Hi...I just wanted to throw some observations out to the newbies searching for work.I am a proofer/editor for a company that hires quite a bit of newbies. Lately, I've been pretty discouraged at the quality of newbies coming in the office. Out of almost 100, only a very few are going to be staying. So much time invested only to have them have to leave...
My biggest advice to you is READ WHAT YOU TYPE!!! I cannot advise that enough...read sentences back to yourself out loud, see if they make sense. It is amazing what comes across my desk because accuracy was sacrificed for speed.
USE YOUR DICTIONARY! I have so many newbies tell me they spend a lot of time searching for words in their Dorland's only to find on many occasions it is a non-medical word they are searching for.
Please do not stress out with "I have to make my lines." Get into the habit of producing correct documents...speed will come with time and repetition. We highly value accuracy over mass lines produced containing "junk." It bothers me to see sloppy reports getting to the client.
Please, do, not, become, comma, crazy. 
Rather, focus in on correct medical terminology. When we do random pulls
PLEASE USE YOUR DORLAND'S AND KNOW WHAT YOUR MEDICAL WORDS MEAN! I cannot stress the importance of knowing anatomy and being aware of sound-alike words. It is so common for me to see things like "prostatic heart valve." I had to call a newbie recently who was continuing to use "puss" in place of "pus." She honestly did not know the difference (for example...5 cc of purulent puss was expressed from the wound...). The same went for another newbie, graduate of a local MT program here, who spelled phlegm with an F.
Be careful when creating macros! It can be a disaster to create multiple macros consisting of two letters. I see many inappropriate words expanding out in the wrong places...for example, the patient is a 45-year-old bowel movement...when it should have been Black male. A suggestion could be to use bmale for your expander instead of bm.
If you have words/phrases that are difficult to spell or remember, keep them on a little card next to your monitor or do what I do...tape them to the monitor so the hands don't have to come off the keyboard. For example, town names or oddball words not used much that are hard to find.
For quick reference, I keep a small hardcover binder full of difficult, hard to find words next to me at all times. I use tabs to sort them alphabetically. Every day I hear the same thing, "well, I know I heard this word before, but I didn't write it down...how do you spell it again?" Multiple phone calls to me during the day costs you time and money; write these things down and have them next to you while you work.
Invest in a zip code book! It is wonderful for finding names of towns, counties, even hospitals! Fewer calls to the office helps you keep producing!
I could go on, but these really are the main points I'd like to share. Anything I can do to make a newbie's work experience easier, I love doing. I remember my early days and the bumpy road I took until I became more self-confident and experienced. I didn't meet many MTs who shared with me back then, so I wanted to be different. Gathering reference material is my hobby and I have a substantial library; plus, I save everything from all the jobs I've had and it does come in handy.
Well, thanks for listening and allowing me to semi-vent. Oh yes, one more thing...alot is NOT correct...it is a lot!
