Organizing Your Home Office

As more people make the decision to work from their homes to save time and money, they have to be realistic about their expectations. Working from home actually takes a bit of creative strategizing. To be productive in a home office environment, we must utilize the space effectively and reduce the usual distractions.

Define your home office space, even if...

Essential Elements of a Successful Resume

Five essential points that every resume must cover!

1. Every resume needs...

Preparing for a Medical Transcription Test

When applying for transcription jobs, most companies require a medical transcription test so that they can assess the skills and knowledge of an MT during the hiring process.  Most medical transcription tests consist of grammar, vocabulary, and typing tests with selected voice files.  If you’re like me, tests can be stressful.  Therefore, it takes some preparation time on my part to actually test for any position.  I have some developed a technique with steps that have worked for me, which I will share with you.

• Prepare your work area the day or evening before testing.  May sure your work area neat and clean so that you will not be distracted.
• Most companies allow an MT to use reference materials during medical transcription testing.  If this is the case, be sure to have all of your reference materials, dictionaries, medical word books, favorite medical websites, etc. set up in an organized manner so that they will be easily accessible while testing.
• Be sure to get a good night’s sleep before taking a medical transcription test with a company so that you will be able to start with a fresh, clear mind.  It is very important to test when you are well rested.  Take a hot shower or bath prior to taking the test so that you will be awake and alert.
• Before sitting down to take a medical transcription test, make sure you manage all possible distractions.  Tell all family members and friends not to distract you during testing time.  Turn the telephone ringer off and let the answering machine collect messages.  Turn off the television set, the radio, etc.  Put the animals outside or in another room.  If you have small children, test when someone can help you take care of the kids.  It is very important to prevent distractions if possible.
• When starting the medical transcription test, remember to...

Top 10 Things You Must Avoid in Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is the first thing a potential employer sees about you, it is your first impression that tells the employer if they should even continue on to your resume. A careful approach when writing your next cover letter is very important in order to avoid an immediate rejection. Below I list ten things that you must avoid:

1. Do not use a cover letter template, however...

Rejected: Entry Level Medical Transcription: The Doorway to Opportunity

Are you getting rejected as a Entry Level Medical Transcriptionist? When I think about the most rewarding developments my career has taken in the past couple of decades, each one can be traced back to a moment when I decided to risk rejection and take a chance.

There was the time straight out of secretarial school that I couldn't find an entry level transcription position, that started cold calling law firms.  Nobody admitted to needing a secretary, so I requested "information interviews" from everyone -- just 20 minutes of their time to help me learn what they look for in a legal secretary.  That was my foot in the door and a month later I was working as a full time entry level transcriptionist at one of my "information interview" offices.

A similar technique got me one of my early entry level medical transcription contracts back in the days when all transcription was done locally and it seemed like nobody wanted an entry level transcriptionist without years of experience.

The old saying of nothing ventured, nothing gained could not be more true.  There are so many things you can do that will dramatically increase your chances of career success: emailing potential clients and employers even though they have not posted a job listing.

• Picking up the telephone and calling someone who may have entry level medical transcription work you can do
• Do some small entry level general transcription jobs that fill up your resume
• Visiting the offices of local professionals to start to build a client base of doctors, lawyers, or businesspeople with dictation to transcribe
• Requesting "information interviews"
• Post Your Resume
• Telephoning your friends and family to tell them that you are looking for work and asking them to pass the word on to their contacts

However, every time...

Staying Focused - Introduction to Proficiency

Working from home as a medical transcriptionist has many rewarding features; however, it does take a great deal of discipline to be successful at making a good living to, in turn, have a good life.  There are steps to you can take to help maintain focus to enable you to produce quality work in high volumes.  Listed below are a few tips on how to stay focused and get the job done.

1.    Make a schedule that works for you and your family.  Give yourself about an hour to get started each day.  Some ideas on how to get yourself psyched up for your work schedule are as follows:

• First, be sure to get a good night's sleep.  Good sleep hygiene is essential to being productive and accurate in this line of work.
• Before starting your day, pour yourself a glass of water (or beverage of choice) before sitting down to work so that it's easily accessible while working.  I do not recommend eating while working but if you must have a snack to ward of hunger, make sure you choose healthy foods, such as carrots, bran cereal, etc.
• Make sure you have a clean work area.
• Go to the restroom.
• Stretch a bit before sitting down to work.

2.     Manage distractions before they occur.

• Turn the ringer off on the telephone.  Let voice mail or your answering machine take messages for you.  Be sure to turn the volume down on the answering machine so that it does not distract you.
• Tell friends and family members that they are not to disturb you while working.  This may take some practice.  Try putting a sign on the door that reads something like, 'Enter at your own risk,' or 'Do not disturb unless there is bone showing or blood spurting.'  Sometimes, this is difficult for family members to understand at first, but they must realize that your job is at home and that when you are working, to please respect that.
• Put the cats, dogs, any animals outside or in another room.
• If you have small children, hiring a part-time baby sitter to come in for a few hours while you work might be a good idea.
• Turn off/exit all chat boards, forums, messengers (put your 'busy' status on if you must have a messenger for work), and the like.  Do not surf the Internet under any circumstances.  If you must Google something, set a one-minute time limit only for research; otherwise, flag the question at hand, and send to Quality Assurance (QA) and ask for feedback.  You may want to invest in a timer that can help you keep up your time.

3.     Set...

Finding Unadvertised Home Transcription Jobs

As I write this article, it's the end of a long weekend.  At times like this there is a lull in new home transcription job postings
and requests for transcriptionists.  However, that does not mean that potential employers or clients are not interested in finding good transcriptionists.  There is a fundamental paradox that challenges your potential clients or employers who have transcription needs, whether in medical, legal, or general fields.  Once you understand this challenge he or she faces, you can use the knowledge to your advantage!

While he or she almost always needs to find another excellent transcriptionist or two, any advertisement for transcriptionists triggers a flood of applications from people who clearly do not have the language skills to do the job properly.  Sifting through these applications to find a few truly capable transcriptionists is tedious and time-consuming, so job postings tend to be put off.

If you can  approach your potential client before she gets around to posting a home transcription job opportunity, and if you establish yourself in her mind as an exceptional candidate, you could save her the trouble of screening through dozens of unqualified applicants.  That's a pretty attractive prospect to her!

So how do you contact a potential client at the right time?  That's easy once you realize that every time is the right time.  Good transcriptionists are always in demand.  By taking the initiative to contact a potential client now, you are presenting her with a win-win opportunity.

Of course, this does not mean that you will hear back right away from everyone you contact in your search for home transcription jobs.  Maximize your coverage by contacting many people in your chosen field who are in a position to hire transcriptionists.  If you are in the legal field, develop a contact list of court reporting firms and lawyers.  If your specialty is medical transcription, draw up a list of hospitals and medical transcription firms.  Make many contacts to increase the chance of contacting the right person at the right time.   Don't be afraid to follow up after email or postal contact with a warm but professional telephone call.

Maximizing contacts with...

Eight Essential Proofreading Secrets to Keep Your Resume Out of the Trash

Have you ever wondered what happened to the job that I applied to, I never heard back from them after I applied. Well did you every think that I rushed through my resume when I sent off my resume. Did you make some spelling or grammar errors? Did you take time to proofread it?

I have estimated that approximately 8 of 10 resumes that an employer receives contain obvious errors. From a hiring standpoint, your resume will immediately go into the NO pile of resumes to be never looked at again. Below are tips to avoid getting your resume into the no pile...

Work at Home Professional: Why Working from Home is a Smart Financial Decision

Many have the dream to work from home, but not the guts to do it. This makes sense, because working from home is a huge gamble for some, who are used to having a reliable source of income from a steady job in an office or other professional field of work.

Choosing to work from home is a very big, difficult, and important decision to make. It is risky, so it is not a good idea to just quit a job and then try to find a position that allows you to work from home.

You may find that a remote position that allows you to work from home pays much less than what you are used to, and this is normal. However, switching from a “normal” job to a work at home position can be a smart financial decision, considering the following:

• A telecommuter does not need to travel to and from work everyday. With the rising prices of gas, consider the money you’ll be saving when traveling to work means walking to a different room in your house.
• Parents who work from home have the option and freedom to work around their child’s schedule, meaning you won’t have to worry about paying for daycare expenses anymore.
• Working from home allows you to take a lunch break rummaging your own fridge, instead of rushing to a drive through or relying on a vending machine to satisfy your mid day hunger.

With the current financial situation, more and more people are making efforts to cut back on any excessive spending, and for good reason. Working from home is an option to consider, because the money you save when you work as a telecommuter most likely makes up for any cut in pay you may face.

Another thing to consider about working from home is that you must have a skill that can be used to work from home. Telecommuters do something, so what do you do?

There are many in demand jobs to look into, and one of the most popular work at home careers is medical or dental transcribing and billing. If you have no experience with this field, you will...

Are You Scared to Start a Home Business?

Each year more and more folks are working from home, beginning their own business. Just look at what quantity of folks earn a living selling items on EBay. It's a little wonder truly why so many folks wish to work from home and there are a massive quantity of reasons why. One of the best reasons is not having to answer to an administrator or a supervisor. Or having the ability to set your own hours and work when you would like to work. Few of the people actually know how they are going to start a home based business...

The Transcription Interviews - Time to Shine in the Audition!

When you begin to looking for home transcription work you will find that most transcription interviews will want you to perform a test transcription of an audio file they provide to you.  The most important step of transcription interviews is the transcription "audition."

This is good news!  Why?  The transcription interviews audition you and this is your opportunity to shine!  Good transcriptionists are very difficult to find.  If you can turn in an excellent audition transcript in all of your transcription interviews it will mean more to your prospective clients than your resume, past experience, or references.

Here are some tips to help you do your very best audition during your transcription interviews and land the contract:

• Usually the prospective client will provide you with instructions.  Study the instructions carefully and follow them exactly!  This is how you demonstrate to the client that you will perform their work to their specifications.
• Proofread your work while listening to the audio at least twice.  Be meticulous.
• Pay particular attention to the homonyms* (there, their, they're -- too, to, two -- it's, its -- etc.)  If you make even a single one of these simple mistakes in an audition transcript your credibility will be lost.
• Double check any terminology that is unfamiliar to you.  The Internet puts all the world's information at your fingertips, so use it (www.wikipedia.org is an excellent resource).
• If there were difficult-to-understand parts of the audio and you have a little bit of time mark those places and come back to them in a couple of hours.  When you take a break and then listen to the audio with a fresh ear you will be amazed how often you will be able to clearly hear what the speaker is saying.
• Make sure...

How to Stay Motivated As You Work at Home

So you decided that a work at home career is just the right fit for you, however now you need to juggle everything else in your life. You are your own boss now, you set up your own schedule which is very rewarding. This can also lead you off track of your work since some days motivation can be a factor.Below are some factors to keep you motivated while working at home.

Create a...

The Cover Letter Checklist

So now you have completed your very 1st draft of your brand new cover letter. Well how well did you do, to see, please compare it to the list of items outlined below. Many of the items on the checklist below refer to the actual  content while other items are format related.

While you are reviewing your cover letter to the checklist below, see how you did and also mark any additional changes that need to be made...

Parents - Boost Your Work-at-Home Self-Confidence with These Three Tips

Does working at home for yourself got you down? Now you have no more co-workers to talk too. Trying to juggling all aspects of your new life with working at home sometimes can make you feel that things have gotten way out of control. Now it is crashing down on you all at once. You begin to think to yourself, is this is the right thing for me. Your self-confidence is a mess, well all of us go through all of that. below are some tips to help you though the down times.

1. Don’t set the...

Overcoming Your Husband's Objections to Telecommuting

So you are an aspiring work from home mom, and you may have already heard common objections from your husband. And maybe even from your mother-in-law. Some of the things we here are, we don't need to pay for an extra phone line. We don't have money to get you a new computer. Your employer should pay for all of that when you get your first job. Its a big waste of time, just get a real job around here.

So how do you overcome all of these questions being thrown your way. Well since men understand figures and costs, the secret lays in the numbers...