A renegade medical transcriptionist rants about the inherent crappy nature of his former job. He used to have no choice, so he held on to that job because there weren't many other jobs available to him at that time. He used to be a victim of global exploitation occasionally masquerading as outsourcing.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Why Some Employees Stay

You know why some employees stay? You've exploited them. You continue to exploit them. Yet they won't budge.

Why?

They're so lame they can't find a job elsewhere.

Of all the MTSO's I've worked with, there's only one where I witnessed at least 4 MTs resign in the 2 months that I was there -- and they all worked in one location. Unbelievable!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Ooh, 40,000 More Lines a Month and Counting

Isn't that effin' awesome?

Someone just flaunted the fact that she bagged a new account that will give her 40,000 lines a month.
Isn't that great?

At a rate of 400 lines per day over a 22-day month, that's roughly 4 to 5 more MTs.

So that's something to brag about, huh? A new account from MxSecure? Wait, am I supposed to know this?
So there's no breach of confidentiality there, huh?

Oh, well, Satan has his way of reciprocating.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

AM-Accuscripts is Hiring!

Wow, AM-Accuscripts is hiring! Go for it, people. It's your chance to get employed in one of the more credible MTSO partners MxSecure has in the country. Excuse me while I barf.

By the way, don't expect a corporate environment; the office is actually a house in the middle of a huge suburbian subdivision, perhaps to make tax evasion a whole lot easier.

Be prepared to work in an office where a thief lurks; do not leave your valuables anywhere unguarded.
Don't be surprised if fingers are pointed your way for being the culprit; they've blamed the new hires before.

Don't be greedy; get ready to donate your 1,500 pesos to the owner, who needs money badly so she can stick with her slimming regimen. Remember, if you end up disliking the way the company is run, you'd have to stay for a year before you get back that amount. Don't forget that you spent for transportation and food during those three days or so.

Tell yourself that you'll be working for an employer who can't keep her word. Yes, you do have a verbal contract; now you know why she prefers it that way.

Accept the fact that you'll be leaving the office at around 8:00 p.m. or so on most days of the week.

Finally, prepare a resignation letter before you even think of submitting your resume.

So, with me having a lot to say about this great company, don't you think I'm making things up or even sour graping? Haha. I don't give a hoot about what you think.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and apply. I'll be glad you did!

The Truth Can Hurt

Some people are used to living a lie. They have a false sense of the real world and live in a world of lies and make believe.

If you tell the truth, they think you're being libelous, slanderous, or what not.

I hope one day, this person will wake up to reality, look herself in the mirror, and say, "Yes, I have been greedy and unfair to my employees."

A relatively well-off employee, who went to the same school as her employer, was chatting with this fat-assed biatch seated beside me. Translated, the sentence went something like this: "She treats money like it was her god." Yes, that sentence was referring to no one else but you-know-who.

Well, she does count her blessings, which definitely do not come from the Christian God. As they say, charity begins at home; so in her case, she better start with her employees. Can someone ask her to spell the word "conscience"?

Sure, the truth can hurt. In my case, the truth set me free.

At the end of your life, you will face your Creator. How can you hide the truth from Him?

MxSecure: An Oxymoron

Funny how a business entity like MxSecure can give a contract to a small company that doesn't ask its employees to sign a HIPAA-related document or have a security policy in place.

Hmm ... perhaps that small company, which continues to exploit its employees, has a security policy after all. The front door's always locked.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Home-based Work Rocks!

Yey! It feels so good to know that when someone does you wrong, you get back something good in return ... and it's two-fold to boot.

Nearly double your last paycheck while working within the comfort of your home -- it can't get better than that.

Sad to say, I now trust my American employer a whole lot more than I do my previous Filipina owner.

Are You a Wannabe Transcriptionist?

I was at a job interview when the company president, after complimenting me for my good test scores, snickered and mentioned that there was no way he would take in wannabe transcriptionists. I took his statement lightly until I remembered just recently what he said and mulled over the impact of that statement.

By the way, I declined the job offer because 8,000 pesos a month for 6 months is too low, considering that I'd have to spend for transportation and food. I also refused to negotiate for a higher paycheck because such a practice is frowned upon by most employers here in my country.

So I asked myself what a wannabe transcriptionist is. Let's get real for a second and do some introspection. Go ask yourself, "Am I a wannabe transcriptionist?"

After working with several MT companies and observing the work behavior and attitudes of MTs, I have formed certain conclusions based on my experience working with them.

The Lazy MT.
The MT who falls into this category will not let a day pass without pestering a co-worker. This MT hates Google, Stedman's, and Quick Look. Convenience is this MT's goal in life, and asking dumb questions -- which can easily be answered by checking the appropriate references -- is part of this MT's daily routine. This MT is also most likely to be obese and would rather spend time eating than transcribing.

The Overly-Reliant MT.
This MT does not know the meaning of independence and can't work alone. It has become a necessity to turn to a colleague, who is burdened with the task of having to fill in the blanks left by Overly-Reliant MT. No matter what this MT does, there will always be tons of blanks left, even if the audio quality is crystal clear. Apparently, this MT's vocabulary is so shallow that English words that are part of everyday conversation sound like Greek to this MT's ears. This MT shudders at the thought of doing home-based MT work. Overly-Reliant MT does not realize that a transcriptionist's job is best done alone and that consulting a co-worker impedes that co-worker's productivity. This MT may not know how to use Google. However, this MT ends up getting good QA marks because the editor doesn't know that the work turned in was the collaborative effort of at least 2 MTs. Bragging remarks like, "Oh, what a good job I did on this one" are commonly heard from Overly Reliant MT, who has eventually forgotten the people who had helped out.

The Return-on-Investment MT.
After spending as much as 40,000 pesos and more (which includes expenses on fare, food, and reference materials), this MT realizes that so much money has been spent and that it was imperative to find a job. Once employed, this MT realizes that it isn't easy trying to figure out what Dr. Verbally Challenged dictates, but 40,000 pesos is 40,000 pesos. So Return-on-Investment MT sticks it out with MT Exploiters, Inc. for the number of months it will take to get back that amount of money.

The Know-It-All MT.
This MT is likely to have a college degree in the allied medical profession and the like. This MT finds Google, Stedman's, and Quick Look a waste of time after having spent years and years learning all those highfaluting medical terminologies. Stock knowledge is the key to this MT, who ends up with lower QA scores compared to those incurred by this MT's more persevering co-MTs.

The Pretentious MT.
Many perceive this MT as among the best in the industry due to length of experience and a degree in the allied medical profession. This MT is likely to have flunked the board exams but continues to maintain his seemingly elite demeanor. Newbies who have a crush on this MT are among the most ardent admirers this MT gets. To look elite, this MT will turn to you to "confirm" misheard words, but you'll find out that you can pick up most of those words and that Pretentious MT has missed those words by a mile. This MT eventually gets promoted to MT Editor in a short span of time because of an acting job well done. While an MT, Pretentious MT kept bugging colleagues. As an MT Editor, Pretentious MT continues to do the same.

The Grammatically-Challenged MT.
Not knowing that MT skills have more to do with language than medicine, this MT focuses on the medical jargon and ends up typing sentences that do not make sense. It is likely that as a student, Grammatically-challened MT was wide awake in science classes and was mentally absent when taking English lessons.

The Turtle Typist MT.
This MT has a maximum typing speed of 30 words per minute. Practice seems to further reduce this MT's typing speed, and 10 fingers don't seem to be enough.

So again, go ask yourself the question. Be honest with yourself; if not, you're the victim of your inability to look at the truth. Do yourself a favor; don't lie to yourself.

If you fall into any of these categories, then -- sad to say --
YOU ARE A WANNABE TRANSCRIPTIONIST.