Interview with A&C Transcriptionist
Friday, April 24th, 2020 | Uncategorized | No Comments
One of our long-term transcriptionists Cheryal Holden, was gracious enough to agree to a little interview about why she chose A&C Transcription, Inc. and her experience with the company and our leadership. Here is a little insight into her life and career with A&C Transcription, Inc.
When did you come to work for Angela at A&C Transcription, Inc.?
I had been working for another transcription company in Washington State that had closed down at the end of 2013 due to EMR.
I found Angela through another transcriptionist on a Facebook transcription page. After a phone interview, she asked me to come on board, and I did. I started working for Angela at Preferred Transcription in the beginning of 2014.
In September of 2014, when Angela made the decision to create A&C Transcription, Inc., I asked to be part of her team, and she agreed to bring me on board.
Were you seeking Medical, Legal and General transcription work, or just one genre?
In the beginning, I was just seeking Medical transcription work.
Where you offered all three?
As Angela’s business has been expanding, she has offered all three to me.
What made you choose working for Angela at A&C Transcription, Inc?
When Angela chose to leave Preferred Transcription and create A&C Transcription, Inc., there was a void in the leadership with Preferred Transcription. In my opinion, when you have people from all over the United States working for you, you really need to stay in contact with them on a daily basis, and Preferred Transcription started lacking that contact.
I remember asking Angela if she would have room for me in her new company, and she was willing to take me on if I was willing to hang in with her while she grew. I have never regretted a single day of it.
What made her company standout to you above all others?
Angela is a hands-on person. There is not a single aspect of her business that she is not involved in. Every new client that she gets, she becomes familiar with how the client wants the work done before she ever farms the work out to any of the transcriptionists that contract from her.
What about Angela do you like the most? Is she fair, a team player even though she’s the “boss,” easy to subcontract for, hard to subcontract for, etc?
Angela is not afraid of hard work, she is not afraid of new challenges, and she is not afraid of pushing you to the limits if she sees potential in you. She is very patient with you while you are in the training process. She is very fair when assigning out jobs. Angela has never asked me to do anything that she has not already tackled herself.
How would you describe, in your own words, Angela is to subcontract for?
In the beginning, I was very unsure about myself, but Angela seen something in me and tapped into that. I find Angela very easy to subcontract for.
What does Angela expect from an independent contractor?
She does not expect me to be at my computer 24/7. She does expect me to be available on the days that I originally contracted for, and if I cannot be available, then I try to make it up by working on weekends. On days that I have other commitments, such as doctor appointments, she does her very best to work around that for me.
How strict is Angela with the learning curve per client for a new subcontractor? Does she train you, and is it a rigorous process? And how does that process work? Does she pay you while training? And, if so, how does that work, without giving any actual rates?
That first question is a loaded question. Angela is very strict regarding the learning curve per client for a new subcontractor. In this type of business, you learn right from the start that each and every client has their own preference of how they want things to be done. Client preference is the cornerstone of all work, whether it be Medical, Legal, or General transcribing. If she was not strict in this area, work becomes haphazard, clients become unsatisfied, and jobs are lost.
Angela does train each IC that works for her, the training is a very rigorous process, and she does pay you while training.
Angela will start out your training with one client. She will send you all the basic information that you need to know and client specs. She will send you all sort of tips and helpful advice to get set up. I have learned it is always best to follow all of her tips from the very beginning. She will assign you a job with a due date. She will proof your work and send you back feedback, tips, advice, suggestions, and whatever else she can think of to help you improve on the next job.
She has several different pay scales that she uses. The first one is for all first-time jobs; this is the “proofing” period. Whether you are a new IC or have been with her for several years, new client jobs are always proofed by Angela. Once she is confident that your work is meeting the standards of the client, you get released, and the pay is increased. Most of Angela’s clients have different pay rates depending on the type of work, and Angela passes those different pay rates on to her ICs. Angela has invoices already created that she supplies to the ICs, which reflect each client and their rates of pay.
Does Angela expect mediocre or the best work from her independent contractors? And if you chose “the best work,” what does that mean to you, and why do you think she expects the best?
Angela expects the best quality of work from all ICs. In Medical, this is vital because you are dealing with people’s medical charts, mistakes can be costly.
In General, this is vital because you may be talking about research articles published in books or magazines. Interviews being done for research purposes. This list is endless.
In Legal, it is vital to accurately get down exactly what is being said so that down the road when transcripts are read, they are not misinterpreted due to bad transcribing.
Mediocre work will cause you to lose clients. Angela understands that we are not perfect and will make mistakes, but she does expect our very best work. Our very best reflects on the type of person we are, reflects on the type of person she is, as well as her company, and reflects on the client.
Does Angela expect her subcontractors to treat their position with her as a hobby or part- or full-time endeavor?
Full-time endeavor. Whether you are contracted as part-time or full-time, while working on a job for Angela, she expects a full-time endeavor out of you. Transcribing, in my opinion, could never be classified as a hobby. Full-time attention needs to be given to the work; otherwise costly mistakes are made.
If you were trying to obtain clients for A&C Transcription, Inc., what would you tell a potential client about Angela and A&C Transcription, Inc.?
Angela takes a lot of pride in the work that she delivers back to clients and expects the very best out of her ICs. She is willing to tackle anything that comes her way, and she will tackle it before assigning it out to the ICs. She does her very best to meet all deadlines of her clients. Angela passes all feedback from clients on to her ICs to help maintain the quality of work that is being done.
Tell us anything else you’d like to say about Angela and A&C Transcription, Inc.
When I first started working for Angela, I was still fairly new to the world of transcribing. She was willing to give me a chance when most people wanted you to have five years of experience, I barely had one year.
When she formed A&C Transcription, Inc., she was willing to take me with her. Work was rather scarce at the time, but she shared all that she could with me.
When she got requests for General Transcription, I remember being terrified to venture out of the Medical, but she convinced me I would do just fine, so I ventured out.
When Legal transcription came into the picture, I really did not want to do that. After many conversations with Angela, I finally decided to attempt the Legal portion of transcription and have not regretted a moment of it. She passed on all her knowledge and training to me.
She is a tough “boss,” but I do believe you have to be if you expect to put out quality work. I know of some very dumb mistakes that I have made in the past, she has had to point them out to me, and then we move on from there. She never gives up on an IC, and that, in my opinion, makes her an excellent person to work for.