Suggestions or comments greatly appreciated.....

I have recently completed a Medical Transcription Certificate Course at a local community college (made A's in every single class including Anatomy and Physiology prior to) and even have a letter of recommendation from the Head of Centralized Transcription, which was my instructor, also.  Anyway,  I was really hoping to secure an at home/online job and, even with over 1 year of legal transcription/dictation and the 5 months of transcription classes, I'm wondering if I just wasted all that time, effort, energy, money, and memory for nothing.  Does anybody have any suggestions?  I'm tired of looking at ads, only to find out afterwards, that most at home work offers are scams and most employers on here require many years of experience and won't even give a "newbie" the time of day.

I'm getting really discouraged.  I understand the importance of experience, but there are some people who actually can catch on pretty quick without a ton of experience.

• Suggestions or comments greatly appreciated..... - Michelle
  • The best thing to do is - Kim
  • Why don't you search out something local on-site - if possible.
  • I'm in the same situation... - hearts
    • Unfortunately there are NOT as many opportunities as impled by Penn Foster. - deb
    • thanks.... - Michelle
      • Do some research first - hearts

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I am happy for the 'in your face' reply and glad you did.  I rather it be up front than not.

I do have Instant Text and not sure where to start with that.  I use autocorrect in word. 

I have a question for you though . . . how do you go about making Expanders for sentences?  Do you do it for the whole thing or for each word?

i.e.  He/She is motor and sensory intact, distaly, in the right/left lower/upper extremity.

or another:

Thank you for referring this patient to me and allowing me to participate in his/her care.

Thanks for the help, it is so helpful, you have no idea.

"If any company offers you a position but want you to buy equipment/software up front be very cautious." If the company is offering you a position as an independent contractor, the IRS expects you to provide your own equipment. You should also be prepared to buy your own reference books and possibly even software to access the account's system or transfer files. Sometimes services will provide that but by law they are not supposed if you are working as an IC.  I had a friend who owned a service that the IRS came after. She had mostly IC's and the IRS said they weren't IC's because they didn't fit all the IRS requirements, one of which was they should work for other employers than the service. So if she had been providing equipment for them also, she would have been sunk. You can do an internet search regarding IRS rules for independent contractors, if you feel you need to be educated on the issue.

Also "If a company offers you a position at a radiculously low rate also proceed with caution and come here and ask about them."  When I started as an MT 25  years ago, I drove 80 miles round trip to go work in house for a service. I sat on a metal folding chair in a stinky, smoke-filled room with 20 other transcriptionists, banging away on a Selectric set up on a banquet table, for $5/hour. The point is, if you really want the job, do what you have to do. Remember there are probably 100 newbies applying for every job posted on this board. A service might be willing to give you experience if you trade off on pay. After all, it's basically the same thing as "buying" experience...if you work for 3 cpl instead of 6. Some people on this board will disagree with me but all I can say is I see postings here ALL the time of people in your same position.  What I did was work for cheap to break into the field.

Thanks so much,

I will look into them all. I appreciate your taking the time to let me know which ones will give me a good start, so I don't waste my time, effort and money on another one that isn't highly thought of.

My sincere thanks!

Are you a student or have you graduated from Career Step? If you are, I believe you should have access to a list of companies that work closely with Career Step. I would then apply with one of these companies first. There is a list of companies that hire newbies on here somewhere that somebody compiled a while back.

Whenever you do apply, make absolutely sure that you have a professional e-mail address and that your cover letter and resume have no typos, no errors at all.

Some companies do not respond right away, and some might never respond. You can always send out a followup e-mail, though.

A lot does depend on how testing goes, and you will see that each company does everything differently. Never guess on any test. It is always better to leave a blank, and do follow instructions. Some companies only respond if you pass a test. Some do phone interviews before you test, etc. The more you test, the better you will get.

 Getting that first job can be a hurdle, but if you truly want to work as an MT, you will find a job.

Is there something that I could buy that could help improve my quality?  I have been taking tests here and there and everyone keeps saying that their QAs don't have the extra time that is needed to spend with my work.  I know I don't have the 98% accuracy that is needed.  Whenever I do a test I look whatever I don't know up and then relisten to the file.  I do all my transcribing when everyone is asleep so I don't have the distractions.  Thank in advance for the help.

I finished Meditec's MT course in March and have been looking all over the net and in my local area for a job and no luck! My local hospital and the local doctor's offices all sent their dictation out to one co. and when I interviewed there, they were actually getting ready to lay off most MT's because the hospital and dr.'s were going to a paper form and would no longer be using a service and they employ no in-house MT's. The next nearest city that would have jobs is over 50 miles away and I am unable to travel that far being a single mother with a child who is home schooled. (with gas prices the way they are right now, I'd be working just to get the gas to go to work!)

I am looking for part-time MT work that I can do from home. I have a good computer system, there is no broadband or DSL in my town at this time so that could make it harder to get a job. I am flexable on my hours and days that I can work. I have a bytescribe wav pedal, numerous reference books both from my course and from having taken college courses at Davenport University for Medical Transcription.

Any suggestions? any other ideas on where to apply?

Thanks!