Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs. Williams
I can see both sides. First of all, I never would have known about the rate being low if the comments that were made in this topic, were not made. So thank you guys for that. On the other side of things, I would absolutely, hands down take this job, because I simply cannot find anyone else who is willing to hire me with no experience. Since Flaminroze is taking a chance and hiring those of us who do not have prior experience, and seems to be the only one, she can afford, (no pun intended) to pay these low rates.
Would I liked to get paid more? Uh, heck yea! But I don't mind the cut in pay, if it gives me enough experience that it will broaden my opportunities to work with other companies.
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I was headed to TE which was down and so I just stumbled upon this thread -- and I'm just kind of astounded that you would take $.30/minute. You know what a better option might be? VOLUNTEER your time for someone who is really grateful for the help and who can give you a glowing testimonial -- there are all sorts of people doing good things who need audio transcribed but don't have the money for it. Here's the thing: someone paying $.30/minute is not going to be grateful for your work, most likely. The ones who don't want to pay anything rarely are. But volunteer just a little bit of your time for someone who's grateful and that person will go out of their way to support you in your new career!
So, yes, IMO, working for free is better -- and will get you more work in the end, I think -- than working for $.30/minute for someone who doesn't care a bit about you. You can ALWAYS find opportunities to get experience. Just look. $.30/minute is degrading, IMO, but if you want to accept that... it's your choice... I guess. I don't think choosing a $.30/minute job to get "experience" so other people will hire you is a good way to go, and I don't think it will work very well.
Here's a secret. We, and I'm sure many other transcription companies, have looked at countless resumes. In the end, there are people who claim plenty of experience and it's immediately obvious that we don't want them -- there's a spelling error or something going on with their resume, something just seems off... they don't fill me with confidence, is the bottom line. Then there are others who come across extremely professionally, who have never done transcription in their life, but have skills that carry over, and I just KNOW they'll be good and reliable. Because they put the time into their initial presentation -- even if they PAID someone to do their resume, it shows they care -- they'll most likely put that same quality and effort into their work when they get it.
In the end it has very little to do with experience. It's about how you present yourself. Rather than accepting degrading pay, put some real time and thought into how you want to present yourself; think about what companies really want and need from you, how you can earn their confidence. And for goodness sake, volunteer before you'll accept that -- you'll get more from a volunteer testimonial anyway, and most likely referrals! It's interesting because people who present themselves really well almost invariably do well, and people who don't invariably do poorly. That's why presentation matters so much and gives you a vote of confidence -- and for me at least, and I'm sure many others, it has little or nothing to do with what transcription companies you've worked for in the past. In fact, I might look at a resume and see someone has worked for a transcription company that I've heard bad things about -- like this one -- and immediately toss it out. This company might pass its bad reputation onto YOU, be careful! So in this case "experience" might even work against you.
I've learned a lot from looking at resumes over the years. It really surprises me what some people think they need to put themselves through just to get a contract... it's NOT true.
I hire people with no prior experience but the resume and presentation TELL me that I'm not taking a big risk. I also get resumes from people with seeming years of experience and yet I can tell right away that there's a big risk hiring them. It doesn't take risk to hire someone without experience. We hire people who are responsible, professional, and competent, regardless of experience. At least that's my long-winded take on it...
07-17-2011, 06:27 PM
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