on this board, about 90% of comments were negative ones over a period of about a year when I researched the archives. I still accepted a position with them and it's the best job I have ever had. I left an hourly inhouse position because I wanted to work on production. I am making over twice as much, plus working from home. After I started working for this company, I realized why most of the comments were negative, especially ones regarding my particular account. My hospital account insists on excellence and is very particular about quality. The company has had to weed out many MTs whose quality was not up to par. My company has been bashed again on this board several times this past week with negative posters discouraging people to apply. I have given up trying to defend the company.
Hopefully visitors to this board who are job searching will take things that are said here with a grain of salt -- not that they shouldn't consider it, but certainly it should just be one out of many factors in their decision on whether to accept a job or not. No company is perfect and some companies work better for some people and not to well for others -- everyone has different needs. You just have to find what works for you.
Just never mind - sorry I said anything.
x
Never mind.
I see it in one of the posts below. 
CMT-me, let me ask you this. Hopefully you won't mind.
Do you feel that any person who has been an MT for 2 years regardless of her situation, would be ready to train as a QA/editor? I too understand people taking low pay to break into what they may want to do, BUT by doing this, she is below McDonald's or Burger King or Walmart wages no doubt.
From what I hear, everyone is getting the same offer letter of this ridiculous 1.5 cents a line.
As an MTSO (I think I read that you owned your own service--correct me if I am wrong), do you feel that putting someone in a spot that has only been doing this for 2 years is really fair to the client?
Another question, even if this person is exceptional as an MT, don't you think she should be paid more than 1.5 cents a line?
Another question, do you feel that employers that do this and offer 1.5 cents a line lower the standards for QA, which is the final finished product before going to the client? Many I know that QA including moi have been MTs for quite a long time and have proven their worth before going into the QA/mentoring end. Companies that offer this next-to-nothing wage, do you feel this is fair to the MTs who have worked long and hard hours be the best for companies to demean the profession by offering this low wage? Remember, this wage is their standard offer to anyone I have spoken with, experienced x many years or no experience.
Just curious on your thoughts from an MTSO perspective.
Wow - thanks! Do you mind if I ask ..
where you went to school that you have no problems finding a job???? I can't seem to catch a break!!
Thanks again!
Would you mind...
if I emailed you as well. They have been in touch with me quite a bit in the last week or 2, and I would like to hear what they're all about.....
But you have to keep in mind --
That this type of transcription (legal/interview/etc) is generally done with a Stentura-type stenography machine and not a computer keyboard. That lets you transcribe at roughly 160 words per minute because the keys are based on phonetic words and not s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g everything out. It's a hugely different process. Much, much faster. I do legal, and everything I type is in real-time. Any good court reporting school can hook you up with training. I do both legal and medical on my Stentura now - hardly ever touch the keyboard except for scoping
keep me in mind
when you do, I think I would like to work for an MT... at least you would know how it feels to be working your a ... of with little money and even less respect....
Mind if I ask? (sm)
Maybe I don't have as much experience as they are looking for. Do you mind my asking how long you have been an MT?
Do you mind my asking how you got to .11 cpl? No one seems
to know (that I've asked) how raises work at MDI, if they offer, you must inquire, they give them after a certain length of time, etc. Do you mind my asking how/when you got to .11 cpl? I'd really like to know when I could expect that. Thank you!!!
If you don't mind my asking, how would you get
1800 lines per day? I'm struggling to get 700 lines per day due to lack of work. If more work becomes available, I wouldn't mind doing more lines, but I've heard the norm is 1000-1200 for FT. I am in awe if you can do 1800 and I am seriously wondering how you would do that. Do you have kids or are you able to work nonstop for hours? Once work picks up again (hoping very soon!), I would like to get more lines in for financial reasons, and I am very interested in any tips/tricks of the trade people have for getting high line counts, especially on accounts that have a lot of long (15-30 minutes each) difficult time-consuming ESL dictations. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Don't mind it at all....
I am with the ones that say just give me the work and leave me be unless I am doing something wrong, which has happened. They do give you instructions for each client, just like every other place I have worked. As for communication problems others have commented on, I have never had an issue with communication. They have always replied to a question or concern immediately. Everybody likes things different, and we all have to find our niche. I hope you are content and happy now.
If you don't mind me asking...
what is the minimum? I've never had that before, so I was just curious.
do you mind me asking
what your daily production total is? Is it consistent, meaning you average the same or nearly the same daily total every day?
Yep! and she don't mind.
nm
Would you mind
emailing me to give more info about the VR and how you are doing better with it. Were you a high producer transcribing? Did you use abbreviation software? How many lines per hour are you able to do with VR? Thank you. I appreciate your input.
What MT in their right mind would
quit a job before trying out the new job? Do you know how many MTs have gotten suckered on this board? No way would I quit my old job first. Secondly, it's none of his business what she does in her off-time. As long as she agrees to a schedule and works that schedule, it is no business of his what other jobs she has.
Are you out of your mind?
Give them a break? They are a company; they shouldn't be given any slack when it comes to pay day. You really think we should be glad to get paid at all? Cut me a break.
This company is looking worse and worse in this thread, and it is not profession for this Tonya person to get on here and post either. She's making her own company look bad.
Would you mind......
emailing that it me as well. I would really appreciate it! They are getting stricter at the Q, and I desperately need a place that is flexible in order to work around my 4 kids. Thanks so much!!!
What do you do to get your mind off of this?
Do you just ignore the e mails like OP's husband says? Do you worry? Because I understand and I do worry, but then again, I believe I am a good MT and unless I don't do my lines they have no reason to let me go... Just wondering what you all do about it because I worry too...
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