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#77055 - 07/22/07 09:19 AM
Realistically, how much $ ?
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mkmmary
Junior Member
Registered: 06/26/05
Posts: 44
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I am enrolled at Andrews. I was just wanting to know realistically, how much can I expect to earn working from home the first year? Thank you!
Mary
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#77062 - 07/22/07 11:54 AM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: mkmmary]
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Endiqua
Member
Registered: 04/28/05
Posts: 3399
Loc: At the computer - where else?
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It varies so much...it depends on the job you get, the hours you work, etc. I have heard people say they made anywhere from $8000 to $20K in their first year.
In this business, especially, one person's income is not necessarily a reflection of what someone else would make. There are just too many variables involved.
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#77126 - 07/23/07 10:49 AM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Endiqua]
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anotherquilt
Junior Member
Registered: 09/04/04
Posts: 86
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Fulltime, hourly, inhouse hospital employee(radiology), started at $17,700 and after 4 years I'm at $19,500, full benefits with 401k and health spending account. Overtime this year so far is about $4000.
I got my degree from a community college. They hired me while I was still in school and before I started the transcription courses. Yup, they were desperate. I'm in a little town and transcriptionists are scarce. They even left me leave work for classes without a complaint. I'm comfortable, broke, but comfortable.
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#77297 - 07/24/07 04:56 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: mkmmary]
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Whistler
Junior Member
Registered: 01/26/05
Posts: 85
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Mary,
I sent you a PM. Click the flashing yellow envelope at the top.
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#77556 - 07/27/07 03:27 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Whistler]
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GracieB
New Member
Registered: 07/15/07
Posts: 21
Loc: Florida
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If you want to get a MT to be quiet, ask about their wage.
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#77567 - 07/27/07 05:07 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: GracieB]
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FarAwayDeb
Member
Registered: 03/15/02
Posts: 2772
Loc: just south of Rochester, NY
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If you want to get a MT to be quiet, ask about their wage.
I see this is only your second post. You learn fast! LOL Welcome!
_________________________
Good grammar ain't easy.
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#77675 - 07/29/07 03:43 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: mkmmary]
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anotherquilt
Junior Member
Registered: 09/04/04
Posts: 86
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I'm sorry you didn't get a better response. I feel if a transcriptionist has no idea as to what he/she can safely ask for in a wage then how are we going to be paid better for our skills. The only way to know what to ask for is to know what others make. I'm not in the least ashamed of what I make. I work hard and for my education I feel I make about what other folks in our town make for the same. I too was hoping for a better response. I guess it is too much of a taboo subject.
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#77677 - 07/29/07 04:14 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: anotherquilt]
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Sandi in Florida
Member
Registered: 04/28/02
Posts: 948
Loc: Florida
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I don't think it is so much of a taboo subject as it is just too variable to give a simple answer.
In my first job I transcribed for only about 10 doctors. I could easily do over 300 lph on that account. I was paid $0.08 cpl as an IC, which was the norm for someone without any experience.
My next job was as an employee. I transcribed for 4-5 different hospitals doing ER work. I ranged anywhere from 175 to 225 lph depending on the mix of work for the day. Making $0.075, including shift differential, was again about the norm when I was hired.
After that came acute care. The minimum requirements for most companies as an employee are 125-150 lph. Acute care is more difficult than ER or clinic work, but it is definitely possible to do 175-225 lph once familiar with the account(s). Acute care work is typically paid a bit higher per line than clinic or ER, but that depends on the company.
As you see, the amount you could make would vary widely even in just these 3 jobs based on your knowledge level, how productive you are, how many hours per week you work, and what benefits you may gain for working as an employee (with a lower cpl rate) than as an IC (paying your own taxes and PTO).
Clear as mud?
_________________________
Sandi Rhodig, CMT
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#77678 - 07/29/07 05:15 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: mkmmary]
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TaraLynne
Junior Member
Registered: 04/05/01
Posts: 37
Loc: Grand Isle, VT
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I've been an MT for about 10 yrs now (IC, not as an hourly employee) and I made $45000 last year, probably will make just over $50000 this year, but I'm sure I wouldn't make this much working as an employee for a company or if I got paid by the hour, but I must say I sure do miss paid vacations and holidays!
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#77683 - 07/29/07 06:42 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: TaraLynne]
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Endiqua
Member
Registered: 04/28/05
Posts: 3399
Loc: At the computer - where else?
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I was raised to believe it was rude to ask what another person makes, but there is also the fact that there are simply too many variables. Tara says she makes close to $50K as an IC, but remember she's providing her equipment and paying taxes out of that. Sandi gave another answer based on LPH. Anotherquilt says she makes about $20K. I stated I'd heard people say they made anywhere from $8000 to $20K their first year.
No two people on the same account will make the same amount of money, even if they work the same number of hours.
In this industry, I don't think there is a good way to base your salary request on what another person is getting, especially when they don't work for the same company or the same doctors. New graduates, especially, don't get a lot of choice if they apply at a national - they're often told "this is the rate, take it or leave it." Experienced MTs have said they've asked for line rates comparable to what they received previously and were refused because there are simply too many people willing to work for 4 cents a line.
You can either underbid and work for next to nothing; you can figure up your costs as an IC and charge accordingly; you can demand what you think you're worth and see if anyone will pay it.
I'm sorry y'all are so disappointed in the answers here, but this happens every time someone asks this question. Try a search and see some of the other discussions on it.
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#77685 - 07/29/07 07:06 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Endiqua]
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tropsicleAfter
Member
Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 2053
Loc: MS Gulf Coast
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In this industry, I don't think there is a good way to base your salary request on what another person is getting...
Not in any industry, really.
Here's the two cents I have to add. Very, VERY, often people will exaggerate what they make, or, at least, put it in a way that is the most favorable light. Bartenders and waitresses do it all the time, as do many people working for tips. Production workers also 'inflate' how much they make and how many units they produce in a given time period. People who have worked for only one or two nationals will say how GREAT their company is,when they really have nothing to compare it to.Many people claim to love a job when they really despise it, just like they will expound on their love of a spouse when they are really OVER them. 
Yes, asking how much one makes is rude, like asking a woman their age or weight, but, more than that, expecting total honesty and real, useful information is naive, at best.
Most newbies cannot fathom the differences between working as an employee or as an IC. Most cannot even fathom a typical work day.
_________________________
tropsicle
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#77692 - 07/29/07 07:47 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: tropsicleAfter]
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Mojeaux
Member
Registered: 09/21/03
Posts: 2115
Loc: Kansas City
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Very, VERY, often people will exaggerate what they make,
<gasp> You mean people LIE?!?! Say it ain't so!
There used to be a regular poster here who talked about her work/break habits, general state of health, how many hours she worked, and her use or non-use of an expander and other productivity-boosting modalities, then, in the context of all that, made fantastical claims about her lines per hour.
I was very intimidated by this as a newbie MT, thinking that even though I had been transcribing for a living for most of my working life (from the age of 16), I had never and could never get to that level.
And then I started working. And talking to other people. And listening and learning and watching and reading between the lines.
My conclusion? She was doing more harm than good to a lot of people here with her free flow of information, simply because it wasn't inspiring. It was depressing, overwhelming, unrealistic, and, in the end, way too discouraging, especially for newbies.
One can only compare one's performance TODAY with one's performance YESTERDAY and improve on that. To go by what other people say they do is, as Trops pointed out, naive at best.
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#77694 - 07/29/07 07:56 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Mojeaux]
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FarAwayDeb
Member
Registered: 03/15/02
Posts: 2772
Loc: just south of Rochester, NY
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She was doing more harm than good to a lot of people here with her free flow of information, simply because it wasn't inspiring. It was depressing, overwhelming, unrealistic, and, in the end, way too discouraging, especially for newbies.
Not to mention that she was also full of you-know-what.
_________________________
Good grammar ain't easy.
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#77695 - 07/29/07 08:01 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: FarAwayDeb]
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meri
Member
Registered: 09/08/01
Posts: 8786
Loc: Murrieta, California
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Oh, yeah she was, and still is.
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#77696 - 07/29/07 08:04 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: FarAwayDeb]
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Mojeaux
Member
Registered: 09/21/03
Posts: 2115
Loc: Kansas City
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Not to mention that she was also full of you-know-what.
I musta forgot that part. That was actually the point of the story. LOL
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#77699 - 07/29/07 08:15 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Mojeaux]
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FarAwayDeb
Member
Registered: 03/15/02
Posts: 2772
Loc: just south of Rochester, NY
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Not to mention that she was also full of you-know-what. I musta forgot that part. That was actually the point of the story. LOL
You're welcome. (I knew I'd come in handy someday!) 
_________________________
Good grammar ain't easy.
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#77765 - 07/30/07 03:46 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Mojeaux]
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Rad_MT
Member
Registered: 07/28/04
Posts: 750
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Mojeaux said:There used to be a regular poster here who talked about her work/break habits, general state of health, how many hours she worked, and her use or non-use of an expander and other productivity-boosting modalities, then, in the context of all that, made fantastical claims about her lines per hour.
Oh, and don't forget her superior education. Yeah, and what happened when her employer went to all employees instead of ICs and she was supposed to adhere to a schedule and expected to work 40 hours a week? We didn't hear from her anymore, did we?
I, too, was intimidated by her at first, but by the time I had heard her spout her story what seemed like hundreds of times, I decided she was full of herself.
Just in the accounts I do, it depends on the dictator whether I make, for example, $25 an hour or $17 an hour based upon lines transcribed. There is one doctor who never gives the information we need, and sometimes he doesn't give even a name, so we have to either hunt for the information or type the exam without a name and flag it; the others give all the pertinent information and we just have to find the info on the schedule. That makes a big difference when UGU are working production. It also takes him 6 minutes to dictate what another doctor can dictate in 2 minutes. There is a lot of time spent waiting on him to speak. It drives me crazy! When all the ducks are in a row, like this morning, I can make $30 an hour; unfortunately, I don't work 40 hours a week or I'd be doing very well! However, you also have to realize that this is with 19 years of experience.
That's my $0.02 worth.
_________________________
Member #413
Registered 1997
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#77769 - 07/30/07 04:58 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Rad_MT]
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Mojeaux
Member
Registered: 09/21/03
Posts: 2115
Loc: Kansas City
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I, too, was intimidated by her at first
I think what was most damaging was that newbies would read what she wrote, not really understand the context (because--how could they?), and simultaneously feel that what she claimed was actually possible AND that they would never, ever achieve that. Talk about setting folks up for failure.
I've always believed that talking about money in public (be it cocktail party or online or church or work, wherever people gather) is just not kosher. But I saw a special by Suze Orman where she made a point that by not talking about money, people (especially women) don't really know what they're worth or what the measuring stick is. She said we (meaning, women) SHOULD speak up about what we make with the goal of learning what jobs are valued at what level and giving us a platform on which to stand*. I'm still processing that.
But of course, in the context of Trops's assertion that people lie about what they make (which fact I forget sometimes), the goal of talking openly about salary is defeated--which is why I offered her up as an example in the first place. Should we talk about money in order to raise the bar for everyone? I think maybe possibly we do, though I was reared that that was not The Thing To Do <cue stern look>--but there's no point in doing that if people lie.
*In Suze's special, she was illustrating the classic example of the salary gap between a woman and a married-with-children man doing the same job, where the man gets paid more "because he has a family to support." Well, a woman can only begin to overcome that gap (and reasoning) if she knows what others are actually making. Like I said, I'm still percolating on this.
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#77788 - 07/30/07 06:52 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: Mojeaux]
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haggis
Member
Registered: 04/29/04
Posts: 2538
Loc: Left Coast, FL
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ROFLMAO. It's true--especially on the internet, you can't really trust what anyone says about themselves unless you know them personally. It's always amazing how many people will fall for a good story and how ridiculous the details have to get before the collective seems to grok how ludicrous it is and the fan club disbands.
Maybe we should all embrace the embellishment approach to self esteem and lay claim to our part in her "success" as an author, though, seeing as how that PT Barnum article was practically verbatim from our discussions here. Then again, I don't think any of us really needs the validation, or we would've demanded a byline every time she crowed about it.
I can appreciate the empowerment aspects of sharing wage info like this, but I think that--especially on the internet and especially in a field where the variables are so great--that's hugely problematic. It would probably be more useful to newbs wanting a clue if someone just said, "These employers are starting MTs at xx/cpl for FT and your mileage may vary."
If you look at emptystars, BTW, the former poll results include wage surveys for the last few years. Factor in that a majority of respondents are veteran MTs (I would assume accounting for the higher incomes and rates shown), it looks fairly dismal. Perhaps if we pestered them to do a new poll and everyone here responded, we might get a more accurate picture of the industry. (I think the majority of people voting before came strictly from SMT, which is a pretty limited population.)
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#77797 - 07/30/07 08:45 PM
Re: Realistically, how much $ ?
[Re: haggis]
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baldymom
Member
Registered: 02/26/04
Posts: 628
Loc: Hampton Roads - Va
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"emptystars"
_________________________
What would you do with a brain if you had one? -- Dorothy -- Wizard of Oz
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