testing tips

• anyone have tips for testing? - Dawn
  • testing... - CC
  • This may sound totally ridiculous - daiseymae
  • Use the kids for an example... - SAM
  • testing tips - sm
    • thanks! - Dawn

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no matter what a company wants, be it ESL specialist, etc., the best test to give ANY applicant is one that is not planned, one given right on the spot, verbal, one that has not been scheduled so the person has had no time to get nervous, but throw about 15-20 questions at them, general knowledge for their level of skill, and it can tell you wonders about their knowledge that is retained!! I actually find that the retention rate of folks hired this way is actually higher than intense testing given by some of these larger national companies.  We all know that it takes sometimes a couple of weeks for even the best MTs to understand (I am speaking of the ESLs or bad dictators).  There are some companies that give these as tests and what does that tell?  Tells nothing and means nothing!  Some of these that do well on these actually cannot do the work.  How do we know that these folks have not actually had someone else do the test for them?

I find the best way is to pull a pop test on the spot in the middle of the interview and it works!  Don't ever give the same questions to two separate applicants.  Have a database of questions to pull from.  Score from the ones you ask and move on from there.  If the person cannot do the work, you know it in a day. 

I believe it was the old EDiX that used to give over the phone questions, but they still scheduled this and people had time to get nervous.  This way there is no time and well, you would be surprised at what folks actually do know...and in some cases...what folks actually do not know when given multiple choice, but to me this is an excellent way of testing, takes very little time, which I personally consider to be too valuable to waste 3-4 hours on a test, which someone who is experienced and has worked for 10 to 15 years in the field should not be required to do anyhow, should not be asked to do.  When you have worked 12 hours during that day for a company (and some have), why should they have to take 4 hours to do a test?!

Think about it!!

I have recently spoken to other recruiters from other companies and they have agreed with me on this and I hope it catches on because it certainly is less time consuming and tells you all you need to know without giving them the actual work to do.

I am looking to get back into the field after a 12 year break to raise my kids.  Any advice on how to get my foot in the door or who might hire me?  I have over 10 years experience in out-patient radiology.

Thanks.

I work on Edit Script and the average pay for most companies seems to be .04 cpl.  I get .0425.  Your production really depends on the account you have, the dicator and you learining the shortcut keys.  I still have a hard time not using the mouse!  But on the other hand, I am not a stong typist, so I prefer VR over typing.  If I had to do straight typing I probably would not make it in this business, so VR is the way for me.  I had to switch companies because my first one had difficult dictators and I was not making much money.  Things are better now, but still a work in progress.  One suggestion I will make is that you use the Escription forum for productivity tips and also there is a link that will tell you of your progress if you log into it.  The system can read your skills as you use it and give you a report on your progress.  It will tell you if you are using the mouse too much, etc.  It really is a great system with a lot of great tools for MTs.

Hang in there---Sue

I definitely would not say I'm at the top.  I get distracted like many with surfing, chatting, etc during my work time.  Honestly, if my work ethic was more strict, I could make another 20-30,000 a year. 

I use IT as my expander.  I am not an Expander queen.  I use them and add all the time but I'm not obsessed with it - but it definitely saves me time and worth every penny 10 fold.  I use my Stedman's Elec Dictionary - another total must have for this job. 

You're going to make more money if you know your specialty and your doctors.  I try to get work where I can do the same doctors regularly.  I would not take a position where there is a huge pool of doctors.  I make the money on my single doctor accounts where I can get regulars and build up speed the fastest.  Even accounts with 4 to 5 doctors you can easily build up speed on. 

Don't settle for cr*p jobs.  As I said earlier, there are better paying companies out there.  Makes me extremely irritated to see companies posting for slave wages wanting so much experience and basically offering nothing in return but the chance to make $5 an hour.  I won't even test until I know what the rate will be.  And honestly, the best companies have the shortest or no test. 

Keystrokes and MDI may look good compared to most bigger companies, but I personally wouldn't work for them.  There are better places, but you have to be willing to do some research and go beyond what everyone else does.   

I am looking for tips to make my typing faster. For example, auto corrects, quick cut and pastes, etc. Any ideas?

Okay, since so many of us are being transitioned into VR, I thought it might be helpful to start a thread discussing helpful tips on how to be more productive with VR. 

For some dictators (the ones that have the "good" VR come through), I have found that reading through the report and changing it to go more with accounts specifics gets me through it faster than trying to change while listening. 

I also like to use ctrl + lft arrow key to skip by words instead of by letters. 

Other than that . . . I really suck at VR, which is why I am hoping to see if anyone has tips or suggestions on how to help make all MTs more productive on VR. 

TIA.

I am testing on Friday for a new job. I need this job very badly, because of the benefits. If anyone has any suggestions on where I can find some practice tests(written exams), please let me know! Thanks.

   Can anyone out there explain to me why when taking a test for a national company they would tell you, Note: The audio is bad and that is part of the test.  Why in the world would a company want to give you a bad audio tape to test on?  Is this a Joke?  I feel this is very humiliating to a transcriptionist.  Just give a decent test.  How is anyone supposed to pass it if the audio is bad?  I do not care who you are and how many years experience, if the audio is bad, then no one is going to pass.  This is totally ridiculous.  I am glad I am starting to look into coding for a new profession because these National companies are making a mockery of this field, which was once respected.

Should testing transcription be done verbatim or do you suppose it could be lightly edited? I was not sure about this. I have never had a company instruct me on what they prefer.

Thanks

Which is what one of our bright and fab docs says everytime he starts a report...

LoL... I wonder if he comes back and says, Is this thing on?  

Yep.. It's one of THOSE days. 

***Edited by Moderator***

Had six or seven short notes to type and you got one that you just couldn't figure out and there would be blanks, would you finish it with the blanks, even if there were quite a few, or would you not do it and tell the person you're testing for that you weren't able to transcribe the note? 

I am trying to test (not medical) and they had me download something called DSS Lite, so I could transcribe what they e-mailed me.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  I cannot get my foot pedal to work with it.  Thank you in advance.