Frustrated with newbie testing

• Frustrated with newbie testing - Sharla Regan
  • my two cents - Tina Roberts
    • To actually mentor someone - Me
    • Maybe because... - Cocoabean
      • Sorry to hear that - Tina Roberts
  • My humble thoughts on this subject - l
  • I honestly do feel for any new MT entering this profession. SM - old MT
  • Ditto!! - laura
  • apprentice - bt

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Hey everybody.  I'm another recent grad who is having problems finding a job .  I went to a community college that uses Career Step's program but expands on it by having instructors, vocab lists, templates, "cheat sheets," and assigned homework.  Actually, one of my instructors was AAMT's 2005 president, Miss Kim B.

I'm a little confused as to whether I completed Career Step's program or not.  I'm a member of their student forum and have a CS username and password, but I've been selecting "community college" for my schooling.  I do mention CS in my resume, though.

Would this make a difference since CS is an AAMT-approved school and the community college is not?  I graduated with High Honors and was #2 in Advanced Transcription, but no one wants to hire me.

Sorry so long, I'm getting a bit frustrated and doubtful.

I finished school in March of this year but still can not find a job. After looking over several posts and other websites all I am finding is that you can not get a job starting out if you did not graduate from one of the top three schools. So I am considering looking into M-Tec but I guess the idea of having thrown $10,000 down the drain angers me. Should I keep looking for a job with the education I have now or accept the loss and start trying to figure out how I can afford to go back to school again. Single mom.

No, I did not go to one of the three best schools and did not know in advance that I should have gone to one of those three.  However, I did complete my MT training and am working for peanuts.  Now that I've got a year in, I've been trying to test for a better job.  I can't seem to pass the preemployment tests now.  I have been doing quite well with my low paying MT job (not an offshore company).  So, how can I be so bad on these tests? 

I've been thinking of taking VLC's refresher course.  Has anyone else taken this?  Would it be worth the money?  Isn't VLC the third best online school?  I'd really appreciate any suggestions here except that I should have went to the best schools in the first place because I already know that now and your are right.  Can VLC's refresher program help and will MT companies recognize it as worthy?

Hey anyone have any clues to how you pass the test's. I have messed up 2 now.
They are fine all except one file, then you can't fingure hardly anything he says.Any help would be great!

Hello,

I just found this board today and have been sorting though the posts. What is the testing like when you apply for a job? So far I haven't gotten to that in my studies. I am studying from home and am curious what to expect. Thanks for your help.

AD

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I know exactly what you are going through.  Even after being an MT for almost 3 years give or take a few months, it can still be hard to get a foot in the door.  Keep checking this site for openings and call around to the hospitals and clinics to see what service the use.  Each time you test, you are getting a tad more experience in your belt...

Good Luck and keep trying!!!

Previous post said, if you test for a national and fail they make you wait 6 months before testing again.

Which national companies offer employment based on pre-employment testing results? ???

One reason I wanted to get into MT is that you get paid for exactly what and how much you DO and I hoped that my skills would speak for themselves when I tested for a position. But if every company wants to know what school you graduated from and how many years of experience you have, then I might as well have a liberal arts degree.

For those of us new, all this "3 years", "5 years" experience stuff is going to leave us dead in the water if we don't get an in somewhere.

Thanks for any reply.

Hi everyone! I'm a new MT awaiting my final exam results and was hoping someone could outline for me the testing procedures most companies put you through.  I just want to make sure I'm as prepared as possible before I start applying (once I get my certificate of course).

How long are the tests usually? Are they usually dictation only or are there separate written q&a's? Can you use research materials? Are they timed?

Any info you could share would be very appreciated.  I'm expecting my exam results any day now and I want to get rolling immediately with job hunting.

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I plan to start testing again and sending out resumes for an MT job.  I have a question about testing, though.  Since all companies test applicants as part of the prehire process and there are so many different types of tests between them, do they randomly change the tests between applicants and testing or do they keep the same tests?  Who has friendlier tests?  I've got one year's MT experience.  Just wondering if anyone knows or would be able to offer insight.  Thanks in advance.

I can ace the objective parts of online tests, but when I get to the transcription part, I'm never sure whether they want you to just type everything verbatim--even if the dictator stumbles over words, corrects himself/herself mid-sentence, or really needs some punctuation for clarity's sake--or if they do, in fact, want you to edit "on the fly." Any advice is appreciated. Thanks very much!

but I could not get the footpedal to work.  Anybody have experience with this?  I downloaded Express Scribe to listen to the dictation.

Thanks in advance.