SH's a lot more widely acceptable than not. SM
Posted By: MissIndigo on 2008-12-05
In Reply to: Companies out there that use ShortHand? - Just wondering
If I were interested in browsing the want ads, I'd contact ShortHand itself to chat about what platforms don't work well with Shorthand even after their finetuning. That way choices wouldn't be unnecessarily limited and no dependence would be placed on possibly questionable info from Personnel personnel. Best wishes.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
I think Stedman's is the best and most widely
used by far. I can't imagine trying to transcribe w/o a spellchecker and most companies require you to have one.
Stedman's is $99 unless you get the premium version, where you get 3 updates a year, and I think it is about $170. You can download Stedman's from their website.
Java.com.......widely used..
xx
It can vary widely so I'm not sure there is a baseline.
Some companies pay per line, some pay per hour. Hourly is the best way to go. The per line rate can go from 2 to 5 cpl, hourly $10 to $15. Figure out what your hourly rate is doing transcription and you'll know what to ask for. Generally QA people make less than MTs, but you wouldn't want to take a cut I don't think.
As you can see, experiences vary very widely SM
But--It's the future, so leap in! Figure out every way technology can do the work for you much, much faster. Start programming your corrections into your Expander from day 1. All of them. Not just a few main phrases, but virtually every word within them and every possible variable. Program in all your punctuation corrections. Like changing ". He " to ", he" and vice versa within at most 3 keystrokes. You'll do it all day long.
It's true people are making less in general these days, but any time I hear of people still being able to support themselves fairly acceptably I pretty much know they're still typing out most stuff out the looong way. Alllllllllll of it alllllll day looooong...... That's really sort of analogous to people who refused to learn word processing, insisting on staying with Selectrics and Liquid Paper. Back then, like now, we upgraded our skills or went broke.
And if you don't already, practice reading fast until you get that skill up there. There's a lot of reading to this.
Don't bother fussing about what a mess VR can make of some dictation. All that counts is what income you can make from cleaning it up. (Tho skimming through reports that just need a slight buffing IS a pleasure.)
My last thought is that this business is in flux, and it's true some companies are not paying equitably for this work. Yes, a greatly increased pool of skilled workers for each good job does mean pay has gone down for MT overall, but if you feel you're producing fairly well compared to others in your position and your income still has dropped signficantly over what you earned doing transcription, you need a better company. OTOH, if you've worked hard at developing these new skills and can't seem to do decently, it may no longer be the field for you. Either way, plan on being ready to move on if necessary. Don't wait many months to figure it out. Best wishes!
I think either is acceptable.
I think either is acceptable. It depends on the account specifics, some accounts I have worked on request that it only be single space. I learned to double space while learning keyboarding and I think it is accepted either way. I think it makes the report easier to read if you double space, but that's just me.
Of course, the acceptable way to do it is the
x
You really think it's acceptable sm
to pass up the "hard jobs" or ESLs that an MT might not be able to do and leave them for someone else who might be better equipped to handle them?
I think the MT that needs to do that has not business being in that work pool in the first place even having the opportunity to pass those reports by. They shouldn't be employed. 
Thanks! It's nice to know what is acceptable. nm
tt
Could they mean that a wireless USB is not acceptable
xx
is it acceptable in our guidelines, if so I will
do it too.
My question - why is this acceptable? SM
When did it become OK to have a doctor with a thick accent dictating so badly that we can't understand simple diagnoses, lab values, and to submit reports full of blanks? Why is it OK that docs without thick accents are mumbling, holding the phone so close we can't understand? Why is the staff at hospitals so afraid of the doctors that they can't ask them to please slow down, speak clearly, etc.? I am absolutely convinced that the staff and hospitals just don't care anymore.
I know it says it once and once is all it takes. We are moving away from it but still acceptable.nm
nm
Is no raise after 7 years acceptable?
I work as an independent contractor. I have been with my office (had two doctors to begin with, took on a third two years ago), and I have never raised my rates. I went in and talked to my docs about a raise today (after emailing a couple weeks ago to set up a meeting about it). Not only did they say that's NOT happening, but the doc actually told me he expected my line count to go DOWN with the new system they are implementing. He was upset that he had been paying me for a line count that included macros of a few paragraphs and it only took me a few key strokes to get there. Also, they checked around and someone under-bid me for 2 cents less, so they were acting like they are doing me a favor by paying me my same line rate. Am I crazy to be super upset about this?
Sounds like any old pair of cut offs would be acceptable....
The description reminds me of my MUCH older brother's wedding circa 1973.... She was barefoot, he was in ripped jean cut off shorts, the preacher looked like something that crawled out from under a rock, and when he asked my brother if he had anything to say, he "grunted." Gawd, it was awful. I'm sure this wedding you're going to won't be that bad, but if the bride is barefoot and the groom is in khakis, then any decide informal summery outfit would probably be A-ok.
Honestly, I've done both and QA is easier. If the pay is acceptable, TAKE IT! sm
I learned MORE doing QA than doing MT, and it's still easier. You have the benefit of the rest of the chart to help you fill in blanks. Trust, it's not a scary job. If I could make a decent wage at my company I'd absolutely go back to QA.
In BOS, pg 172, follow-up is still acceptable for noun/adj (see page 172 in parenthesis) nm
nm
excuse sees acceptable to me since it's a mandatory call.
Life is too short and this seems small to me. Maybe it wouldn't be if I were in your shoes, but it does to me right now, for sure.
Enjoy life, one day at a time.
Never said that typos were acceptable, what I said was is 100% accuracy expected 100% of the time.
Yes, I used to work in a docs office doing this as well as other things and but never had this problem.That is why I am frustrated. My question was whether or not there was a curve for MT'ing or not. I guess I just was not clear on exactly what editors/QA were really meant for. I thought they were more of a saftey net for a TX company to ensure that everythign that goes out is what it should be. But I guess I was mistaken.
Anyway, I was thinking that maybe there was something else similar in this field that would be an option for me to do. Since I actually like this line of work, I don't see why I should give up so easily.
Lastly, its just me, but I actually think staying at home with my kids is a perfect reason to do this for a living. I mean seeing as though I actually do want to earn a honest living doing something that I have experience doing ...why not? It's better than relying the government for money to support my family isn't it?
Gotta a question... When you have an offer from a company, is it acceptable to basically..SM
give the company a set of terms. Here's my issue. I have 15+ years experience as an MT and I am finding after I've accepted the job, that I am placed on the crappiest account they have because of my years of wonderful "experience". Then I'm told that they are paying me the higher cpl rate not because of years of experience but because I'm working on the crappy account that no one else can do.
I find it very difficult to earn a living this way and wonder if there are jobs out there where a seasoned MT can just sit down and type carefree 8 hours a day. I'm not saying I don't want to ever type ESL dictation, but can I get an account where the majority is not ESL?
I'm good at what I do. I love OP notes and don't mind challenging work, but it's simply not fair. I feel like I'm being penalized for my years of hard work more than rewarded and I resent it.
It is good to know it is acceptable to wear slippers to the store, I have been wondering about
:}
Makes you wonder how they passed grade school grammar. No it is not acceptable.
I agree 100%.
not at all. that word and the double hocky sticks were ruled acceptable in the late 50s -
and no longer curse words.
Funny, the other board Hitlered it, but they allow the one where the typist pounds his head on the keyboard and blood spurts EVERWYERE until he is dead.
Guess violence, suicide is funny to them.
What is acceptable error rate (i.e. error ratio to line count).
Thanks.
|
