No affiliation with Transend, but that was a DAMN good post and fall under

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referring too.  You do produce and I would almost bet very accurate work. YOUR kind of work is highly appreciated. Does not matter whether you need to take a break after 4 hours, 2 hours, whatever.  That works for you and I think that is great.  If you read my post, I am referring to the people that think they should get paid more to work less.  Yes MT is a production position no matter how you look at it.  As long as you are happy with your production and your company is happy with your production, then double happiness for both of you. This was aimed at the people that are griping at offshoring, constantly wanting higher wages etc that DO NOT produce accurate work and in fact instead, more and more of their work has to go to an editor.

I think any MTSO would be nuts not to work with an experienced MT over a less experienced one, even if that means we need to take a few more breaks, etc.  I am no spring chicken myself. 

As far your statement of ME getting back to work....... Nah,  I only work Mon through Fri roughly 8-4 or 8-5, so at night I get lazy  

You bring up some very good points.

The big picture is quite scary.  I experienced Katrina on the coast, and I kept feeling like I was in a war zone, the devastated environment, the (temporary) martial law in effect, confusion and chaos, reporters obessing on certain story angles and completely ignoring other more vital ones, and all the bureaucratic bunging before during and after....and I realized America is not equipped to handle big disasters, yet we remain in denial and have learned very little from that experience.

Yes, we pay lip service to privacy with HIPAA regulations for ourselves, then send our medical records overseas where the laws don't apply.  Every time I am made to comply with another restriction to satisfy HIPAA, I wonder why we bother - so we can delude ourselves that everything is safe and secure?  We KNOW it isn't.  God forbid I should copy a medical record (without patient identifiers) in order to do a better job tomorrow - it might be a privacy violation! - but its perfectly fine to send it overseas where some disgruntled person can email it all over the world with no legal repurcussions!  Or use it for dark political motives, should the record belong to someone famous, or get rich tattling the details to a tabloid.

Its insane that we voluntarily give up more and more freedoms in this country to artificially bump up our sense of security, while undermining that security in a big way by deliberately giving other countries the opportunity to take our jobs, take our private information, and take our way of life, piece by piece.  Why are we doing this, and why don't we stop?  Are we so short-sighted that we blame the economy for our economic woes without realizing that we are undermining that economy by giving our jobs away and buying cheap imported products? 

Why doesn't anybody see the cause and effect?  They outsource a job, someone here loses theirs, has financial woes, has to get by cheap, purchases cheap imports, which causes a local factory to go belly up or outsource, and the spiral continues downward.  Who will be the consumers of American products - the foreigners who took our jobs?  Or will there simply no longer be American products, and no American jobs as a result?

I'm always amused at the posts wanting info on the same companies over and over again.  Most of us who have been in this business a long time  have a fellow MT working for just about every MT company so it is easy to get the poopy-scoopy first hand.  Just look at the views on the jobs board.  I wager most of these views are not from 30 year veterans!  The companies do not care who does the work or whether it is fair or not.

I would never tolerate being out of work either.  My contract (or employment) was between myself and the company I worked for, NOT with my fellow MTs.  Has nothing to do with being selfish or considerate.  If you don't take the work when it's there someone else will do it and keep right on doing it so likely you will never have any work.

There were a number of factors that made me make the decision to retire.  Probably would have gone to work for another company, even considered it, then I got the poopy-scoopy from an insider that said that  heretofore good company was on a downhill slide.  So I'm done with it.  MT is no longer a desirable career IMHO. 

I know someone who was just hired though.  I also remember the threads on the newcomers only able to transcribe 5 reports a day until they were off QA.  Oh yeah, I totally see that as looking out for your contractors...  NOT!  I'd go broke!  If I'm not mistaken, Transcend pays their employees during their training period an hourly rate.  Now that's what I call looking out for the newcomer!    I don't work for them either.

Everyone knows you get more bees with honey! 

No, they are not the only company out there that hires great MTs, are nice - which is important to so many on this board, and give you flexibility.....  You just have to look for them; that's all.... 

I know someone who was just hired though.  I also remember the threads on the newcomers only able to transcribe 5 reports a day until they were off QA.  Oh yeah, I totally see that as looking out for your contractors...  NOT!  I'd go broke!  If I'm not mistaken, Transcend pays their employees during their training period an hourly rate.  Now that's what I call looking out for the newcomer!    I don't work for them either.

Everyone knows you get more bees with honey! 

No, they are not the only company out there that hires great MTs, are nice - which is important to so many on this board, and give you flexibility.....  You just have to look for them; that's all.... 

For those considering applying for unemployment, be prepared that it may take months, not weeks, especially considering how many people are on and applying for unemployment these days.  I have a friend who applied in September 2008 and, after appeal, did not receive a final decision until Februrary 2009, which was a denial.  If you can afford to do it, then go for it, but do not plan on receiving the money and do not borrow money to cover your expenses during that time, as there is a good possibility that you will not ever receive compensation.

I agree with a lot of what you said.  The field is changing and we have to adapt, but then again, isn't EVERY field changing, even globally?  We started out with G6 summits, then went to G8, now it's G20.  One comment I wanted to share though is that even though the fields are changing, the economic climate is changing for the worst.  Capitalism has now become a dirty word because it isn't what it used to be.  In the 60s, capitalism stood for the American Dream.  Michael Moore (and PLEASE don't think I'm a fan b/c I'm not!) had it right when he said in this day and age capitalism is nothing more than legalized greed.  You touched on that when you said that corporations are MANDATED to bring in the most money for their shareholders.  Now unfortunately, the gap between the 'average' middle-income American and those at the top is widening at a frightening rate, with us middle-income people racing towards the poverty level. 

Diversifying means of income isn't really going to change that.  It might put a Band-Aid on a lacerated jugular vein.  Real change is only going to happen when the laws governing capitalism are changed.  Sadly, I don't see that happening too soon since most of the legislators are those same 'shareholders' and those at the top.  These are really scary times that we live in.  So, at the very least, coming on this board and screaming at the top of our lungs about MTSOs is really the only release we have...the last little bit of control we have.  And, to be honest, a lot of times we do it, not because of capitalism and the fact that these huge conglomerates and CEOs get away with what they do, but because of the way we are treated by the management that represents them.  Some management is good...some isn't. We scream at the top of our lungs because we know THEY read it.  Unfortunately for them, the good ones are caught in the crossfire.  It's really no different than the excellent MTs being caught in the crossfire of the angry managers who send out scathing emails regarding accounts being out of TAT.  It just happens.

I say if we want to use this board to scream away, HAVE AT IT.  We know we can't really change a whole lot here, but boy it feels good to let off that steam.  Off my soapbox now.  lol  

either in the interview or in the first few weeks of employment.  Just like any small business, things are more likely to go sour in the beginning and not the end (usually).  I have been through bait and switch with work and expectations in regards to scheduled time worked because I am an IC.  This is my biggest pet peeve. 

I've been doing this for 19+ years. 

My first SE job:  Dangled a job at a time and IM'd me literally to death.  I had to give it up.  My nerves were frazzled. 

My first employee job:  Was wonderful, but I had a death in the family and had to give it up during the training phase - couldn't commit.  I was executor and decision maker.  When I went back a few weeks later to begin training, the company had changed my days to work - so I couldn't commit.  So whose fault is that?

My online job I've had for over a year now and is wonderful.  They know the true meaning of IC.

I have my own accounts that I've had for 10+ years and one new account that was a physician from an on-site job that I had and liked my work.  He's an ESL and begged me even when I really didn't want to have to pick-up tapes.

Another company I have been in contact with through a friend's recommendation is now on the job board needing help, but told me they were only looking for acute care, so..........  Do I go there yet once more?  This would be an IC job. 

Your post is long, but I can tell you this:  You will have a hard time finding companies that pay, are willing to give you a steady stream of work, and come through on what is promised.

As far as the company providing HR and equipment, they should.  I test for free, I train for free, and I study and learn new accounts for free until I've built up production.  No one is that productive on a new dictator from day one especially mixing that with learning a new platform. 

So, yes job-hoppers are there, but what can we call MTSOs that advertise and then not come through in the end for us MTs?  I guess there are no names for that.........  What do we call an MTSO that treats us like employees, but pay us low wages as an IC? 

I love my job!