Hope for Newbies

Hi All!

I am a newbie. I haven't even officially graduated yet. I attend a school that has been called a 'matchstick school'. I have figured out why there was so much negativity about my school. The students are only required to do 20 (GASP!) transcription assignments throughout the course. However, the CD we are given to work off of has over 100 dictations. I would not be defeated by this school! I not only did the required assignments, I worked my way thru the other 100 in my own time.

Well, this weekend I found a website that lists 137 transcription companies located in the USA. I wrote my resume, omitting the name of the school I attended. I also listed all the transcriptions and specialties I worked on. I listed the amount of time I spent working on these as experience. Then I wrote up a cover letter expressing my desire and drive to work for a great, solid company. I sat at my computer over the weekend and went down the list of the companies. I emailed EVERY company on there with my cover letter and resume. By Sunday night I had a request to test with a company. I tested with them Monday afternoon and by Monday evening I had a job offer. They have asked me to start tomorrow. I also have 4 other requests to test with different companies sitting in my inbox. This amazes me because I have not even officially graduated yet!

Please do not mistake this for bragging. I have worked very hard and have been extremely discouraged over the past several months. I have sent out over 100 resumes and have had my fair share returned stating I do not have enough experience. During my downtime I worked thru all the dictations my school offered. I also found a website that helps improve typing speed. So for all you newbies, do not give up. When you are not job searching, practice your transcribing, even if it is one you did a hundred times before.

I hope this gives some fellow newbies some hope.

• Hope for Newbies - Newbie L
  • HOORAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - agj
  • Fellow Newbie - Donna
    • My Resume - Newbie L
      • Congratulations! - ck
        • Thanks - Newbie L
          • Company - newbielw
            • Sorry - Newbie L
              • That's okay. - newbielw
  • Congrats! That is wonderful. - June

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Hey ya'll!

I just want to give a little hope to fellow newbies out there! I have finally found my first job!

I started searching at the beginning of the semester, and now, a week before graduation, I have finally gotten my first position!

It takes a lot of hard work, determination, begging, crying, giving up, starting again, crying some more, and networking, but it pays off in the end!

So please, don't give up! Test, network, practice, make phone calls, apply for positions, knock on doors, pretend your sick so you can get some one on one time with your doctor, and most importantly, pray! You will get there!

Good luck everyone! I hope this gives ya'll a little boost! I know how frustrating it was, but you'll forget all about that when you finally get a "yes" from someone!

I'll be praying for all of you!

Even transcriptionists with a lot of experience have to leave blanks, which is an important part of this job because you should NEVER EVER guess.  There is such a thing as an "educated guess" and context clue guessing, which I have done, but I have a lot of experience and still there are times when I just cannot fathom what they are saying or have never heard of that term.  That is why this board is a very good tool.  I wish I had known about it earlier in my career.  I have learned so much from simply reading.  As a matter of fact, I learn something new everyday.  By the way, welcome to the world of medical transcription.  Enjoy the ride because it goes so fast!    

I really hope someone chimes in with the answer to your question but I wanted to comment that I have heard nothing but positive reviews for MTEC and the reviews have been mixed, but leaning towards the positive for Career Step.   There are some CS students and alumni that will defend their school tooth and nail that it is not a second class stepchild to MTEC, and some that feel that MTEC (or Andrews) would have been a better choice. 

I had a friend who could not afford the down payment for Andrews, and either could not or did not want to try to get the Sallie Mae loan for MTEC, and I steered her towards the CS program at Everett CC because she had pell grant and student loan eligibility. 

You might want to ask some national companies whose grads they hire.  I asked a few (you could certainly ask more than I did, and I recommend that), and one listed a few schools I had not even heard about up to that point. 

It seems that the companies have some thing going on with CS because many of them have a link to request training info from CS.  Not a guarantee of employment by any stretch but worth asking what that is all about.  (hopefully not just about getting money from CS for advertising and referrals).

If it were me I would choose MTEC over CS.  But my decision is made - I chose Andrews over both of them and as soon as I can bring myself to send in the $1500  down payment(its just a scary amount of money to plop down), I am doing it!

I just finished a dictation that the dr. cancelled 20 seconds into it because he "already did it on EMR".

Acct still has a large volume of work, but I wonder if they are easing into EMR.

Has anyone else started to run into this?

I work for a service so at least this one account is not my only source of income, but it does provide a lot of work.

Keeping fingers crossed.....

I got this by typing "set font" into the help area:

that I had to remove were made by experienced MTs and were very ugly in nature.  Nichole came here and asked for help and when she was ridiculed only then did she retaliate.  I posted a Sticky above about helping incoming new MTs and not treating them like they are trash.  I would ask all experienced MTs to please follow that advice or don't post at all.

Thank you,

Administrator

I just wanted to say something on a positive note.

There has been a lot of talk about being a MT newbie, following directions and resumes, etc... I am a newbie myself.   I am still in school; however, I sent out some resumes and I received several job offers.  I am employed now and I can tell you that one of the reasons that my MTSO was interested in me was because I followed their directions.  My resume was short, but I tested well and I got the job.  My advice to all newbies is to take your time while submitting your resumes and follow their requests.  You could get a call too. 

So, to all the newbies (including myself), keep your heads up and keep on plugging away.   There are companies out there that are good.

Keep Smiling!

Hi,

 I replied to you via email, subject "pay for newbies". 

Cindi

I too had a job before my MT course   was completed.

I scored well on the preliminary testing with a couple of job prospects.  I had to work hard on the account specifics part of the transcription but the effort has been well worth it.

I started working part time, with the lowest pay I had seen since my yournger days and felt I asked way too many questions.  A year has gone by and now my hard work is rewarding me.  It can be done.

is going to take a program like this she will have a tougher time to find a job with a reputable company.   There are 3 good schools M-TEC, Andrews, and Career-Step and there are companies willing to hire newbies provided they have graduated in good standing from one of these schools.  Another option would be a local community college who might help with job placement.  I worked for a company that used to let the MT student some into the office and do a short rotation to get real hands-on experience.  

Some people are just determined they are going to do something and you can't do much about that, but I feel she is throwing away money if she goes this route.  I don't have any personal experience with any of the above schools, but they all come highly recommended. 

I have been a medical Transcriptionist for 22 years, but I wanted to share with you what I hope will be helpful advice.

When I lived in Pennsylvania, I was the manager of a large transcription department.  Because I had been there myself, I hired newbies.  I would have them come in and take a typing test with a simple chart note from an easy dictator.  I did not time them.  I wanted to check their English/grammar skills and their ability to use the medical dictionary.  I trained 5 new transcriptionists in cardiology myself.  Even though I no longer work there (having moved to Colorado), those 5 still do.

I obtained an Associate Degree in Medical/Legal Secretarial Science in the 1980s.  Having no transcription experience, I signed on with several local "temp agencies".  They still have those, don't they?  Physician offices who are desperate will try to get help from these agencies.  They sent me to a local ophthalmologist's practice.  I tried really hard, used my medical dictionary a lot, and trained myself.  After a few months, I was offered a job there, and they asked me how much money I wanted to start!  That's how I got my foot in the door.

True, the field is not the same as it was back then.  But I am trying to be positive for you newbies.  I was willing to hire newbies and train them, and I am sure there are others like me.

Don't give up - keep trying - and good luck to all of you!

Regarding the recent posts from those looking for a job - I cannot stress enough that you should really consider looking in your local newspaper for an in-office job to start with.  Sometimes you can find a job as a "medical secretary" that combines transcription work with filing, answering phones, etc.  If you have gone through a program such as At Home Professionals, a lot of the national transcription companies will not even consider you.  It is simply not realistic for you to think you can obtain employment working at home with no experience during these times.  The jobs that are available are being offered to those experienced MTs from companies such as Medquist or OSI.  The important thing right now is for you to get your foot in the door.  I am telling you what worked for me when I first started out.  If there are no jobs listed in your local paper, start calling some local physician offices and hospitals just to check things out.

That being said, I wish you all the best.  Be persistent and willing to take a job that might not be your dream job at first, since you so badly need some experience.  Good luck to all new graduates!

had a better chance at getting a job.  If you only want to hear the good stuff you aren't going to learn anything.  I feel for you, I really do, but if you had investigated before taking your course you would have been better informed.  I don't care how much anatomy and terminology you had and I don't care if you made 100% on every test, you still have not experienced real transcription.  There was one newbie MT that had a cerficiate stating she had a completed a course and she insisted she was a certified MT, which she was not.

I'm self-taught, got into the business quite by accident, but I have also seen at it for 20+ years and things were much different then.

I know you're frustrated but we're trying to educate you and you aren't open to hearing anything that isn't positive.