application expectations
Posted By: Christi Anderson on 2008-05-29
In Reply to:
When a new graduate or inexperienced MT applies for an online position and takes the transcription portion of the application, what are the companies expectations? Are we supposed to be 100% accurate, or do they allow you to leave 1 or 2 blanks where the dictator mumbles to the point of just not being able to understand them?
Do all companies have QA that will review the reports before submission? If so, as an applicant would leaving blanks count against me. Surely the most experienced MT leaves mumbled words blank. Just wondering.
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
Resume and application advice
I handle resumes and applications (via email) for a national company. I would like to give some resume and application tips as I am amazed every single day at what gets sent to me with the expectation that the applicant be considered for a professional, paying position.
Please consider the following:
-- Please do yourself a huge professional favor: Make sure your email address is professional. It is far better to have an email address "janedoe334@hotmxxxx" than to have "funkydoglover6@xxxx" or "thejoneses@xxx". Your first and last name (even if it has to be followed by numerics) would be best and if you need numerics why not add your zip code? Please. You will sound responsible, mature, and serious about your professional identity.
-- Please make sure your resume is an attachment. It is best not to embed a resume unless the application or employer specifically asks you to. Most embedded resumes sent in emails come with all the code and I simply will not wade through it all to see if there is something there to consider.
-- When you write your resume, make sure your contact information is at the top, including an address, your phone number(s) and email address. (I suggest you print off your resume and have someone else proof it for errors, inconsistencies, formatting issues, etc.)
-- Name your resume appropriately. Please don't attach it simply called Resume. It would be best to name it with your first and last name and the word Resume in caes it gets separated from your email or, better yet, if it is saved to a file without the email!! (Example: JaneDoeResume)
-- Please, oh please, state in the subject line what position you are applying for. Who is interested in an applicant who cannot even take the time to state what position they are applying for? Not me! I doubt many are.
-- Please send one email with resume for each position you apply for. If you apply for three positions, I can only electronically file your email/resume in one position folder and you may be overlooked when collecting folders.
-- Please make some type of statement in the email and don't just send a blank email with the resume attached. Just a simple, "Please consider my attached resume in application for XXXX position" is just fine. A summary or synopsis of your qualifications or your life's history really is not necessary in the email because we are going to study your resume for that information. A brief cover letter-type email is fine but it should read within the single window pane without scrolling.
-- Last, but not least, please read over your email for errors (should go without saying, I know) and remember to attach your resume! It is so much more difficult to keep up with multiple emails because the resume was left off, then you want to add another piece of information, etc. Do not be in such a hurry that your application email shows it. As well, if you are applying for several positions and you are doing a copy/paste of the email content, make sure you change any job position titles within the email appropriately.
I really hope you will find this information useful -- I know for all the individuals who handle this information on the incoming will certainly make note of an outstanding resume/email application and sometimes that extra, "Hey, this applicant has done a great job in presenting herself thus far" can go a long way!
Corporate Anonymous
Expectations for a new MT
A graduate of an adequate program should be able to understand and transcribe even acute-care dictation (hospital) with 98% accuracy without any additional training, should be able to identify unknown material and use standard references to find them, should be able to ask for help from an Editor when necessary, and should not require "checking" and "supervision." A new graduate should be working in a satisfactory, but slow, manner within a day or two, and should be nearly up to speed in a few months.
If you are not able to do this, your training was not adequate.
A sure clue that your training was not adequate is an inability to spell correctly and use correct grammar and punctuation in a simple board post.
Expectations
Who was your last message to?
All of you guys have way to much time on your hands. Get a job!
With expectations like that, you are sure to be disappointed...
you are right when you say "getting a Medical Transcription service up and running from your home is nearly impossible?!?!" From your exact words, it sounds like to me that you are wanting to start your own medical transcription service from home? Nearly impossible is a good choice of words. It seems to require a combination of perserverance, skill, intense networking and just plain luck. And there is a reason why "Everyone wants someone with "EXPERIENCE" only." I can't imagine a doctor's office saying, "sure, we would love to send you our voice files and depend on your untested skills for our patients' medical records...not to mention keeping our office running." Physicians work very hard to take care of their patients. They can't take an integral part like medical records and just hand it out to any ol' body. They need someone who is VERY GOOD at their job, not only getting the records transcribed, but finding a file transfer method, troubleshooting, fair pricing, etc. Certainly fresh out of school you would not have those skills and it would be as completely unreasonable to expect any doctor's office to contract with you as their service, as it would be to ask the office nurse to do your appendectomy (on her kitchen table LOL).
You say, quite emphatically that "Working from home is my ONLY option right now." Working from home may not be an option at all. You can't DEMAND a job from any one. You can only see what's out there, beat the competition and prove you can meet the requirements. If you can supply what the market demands, you can get a job. But if the market is glutted with MT's with 2 years' experience, well, you are in a tight spot then. So your choices are: either spend months applying, try to get an inhouse job, spend months on an internship, or go into another job market.
While I understand your feelings ("just paid alot of money to train for this, etc"), sometimes it's just not that simple. I am not trying to be discouraging, just honest-- and honestly, it's a very discouraging time right now in the MT field.
What I don't understand is how come so many newbies post here, saying they just finished their program and NOW they are finding out how hard it is to break into the field? Seems like communication between all of us is failing somewhere
What are their expectations of an MT with 4 months of experience?? What company?
Geez
|
