Constructive

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What I don't understand is why you think they're not. People are stating the truth--the employer calls the shots, not the employee. Just because the truth isn't as comfortably "warm and fuzzy" as you want it to be, doesn't make it less true. It seems that this point is missed very frequently on this board and to try to convince this person that it is the employee who decides the working terms is both cruel and non-constructive. (There are so many cliches that I could use right now I'm not even going to start.)

There have been several posters who lament the loss of jobs to overseas competition but instead of laying blame at the feet of workers who want to call the shots, they instead try to blame the people who are hungry for jobs and are willing to work at getting and keeping jobs that are "too demanding", "too demaning", "not family-friendly" for US workers. Employers are also to blame when their biggest concern is the bottom line and not upholding the society that allowed them to become employers in the first place.

A very good book to read for more on this subject is The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. It is a long book but if you're really interested in understanding what is going on in the world today and being prepared for the reality of tomorrow, it's worth the read. Of course, it also requires a mind willing to see the problems that both workers and employers have created.

providing commentary and suggestions on improving the MT's work process (i.e. 'hearing' ESL's better or maybe a more refined search process, etc.) in a professionally worded fashion.  Most times when an MT leaves a minefield of blanks in a report it's because he/she because of their lack of experience wasn't able to 'hear' what the dictator was saying. 

A true QA person of excellence can recall their own journey on the road of transcription, remember that type of frustration and lack of experience, and translate solutions and suggestions to the MT in a manner that the MT can draw upon that experience and going forward incorporate the QA's suggestions into their work process, correcting any deficiencies they may have in putting out a quality document without a lot of blanks.  

In the case of where you work, sometimes constructive feedback is as simple as just filling in the blanks.  You can use the document that's been returned to you as a sample for training your ear to better hear what that particular dictator is saying when you get him/her again.  In this way, you continue to improve and are more autonomous in the work that you do. 

I hope this helps. 

You came here to whine and moan about QA and you wanted people to pat you on your head and said "poor little MT, you were right."  When you didn't get that, you started throwing a tantrum and telling everyone what big 'ol meanies they are.

By your own admission, you have been an MT for three years.  You are in no way qualified to tell QA or the QA supervisor that you like or dislike changes made, account specs, or anything of the sort.  Your job is to type according to the account specs and according to whatever other BOS rules QA imposes.  Like it or not, this is the job!  MTs are called upon to be flexible.  Personally, I abhor the BOS, but I like money, I need money to live and feed my kids, so if my employer says do by the BOS book, then that's what I'm gonna do.

I going to go out on a limb here and guess that since you said some of the mistakes you made were "stupid mistakes" you shouldn't have made, then you probably look inexperienced to QA and aren't going to be taken seriously when you complain.  When you've become a seasoned MT who makes very few mistakes and then want to complain, you might be taken a bit more seriously.

I have 20 years under my belt.  My last QA score (which happened to be yesterday) was 99.5% and that is my consistent score.  If one day I get a QA score say below 98%, then I may question it diplomatically.  I probably have more experience than the QA person proofing my work, but being condescending is not the way to go.  Here you are 3 years experience and you are condescending and go above your QA's head to her boss.  Good thing you're starting a new job, sounds like you're going to need it.

That's my 2 cents.

most MTs either don't read it or read and immediately send it to the recycle bin literally and figuratively.  So when I send feedback, it is basically a list of their errors, my corrections, and quoting chapter and verse from the BOS if necessary. 

Quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing MTs gripe.  I used to try to educate and mentor MTs, but it is a thankless job.  Someone below said that QA people try to insinuate their egos, but in my experience it is the MTs ego that is getting in the way.  So many MTs think they are "excellent MTs" and so many of them are not.  At one point, I decided to keep a running log of unacceptable errors that even the most remedial MT should not be making and start posting it here because I'm so sick of MTs posting that QA is unreasonable or big meanies.

So here is a very unacceptable mistake I've seen this morning and I've only been on the clock for an hour...

"pressure ulcer on the left heal"

Of course, when I sent feedback to this MT, she emailed me saying "ha ha, oh it's just a typo."  Problem was she did it repeatedly throughout the entire report -- not just once but every instance the dictator talked about the left heel ulcer, she typed "left heal ulcer."

Now, MTs, tell me that I'm not supposed to roll my eyes and be a little irritated that I had to spend fifteen minutes listening to her entire report because such a basic error sends up warning flags, when I should have just had to fill in her blanks.